(Newswire.net — December 11, 2014) New York, NY — New York City is home to a deep well community of artists and musicians who don’t follow the prescribed path to “artistic” success in the mainstream sense of the word.
Committed to experimentation, improvising and spur of the moment exchange of feelings, emotions and responses to daily news events, both nationally and internationally, along with personal reflections, these artists rely on spontaneity to express their craft.
The Artemis Collective was formed in the Spring of 2014 by poets and musicians Diana Gitesha Hernandez and Sarah James, focusing on the exchange of creative flow between the spoken word, the visual arts and music.
Intentionally curated with topics of special interests to women and their changing roles in the world, changing perspectives on artistic output and business and global awarenesses, the collective is a mix of writers with multiple creative disciplines in their toolboxes.
One might say poetry readings are hard to sit through in the sense of the dryness of “just words”, and although for some that might be comforting, others may enjoy the mixed media presentation of this collective.
Poet, singer, painter, printmaker and drummer Diana Gitesha Hernandez is a native New Yorker, planted on the lower east side. A lyrical surrealist, her flowing words are a mixture of Spanish and English, sometimes called “Spanglish” and she mixes words like paint describing her thoughts and feelings on the mundane and the spiritual.
Her recent CD on the “NU MUSE” record label, “IMBUED” mixes the Great American Songbook with her own poetry in a moody, “trans hypo jazz” statement of sultry grooves and melodic inventions fused with electronic soul.
In a recent interview Hernandez talked about what “The Artemis Poetry Collective” is: “…..we’ll be streaming in poetry that sparks of gravity, gratitude and discovery – loss and transformation. Artemis is our guide, in the the spirit of the original moon goddess, wild woman healer, huntress, and protecter of the trilogy.”
Ms. Hernandez the painter and printmaker will have some of her paintings and prints on display to add to the melange. Her paintings have been exhibited in various venues on the lower east side, the famed NuYorican Poets Cafe among them. There will be some art available for purchase.
Sarah James, also a native New Yorker, but with a west coast history, is primarily a jazz singer, with a poetic twist. A multi-instrumentalist, videographer/photographer, her work has always fused music with words in the abstract sense as well as an appreciation of storytelling.
Also a song writer and lyricist, her book “WORDS THAT FIT THE MUSIC” is a book of alternate lyrics written for be-bop tunes and 60’s and 70’s jazz classics. She is looking forward to her first book of her original jazz songs to be published in Summer 2015.
Her photographs of NYC graffiti will be available for viewing and some for purchase at the event. Her main interest of late, is combining music, words and images in the video form.
For more info on Gitesha:
For more info on Sarah James:
Westbeth
55 Bethune St
New York, NY
2 Sets: 7pm to 8pm and 8:30 to 9:30pm
Doors open at 6:45PM
Admission: $10.00 Cash at door only
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Catherine Castle
White Diamond Media
www.WhiteDiamondMedia.com