Ali
ALI NEWHARD
BROOKLYN, NY
Her lens-based practice uses photography, video, and installation to explore gestures of queering narratives through images. Working with experimental editing and storytelling, her films and photographs act as spaces of rupture from traditional climactic structures.
Newhard received a B.A. in Film & Media Arts from American University and attended Columbia University’s summer photography intensive in 2016. She holds an M.F.A. in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design and has shown work at the Leroy Neiman Gallery, Gelman Gallery, Microscope Gallery, Washington Project for the Arts, and Gallery 263. She is the recipient of American University’s Summer Scholar & Artist Award and the Graduate Director Assistantship Award at Rhode Island School of Design. As a film editor, she has led post-productions on short films and feature-length narrative projects, including Dealing, an official selection of Newfest. She formerly taught at Rhode Island School of Design and is currently a Visiting Professor at Pratt Institute.
Ali, ABOUT HIDDEN HILLS
“The invitation to Hidden Hills Residency in late January provided a space and time to explore a culmination of ideas that flowed into writing, photographing, reading, and journaling, after a long winter of falling in and out of work. This residency not only allowed me to work on current projects, but also develop a much deeper understanding of the needs required by my creative practice. As someone who works full time and teaches, this residency afforded me the mental and physical space to think and photograph without the obligations and restrictions of daily life. It was such a valuable experience to have access to the quiet working studio while also being able to drive into downtown Asheville and be in the center of their abundant art scene.
On a misty Thursday afternoon I drove through Black Mountain and over to Penland about an hour away to photograph. The sense of awe I felt on this sh
ort day trip brought me to the scene of so many modernist artists fleeing Europe and feeling a sense of artistic connection in this part of the country. In the mornings I sat on the porch and read the collections of journal entries by Anne Truitt titled Daybook. On January 1st she wrote "the ground smells of spring. I am glad to be delivered once more from the dark solstice into the turn toward growth. January is my favorite month, when the light is planiest, least colored. And I like the feeling of beginnings." I could not have imagined the difference a week could make in helping me navigate my practice for this coming year, but there is something special about this place and moment in the calendar.”