South Florida has become a considerable pocket of art in the last 12 years. Maybe even longer. Being so close to the equator makes the southernmost region of the United States pretty hot, climatically so, but in respect to artists turning heads in the city and bringing attention to the area (particularly Miami), artists with distinct backgrounds and practices are turning up the heat, making it hotter than before by addressing pressing issues.

Discussions such as climate change, gentrification, South Florida’s wildlife in the Everglades, preservation of local cultures and historical sites, or identity-politics seem to be on the artist’s minds and leak well into the works.

Every blossoming artist has a unique perspective and aesthetic to offer the public. Competition between peers shouldn’t be a factor in success, but instead should be acknowledged and applauded. Miami’s sundry is key to the city’s progress in the arts. It can be pretty hard to keep up with the talent and “who is who,” but even more so trivial to find individuals who care enough to spread the spotlight onto the enormous mass of creatives.

Amid the roaring sea of Miami artists, two women producers Elysa Batista, and Maria Theresa Barbist decided to pair up as a team. The result was the birth of Rocking Chair Sessions- spontaneous interviews with a list of preordained invitees from the arts community. The meeting’s format discloses both professional and personal information to the public, making it that much easier to connect the creative to a broader audience intimately.

Perhaps the interview is meant to document two endearing women getting to know someone better in their community or having a live “therapy session” that will enable their guest(s) to be more relatable to the audience rather than just a wildly imaginative, far-fetched, egocentric subject. Rocking Chair Sessions uniquely breaks the ice from one artist to the other. Once inside the charming studio, the guest sits with two smart and giggly ladies while enjoying a gentle sway on the ” magical” rocking chair at Bakehouse Complex in Wynwood, Miami.

After my curious session with Barbist and Batista, I decided to ask them a few questions too. After all, It’s quite fancy to reciprocate interest to two women who cordially extended southern hospitality to me and so many others in South Florida.

Interview:

BB: When we last met, you (Barbist) asked me to make three wishes, which I had already asked the universe and am manifesting. I much appreciated it and wondered do you wish to ask this of the artist? Do you believe the power of collective energy hankers the tangible? In other words, if we all place a definite emphasis on the contentment of another, will all the energies add to the result of manifestation? Let me know if I am too esoteric or speaking by quantum physics.

BB: By the way, I can’t stop myself from thinking about the Care Bears. Do you remember when they used to huddle and activate the Care Bear Stare?

MB: It’s one of my favorite parts of the interview, to talk about the magical rocking chair and ask the artists for their wishes. I believe that thinking about one’s desires and speaking them out loud can set free energies in the person and the universe that can foster their fulfillment.

MB: Ever since I lived in San Francisco I started a personal spiritual practice with an oracle card desk called for dolphins and mermaids, very Bay Area. Here is an example of one of the questions in the cards. The card says: make a wish and enjoy its manifestation. Also, I do try to focus not just on the moment where a desire is happening but also every step along the way, mainly to open myself up for it to happen. You gotta have some magic in your life, right?

EB: Yes!!!! The Care Bears fully demonstrated what positive collective energy could manifest. Maria Theresa grew up in Austria and has sadly not experienced the Care Bears, but it’s funny how this podcast commenced as a Care Bear stare into the South Floridian pool and has overwhelmingly reflected and returned hundredfold in participation and support from the creative community.

BB: Barbist, how much of your background in psychology influence the interviews? I read on the RCS site that the meetings are “A hybrid between a therapy session and an artist interview.” Why is it so important to invite the artist to a session that drifts on a personal level? I am doing it right now with you. Can we both state that there is an innate humanistic yearning to understand someone who on so many levels has many things in common to yourself but has such a distinctive way of executing their knowledge that it could be influentially life-changing in our own lives?

MB: My training is psychotherapy was in a method called Psychodrama developed by the psychiatrist Jacob L. Moreno who was born in Romania, studied in Vienna and then emigrated to the US. Psychodrama is grounded in a humanistic view of the world with a focus on the human encounter. Moreno describes his idea in a poem like this:

• A meeting of two: eye to eye, face to face And when you are near I will tear your eyes out and place them instead of mine, and you will tear my eyes out and put them instead of yours then I will look at you with your eyes, and you will look at me with mine.

MB: Sometimes this happens in our Sessions, that after 50 minutes I have a deep understanding of the artist and his work. Also, I do believe that encounters like this can be therapeutic for the people involved, even if it’s not quite a therapy session.

BB: Batista what do you think about man/womankind’s thirst to return to humanity and the humane treatment of one another? Is this what brought you and Barbist to formalize RCS? I mean, do you think people have daily conversations such as this one with each other?

EB: I think that people can only handle so much toxicity. Either one separates themselves from that environment and becomes a loner, or chooses to surround themselves with positive, empathetic humans.

EB: Sharing kindness and respect is something that one craves to receive, but not everyone is willing to give. I do believe that the beginning of RCS was from an honest and pure-hearted place and continues to do so. We had a desire to engage and highlight the community we interact with and find to be inspiring, regardless of our non “big” city location. I do believe that people have meaningful and positive exchanges of conversation and energy, but can we use more of it? Certainly!

BB: How would the dynamics change in your interviews if a non-artist guest was invited to sit and participate in the discussion? Would that change RCS’s mission or could that be another layer and the start to another community project?

MB: We have interviewed non-artists before, most curators, gallerists or museum directors, so still people in the art world. I think the concept could be easily used for other professions as well, but since we are both artists, I guess those are the people we magnetize towards to, the local South Florida art community.

EB: I think that every sector has a language or insider knowledge that although we might not be privy to, we are still people asking individuals to take the time out of their life to share their story with us. So in a way, some dynamics would fluctuate if the people interviewed were not from the art community, but at the end of the day, RCS is about the human narrative and journey to the present.

BB: Would RCS visit other cities and artists? Why or why not?

MB: We have been considering doing residencies in other cities and than for example interview the other residents in that community, building new networks. For now, we are gonna stay in Miami, but who knows what the future brings. I definitely would also love to bring in the Bay Area art community that I was part of when I went to SFAI, and Elysa has a big network in New York from her days at Parsons.

EB: Bruja! This idea has come up. I have firmly come to learn never to say never but to concentrate on time and opportunity. As Maria stated, the groundwork has set for RCS here in Miami, but who ever really knows?

BB: Aside from Miami artists referring other individuals to be on the podcast, has there been any magical outcomes such as collaborations or new connections formed from being here?

MB: I don’t know what happened to all of the artists after the interview, but for sure Elysa and I had a lot of magical things happen to us. We are starting with so much support for our first RCS exhibit last year at the Bakehouse, where for example Kiki Valdes whom we were interviewing when the show up did this beautiful video of the exhibition for us or Monica McGivern who did the photography of the show. Now we are collaborating with Anthony Spinello and Oliver Sanchez, local gallery owners, on the next RCS exhibits. As Elysa would say, we’re blessed with all the support that we are getting for this project from day one.

EB: We have seen participants win Ellies, Grammy’s, and South Florida Consortiums, not by anyone’s doing but their hard work. It’s genuinely phenomenal to get to witness.

BB: Ladies, are there any fond memories you’d like to share with the readers? Also, what three wishes do each of you have to request the universe?

MB: Elysa loves to tell the story of when I messed up with the recording equipment… So there was this one time when I forgot to push record and found out 20 minutes later that we have not been recording anything. It was the only 70-minute session; you will never know what happened in the first 20 minutes. Then there was the time Sarah MK Moody who brought her brand new baby to the recording, and little Stella was perfectly happy (and quiet) in her lap for the whole session. However, so many of the few moments are special to us, when we learn things about other artists that you usually don’t talk about at gallery openings.

EB: Ha! That’s a funny one, and baby Stella was our youngest RCS interviewee before sitting down with two expecting artists. My favorite moments are those where a chord is touched, and a connection made. Every time we sit I find myself appreciating humanity more deeply. Each session has a unique memory or lesson learned or inspired. We separate and distance ourselves from each other sometimes, but when we listen and engage in conversation, wow, we’re equals.

EB: I have a few fond memories. Listening to our jingle for the first time, celebrating each recording milestone: 1, 5, 1O, etc., and most importantly, when an interviewee says YES to sitting down with us and follows through. RCS is for them.

Maria forgot her wishes. I wish for a healthy planet, a world devoid of abuse of power, and kindness/happiness/love for all.

Edited by Abel Folgar

Written by

• Beláxis Buil