Marina Lomazov

By Cynthia Boiter Tall and elegant, her poise and demeanor reflecting the discipline of the Soviet culture into which she was born, Marina Lomazov takes the stage with all the finesse of the piano diva she is widely recognized to be. Described by reviewers as “a mesmerizing risk-taker” and “one of the most passionate and charismatic performers on the international concert scene today,” there are many other places on the planet that an artist... Read More

Candace Wiley

By Ed Madden Candace Wiley is just back from Pencil Shout, a small workshop in Kentucky with National Book Award poet Nikky Finney, and later this summer she leaves for Colombia, South America, as the recipient of a Fulbright creative writing fellowship.  Jasper first noticed Wiley at last fall’s Bookin’ It on Main, a celebration of black writers at the Columbia Museum of Art.  Wiley read poems included in Home Is Where, an anthology of African-American... Read More

Lucas Sams

There’s really nothing like young art. Be it raw and edgy, or crisp and clean, fresh art offered by fledgling artists, especially when the work is good, holds the promise of potential; the possibility of even better things to come. Jasper takes notice of new artists on the Columbia arts scene and strives to be sure everyone is aware of the energy their new art brings. This issue’s Newly Noticed Artist is Lucas Sams. A young artist exploring both... Read More

Rachel Borgman

There’s really nothing like young art. Be it raw and edgy, or crisp and clean, fresh art offered by fledgling artists, especially when the work is good, holds the promise of potential; the possibility of even better things to come. Jasper takes notice of new artists on the Columbia arts scene and strives to be sure everyone is aware of the energy their new art brings. Jasper’s first ever Newly Noticed Artist is Rachel Borgman, a 23-year-old senior... Read More

Service is the New Muse

By Michaela Pilar Brown There is a singular kind of magic that occurs when you witness someone being transformed by an experience with your art. It is a singular moment when you understand that you as an artist have the power to invoke meaningful change in the life of another. For most artists, choosing art as a career is a different kind of singularity. It is often a choice to live inside one’s own head, to spend endless hours alone with your materials... Read More

NiA – Columbia’s Nomadic Theatre Troupe

By August Krickel Performance venues and physical space are big issues for theatres in Columbia. “Theatre” usually implies, first, the building itself, whether historic facilities like Town Theatre and USC’s Longstreet Theatre and Drayton Hall, or recent constructions like the current spaces used by Workshop, Trustus, and Chapin Community Theatres. Not so much for The NiA Company, happily independent and “truly nomadic,”... Read More

Eileen Blyth and Object Lessons

By Kristine Hartvigsen The police officer took the report with poker-faced professionalism, but Eileen Blyth suspected there might be a few snickers back at the precinct. She had arrived at the artist’s Elmwood Park home responding to a reported robbery. The thieves did not break into Blyth’s house to steal heirloom jewels, but they did make off with priceless items from her yard. Could the officer, or any average person, really comprehend... Read More

Thomas Crouch is un Artista di Molti Mondi

By Cynthia Boiter Huddled in a dark pub on an approaching autumn day, Thomas Crouch could just as easily be prowling the cobbled streets of Italy like so many of his artistic influences. With an outer persona that conveys dissent, Crouch has the inner animus of a philosopher. Part Jeremy Bentham, part Jacques Derrida, Crouch wears well the mask of the misunderstood – until he finds comfort in the discourse at hand. And even though he still proceeds... Read More

Art + Sports = Drè

By Kristine Hartvigsen Like the robust center on a college football team, Drè Lopez can be an intimidating fellow. His bearded, no-nonsense game face belies the thoughtful fine artist at the center of Columbia’s Piensa Art Company, which specializes in distinctive, nonconventional forms of illustration, graphic design, and writing services with a youth-culture bent. Over the past four University of South Carolina football seasons, the popularity... Read More

Lee Ann Kornegay: The Beat Goes On

By Kristine Hartvigsen Try to focus your lens on Lee Ann Kornegay, and you better be able to capture a moving target. One moment the Columbia producer and award-winning documentarian is reading research and sipping wine on her front porch; the next she is hundreds of miles away wailing on a djembe at a mountain-top drum circle or even riding bareback on a sandy beach in Cote d’Ivoire. Those who know Kornegay for her documentary work that has raised... Read More

« Previous PageNext Page »