About Artists on Site

Asia Society Texas developed the Artists on Site project in 2020 as an initiative that transforms the galleries into studio and project spaces for Houston-based artists. The idea emerged from conversations starting in early 2020 with many artists in Houston and throughout the country to develop ways that Asia Society Texas could support them and their practices. Through studio visits and related programs, visitors can connect with these artists and the critically important insights they contribute.

About the Artists

Tatiana Escallón is an abstract artist, born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Escallón started her creative career as a designer and illustrator. It was years later when painting became her main language. She received her Bachelor of Graphic Design at the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano. At the same time, she took fine art courses at Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia in 1995.

In 2023, Tatiana was an invited panelist in the program "Latin American Women Artist of Houston," led by the University of Houston and Latino Art Now. She exhibited at the X WTA (Woman in Textile Art) Biennale of Contemporary Textile Art, Manizales, Colombia, (2022); Museo Silverio Perez, CDMX, Mexico (2022). Her work was awarded at Jardin de Los Artistas and is in the permanent collection of Casa Museo El Romeral, Spain since 2021; Holocaust Museum, Withstand: Latin Art In Times of Conflict, Houston, Texas (2021); V Photography Competition, "Resilient Woman Surviving Woman," 3rd place, Madrid Spain, (2021); Art Museum Texas, Sugarland, Texas; Serrano Gallery, Houston, Texas. She also has a 41 feet long mural commission piece for Sugarland Town Square, the City of Sugarland, Texas.

In 2019, Escallón was a recipient of the SACI Grant (Support for Artists and Creative Individuals), from the City of Houston through Houston Art Alliance.

Artist Website | Instagram

Farima Fooladi was born in Tehran, Iran, in a transition period from monarchy to the Islamic Republic and theocracy. She lives in Houston, Texas. She teaches at the University of Houston.

Fooladi's paintings depict spaces using memory, compressing architecture and landscape from her upbringing in post-revolutionary Iran with those surrounding her as an adult after emigrating to the United States. She combines details from Southern Iran's arid environment with luscious flora and other specifics of her current home in Houston, Texas. Water appears as a motif in pools, waterfalls, and lakes. In Iran, a scarce resource and abundant in Houston, water plays a significant role in Fooladi's work. It is a texture and a symbol, referencing specific yet undocumentable recollections and shifting availability due to climate change.

Fooladi completed her MFA and taught at Penn State University before moving to Houston, Texas. Fooladi's painting titled "Mirage" was purchased with the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA)'s support for Houston Airports in 2020 to add to the Civic Art Collection at Houston Airports. Fooladi is fascinated by the lasting impact of collective trauma caused by invasion, migration, and displacement. The transformation of civic spaces caused by social and political changes particularly interests her.

Artist Website | Instagram

Naomi Kuo is a Taiwanese American artist based in Houston, Texas. She utilizes drawing, collage, textile-making, and various collaborative modes to make connections between social systems, material culture and individual experiences—particularly in peripheral spaces. Through her work, she hopes to address both critical and everyday gaps in cultural understanding and to contribute to the well-being of her local community. Subjects of interest include urban ecology, Asian American identity, and solidarity economies.

Kuo received an MFA in Studio Art/Social Practice at the City University of New York, Queens College. Her artwork has been exhibited in the Queens Museum of Art, Queens Public Library, and Houston City Hall, among other places. She is also a recipient of The Idea Fund grant (2023).

Artist Website | Instagram

Alexis Pye (born 1995, Detroit, MI) explores the tradition of painting as a way to express the Black body outside of its social constructs, to evoke playfulness, wonder, and blackness, as well as the joys amidst adversity. Pye received her BFA in Painting from the University of Houston in 2018. She was selected as a Summer Studios Resident and for Round 51: Local Impact II at Project Row Houses, both in 2018. Her work was exhibited in a group show of young artists at the David Shelton Gallery for Everything's Gonna be Alright in 2019, curated by Robert Hodge. Pye received the "Juror's Choice Prize" for the 20th Annual Citywide African American Artists Exhibition held at Texas Southern University in 2019, selected by Kanitra Fletcher.

She was included in the group show Animal Crossing at Inman Gallery in 2020, and presented her first solo show, The Real and the Fantastic/The Irrational Joys of the Axis, at Inman Gallery in July 2021. In 2021, her work was included in the group exhibitions My Mirror Is Fine, curated by Miles Payne at the Community Artists Collective, Houston and Honor Thy Self at Martha's Contemporary in Austin. Her work was also in the MFAH staff art show at the Museum Fine Arts, Houston in 2021 and she has collaborated with the Houston Rockets x CAMH at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in 2022. She is a Round 16 "Lawndale Artist Studio Program" Participant for the 2022-2023 season.

Alexis Pye lives and works in Houston, Texas.

Artist Website | Instagram

Pink Plankton! Presents

Doc Guava (Jose Cano) started off as a B-boy in his early days before he transitioned into music in his early 20s, admiring and showing appreciation for the music that brought him up along with the newer sounds of today. Jose Cano uses older hip-hop methods and flips samples with more recent technology to continue the path of what beats are today, compared to the '90s. Doctor Guava has traveled from Melbourne to Mexico to Japan to London/Bristol.

Doc Guava uses all vinyl for his DJ acts, keeping the art of DJ'ing alive and bringing unheard sounds to today's crowds. Jose likes to believe that through music, he's just sharing all the love in the world with his audience and wants them to enjoy themselves through sound.

The Chevy Boys are an instrumental trio from Houston, Texas. The group consists of Jacob Alvarado (bass), Ryan Rodriguez (guitar) and Julian Combong (drums). The group doesn’t have a definite genre to define themselves with but takes influences and cues from artists such as Khruangbin, Tommy Guerrero, Dina Ögon, and The Meters, to name a few.

Hasaan Olu is an interdisciplinary performance that immerses the viewer in an aesthetic delight, which illustrates the phenomenon of cultural fusion and highlights the beauty of intersectionality. The musical trio’s sound bends genres in a style that reflects the diversity of their native city of Houston and descends from the fusion movement of the 1970’s — it may be described as Electro-Soul.

Hasaan Olu is comprised of Texas natives Ichikara Valdez (vocalist, producer), Amaru the Musical Nomad (multi-instrumentalist, trumpeter, vocalist), and The Biggest Brandon (keyboardist, flutist, vocalist). The three musicians’ extensive individual training unify under the singular vibration of this project.

This program is organized by Asia Society Texas Center. Exhibitions and their related programs at Asia Society Texas Center are presented by Nancy C. Allen and Leslie and Brad Bucher. Major support comes from Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Hearst Foundation, Houston Endowment, and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Generous funding also provided by The Anchorage Foundation of Texas, The Clayton Fund, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Wortham Foundation, Inc., Olive Jenney, and Ann Wales. United Airlines is our official airline partner. Funding is also provided through contributions from the Exhibitions Patron Circle, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional visual art to Asia Society Texas Center.

The Plant Exchange is part of Kuo's Garden Connections project, made possible with support from The Idea Fund. The Idea Fund is a re-granting program administered by DiverseWorks, Aurora Picture Show, and Project Row Houses and funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Presenting Sponsors

Nancy C. Allen
Leslie and Brad Bucher
Chinhui Juhn and Edward Allen

Program Sponsors

Additional Support for Artists on Site Series 4

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.