realities of the two countries . Using photographs and objects from home , she infuses them with collective meaning , bridging the personal to the shared experiences of migration and nostalgia . Modesto received her BFA from the University of North Florida and is presently an instructor and an MFA candidate in Studio Art at Florida State University .
YASMIN NICHOLAS is a third-generation Caribbean ( Dominican and St Lucian descent ) who lives and works in North West London . She graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Middlesex University , Hendon in 2015 . She has had group shows including Beaconsfield in Vauxhall , London and at Truman Brewery , Brick Lane , London in 2015 , where she presented both of her films , ‘ Bwapen ’ and ‘ Metaphors ’. Nicholas ’ work consists of mixed media including writing and poetry , accounts of daily life , drawing attention to particular experiences , identity , race and diaspora related issues , and Caribbean culture .
MASON RICHARDS is a Guyanese-born filmmaker who grew up in Brooklyn , New York . He received his Master of Fine Arts in Film Directing from California Institute of the Arts ( CalArts ). While studying at CalArts , Richards had the opportunity not only to develop a cinematic style , but also to write and direct several narrative short films including his thesis , The Seawall , which had its world premiere at the 2011 Festival de Cannes in the Short Film Corner . To make The Seawall , Richards returned to his home country , Guyana to tell a story from a personal perspective and work with non-actors in the community . Richards lives and works in Los Angeles , California where he is a filmmaker , writer , director , and founder of the production company MR Productions , which creates film and television content that seeks to create a social impact . In 2012 , he was selected for Film Independent ’ s nine month Project : Involve program , and was awarded the Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship the same year . He has served as faculty at Emerson College-Los Angeles since 2018 .
FARIHAH ALIYAH SHAH is a contemporary lens-based artist originally from Edmonton , Alberta now based in Bradford , Ontario . She holds a BHRM from York University and a BFA in Photography with a minor in Integrated Media from OCAD University in Toronto , Ontario . Using photography , video and sound installation , her practice engages photographic history and explores identity formation through the colonial gaze , race , connectivity to land , and collective memory . Shah was the 2019 recipient of the John Hartman Award . She currently is a member at Gallery 44-Centre for Contemporary Photography and Women Photograph an organization that advocates for Female Identified and Non-Binary photojournalists . Shah has exhibited internationally in Asia , Europe , and North America .
COSMO WHYTE is a Jamaican-born artist based in Los Angeles , California and Montego Bay , Jamaica . He attended Bennington College in Vermont for his BFA , Maryland Institute College of Art for his Post-Baccalaureate Certificate and the University of Michigan for his MFA . Whyte has exhibited his works in the United States , Jamaica , Norway , England , France , and South Africa . His most recent exhibitions of note include Yesterday We Said Tomorrow , Prospect 5 , New Orleans ( 2021 ); Beneath Its Tongue , the Fish Rolls the Hook to Sharpen Its Cadence , Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia , Atlanta ( 2019 ); Get Up Stand Up , The Summerset House , London , UK ( 2019 ); Intermittent Rivers , 13th Havana Biennial Matanzas , Cuba ( 2019 ); Of Drawings and Belonging at The High Museum , Atlanta ( 2019 ); the Jamaica Biennial ( 2017 ) and Atlanta Biennial , Atlanta Contemporary ( 2016 ).
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