Bird Wallace Completes Internship with SUNY Oneonta Artist-in-Residence

Bird Wallace, of Monroe, NY, was one of three SUNY Oneonta students who interned under Natan Diacon-Furtado as part of the School of Liberal Arts and Business's Artist-in-Residence program. Wallace, who is studying Digital and Studio Art, interned alongside Clayton Davis and Victoria Hallenbeck. Together, the three students were co-collaborators for two giant multimedia installations on campus, the culmination of Diacon-Furtado's residency at SUNY Oneonta.

A visual artist driven by collaboration, interaction and mutual learning, Diacon-Furtado left SUNY Oneonta after eight weeks of bringing students, faculty and staff together to create sculptural work that combines visual and audio components with audience participation. What began as a dream at the beginning of the semester quickly developed into a dynamic, evolving art series made possible by the collaborative efforts of Diacon-Furtado, Wallace, Hallenbeck and Davis. The three seniors interned with Diacon-Furtado from the beginning of their spring 2024 semester through the artist's final day-in-residence on March 13.

"They're the reason that this piece behind us works," said Diacon-Furtado, gesturing to a colorful multimedia installation tilted "Pattern Offerings" inside the Fine Arts 318 studio. This first installation was on display in Fine Arts 318 during the majority of the visual artist's residency, and it helped Diacon-Furtado and the three interns create the final two pieces.

"My work is driven by interaction, collaboration and learning from each other. I seek out fellowships and residencies like this time I've spent at SUNY Oneonta so I can do that," said Diacon-Furtado. "I don't want to work with people my age who think like me and are like me. I want to do it with a wide range of folks, and so working with the student interns has been wonderful for that exact reason - because we get to co-create in a way where it's not just my brain bringing ideas to the table. That's how we ended up with something like this project that is so fluid and dynamic."

The second part of "Pattern Offerings" features an edited video of 12 classes interacting directly with the artwork in Fine Arts 318 that will be projected onto the exterior of the Fine Arts Center on Thursday, April 4, at 7 p.m. All three interns will provide remarks on the installation during the opening reception.

The final installation created by Diacon-Furtado and the three interns is called "Collaborative Monumentality" and features two pre-recorded videos of the artists projected onto 11 different windows of Fitzelle Hall that give the appearance of the artists coloring in each window. "Collaborative Monumentality" can be viewed after sunset on campus until mid April.

"The things I learned most from this internship with Natan are to have fun with art and that no idea is concrete," said Wallace. "Every single time I showed up, I left with a new experience that came from what we worked on that day. I'm used to subject-oriented art, and this projection art took it to a different level. This experience will influence me to make more interesting things."