Join Maylyn ‘Zero’ Iglesias for a free artist talk and cyanotype workshop at Swiss Institute as a part of Lower East Side History Month from 1:30pm to 4:30pm.
We will begin by exploring Zero's place-based photography practice, use of alternative photographic processes, and connection to Loisaida and its Nuyorican culture. This will be followed by a hands-on workshop where we will learn about the process of preparing cyanotype paper, and then develop cyanotypes of our own using transparent photo negatives of Zero's work of the neighborhood and local found materials.
All materials are provided, though participants are welcome to bring objects, drawings, and the like that they might wish to use in their making.
The workshop portion will take place outside on the Swiss Institute rooftop. Should there be rain, this program will be rescheduled.
RSVP required and spots are limited!
Maylyn ‘Zero’ Iglesias is a Nuyorican photographer, educator, archivist and curator born and raised on the Lower East Side. Her early sensibilities were formed in New York City by 1980’s graffiti, hip hop, punk and her mother’s Salsa and Supremes records. She graduated from LaGuardia Community College with an Associates Degree in Commercial Photography. Iglesias’s work is focused on her beloved Loisaida with the aim of documenting her neighborhood, while finding a way to stay connected to her roots and preserving remnants of the quickly disappearing Nuyorican culture that once thrived so boldly in her youth. Her personal project, “What’s It Mean to be Nuyorican” was added to the LaGuardia Wagner Archives in 2021. During that time she joined the Loisaida Center to head their newly-launched archive program, which was created to preserve the history of LES photographers, poets, musicians and neighborhood leaders and activists. Frustrated with not seeing women artists like herself represented in art shows and galleries, she began curating group art shows in 2022. Her own art and photography has been shown in New York, New Orleans and London. Maylyn has co-taught photography workshops and been a teaching and darkroom assistant at ICP, the Free Film Project, Lower East Side Girls Club and the Josephine Herrick Project.
May is Lower East Side History Month!
Lower East Side History Month is an annual celebration of the stories and peoples of the LES. This year, over 70 organizations -- including museums, arts nonprofits, community centers, small businesses, and gardens, will host learning opportunities, tours, performances, and public events!
The LES and Chinatown have deep histories as sites of refuge, community, and mutual aid -- places created by immigrants for immigrants.
At a time when immigrant communities are being targeted and villainized, we encourage everyone this May to celebrate and honor the extraordinary contributions immigrants from all parts of the world have made to the rich, diverse history of our neighborhood.
Check out the calendar of Lower East Side History Month events which will continue to be updated throughout April at www.peoplesles.org.