photo Simon Beckmann
Joya: AiR / Cristal Buemi / CAN
“For me, space in its many forms, was the main thing I was longing for during my time at Joya: AiR. Physical Space - from the beautiful studio provided for me to reconnect with my practice of stop motion animation, to the incredible landscape where I gathered natural materials like wild flowers, herbs, rocks and pigments to experiment with. Emotional Space - for personal reflection, writing and engaging conversations shared with my fellow artists on walks, and at our family dinners where we were blessed each night with Donna’s beautiful homemade cooking. Mental Space - a slow paced serene environment to share our practices, and learn about each others’ journeys, approaches and perspectives every night at our artist talks. But most importantly the space to allow for each artist to have their own unique experience, free from production pressures, where one can dive deep into new ideas, materials, and techniques, while being present and grounded back into the land.
I feel very grateful for this incredible space centered around community and ecological art making. I will hold this time, the work/ ideas created and the new woven friendships in my creative soul for a while to come. Gracias La Joya. Hasta la próxima with love”!
Stop Motion | Multimedia Artist | Art Educator
Cristal holds a BA from Toronto Metropolitan University and an MA from Bau, Design College of Barcelona. Her collaborative and individual works have been exhibited worldwide including its inclusion in Animac (2017) The New York City Independent Film Festival (2017), Venus Fest (2021) and broadcasted on AMC (2022). Most recently her work exhibited at Harbourfront Centre’s Pandemic Postcards Series as part of CoMotion Festival (2022), at Fashion Art Toronto (2022), and animations she contributed to the HBO documentary “Great Photo, Lovely life” which premiered at South by Southwest last month (2023).