Meet our TWIG 2025 Artists in Residence!
Ahmari Benton is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans wet and dry media, collage, and textile art. Her work centers on interrogating boundaries, self-identity, and social identity within the realms of gender and race politics. “As a multidisciplinary visual artist, I am deeply interested in the intersections of identity, place, and material storytelling. My creative practice draws from painting and fashion design to explore how visual narratives can affirm personal and collective histories—particularly within Black and urban communities. I am intellectually driven by questions of visibility, adornment, and how traditional and contemporary craft practices can be used to challenge dominant cultural narratives.”
Ahmari Benton (she/her)
Andy Lira-Landa (they/them)
Andy Lira-Landa is a community artist with an educational background in art therapy. “My interests are centered in culture, identity, defining home, accessing freedom, social justice, harm reduction, mental health and spiritual healing. I explore these themes through mosaics, ceramics, and painting. I have a bachelors degree in Art Therapy and an extensive background in using the arts as a form of medicine with a variety of age groups. I look forward to continuing my ceramic work of relief sculptures centering brown bodies in green spaces and connecting it to my mosaic practice.I find inspiration in the larger than life sculpture/mosaic work of Niki de Saint Phalle.”
Yesica Coria (she/her)
Yesica Coria Zavaleta is a graduate of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Veracruz in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. where she earned a degree in Graphic Design. For over 12 years, she has worked extensively with corn husk, her signature material, using it in various forms such as sculpture, folk art, and, more recently, abstract art. This artistic journey has led her to teach in a variety of settings, including private schools and nonprofit organizations. She is currently part of Familia de Arte, a community-based group of artists who collaborate to beautify neighborhoods through ceramic murals. “As part of my commitment to promoting ancestral art and building community, I feel passionate about offering workshops where participants can learn an ancient art form while working together to create a sculpture. Two years ago, I led a project to build a 7-foot-tall Catrina with community support. I’d like to expand on that experience—creating a new sculpture and sharing the process through collaborative workshops that connect people through tradition and creativity.”