This episode we’re talking to the multitalented Bea Chu. Bea dives into how her content creator journey began and how she balances education and creativity. We talk about creator communities and tips for improving your audio game.

Diving Into Audio Tips and Finding Motivation with Bea

“The smile goes away the longer they experience the work” - John Vea

Comic Release is a three-part podcast series hosted by artist Joe Jowitt which explores the use of humour in artists' moving image.

In this conversation, Joe meets Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland-born, Ōtautahi-based artist John Vea, whose work uses humour as a device to draw viewers into deeper dialogues around Pasifika identity.

Image: John Vea, Is your name Siliga? No? Oh, you’re Pati? (2025) (detail)

List of Topics:

00:00: Introduction

01:34: What is Talanoa? John - “a holistic way of experiencing information... a learning mechansim”.

03.20: On the video work Is your name Siliga? No? Oh, you’re Pati? (2025)' included in the exhibition Ini Mini Mani Mou (2025) at the Christchurch Art Gallery. John describes the genesis of the work; coming from the real life experience of being mistaken for someone else. In the video, friends “narrate their experiences of these stereotypical events. “It’s funny… it’s not sort of funny”.

05.50: Was the humour in the video intentional? John - “We’re used to laughing at our trauma, which is sad cos we glaze over it... especially when we're kids”.

07:30: John on the nature of Pacific humour generally; and then on integrating it into his work. He discusses the 2019 installation If I pick your fruit, will you put mine back? shown in Sydney. Humour as a 'Trojan horse'.

10:00: On adjusting a work for different social and class contexts "If it has to be subtle... because of the community, then I'll change it up". The difficulty of reinstalling works in a new space, a new context.

12:30: The line between poetic and humorous. How does John "walk that line?" John - “It starts off quite heavy”.

14:30: Joe on the effect on him as an audience member of watching Is your name Siliga? No? Oh, you’re Pati? (2025). John discusses the common Pasifika experience of changing one's name to “fit in”.

16:30: On site specificity; and showing the video Is your name Siliga? No? Oh, you’re Pati? to Christchurch audiences.

17:00: Is the current political climate influencing new work? John - “It's sad that my practice is almost relying on trauma“.

18:00: On John's recent move to Otautahi from Tāmaki Makaurau, being Pasifika in Otautahi.

20:30: John on making Tribute to American Samoa and Tonga (2009); combining sculpture and video, objects as projection surface. The story of the making of the work, and the first installation releasing salt water from the sea into the gallery.

24:00: On conceptualising the work and discarding various sculptural options during this process.

25:30: “Is it a problem if someone comes out of a work and just goes, oh, that was so funny, and then that's it?" John discusses how viewers absorb the work the more time they spend with it.

26:30: Using the body in John’s videos. On the work Finish this week off and that’s it! (2009). John - "I wanted (the audience) to just experience working for two hours... not working in terms of the physical, but... to make them sit there and engage with the work for that amount of time".

28:00: John discusses how the audiences limited attention span for the two hour work is analogous to the lack of interest in acknowledging the cost of labour on Pasifika bodies, and the poor wages for this work.

29:00 On eating below the poverty line for six weeks whilst making Finish this week off and that’s it!

30:00 Comedy as a vehicle for hard conversations. Joe - “...what's interesting is the uncomfortable laughter... is that something you purposefully go for?"

31:00 Joe - "Is it okay for people to laugh at your work?" John - "Humour is welcomed in my practice. But expect the humour to be wiped off your face once you experience the works longer."

Episode 123: Comic Release with John Vea

Above Photograph © Patience Ojionuka

How do you transition from being simply “a friend with a camera” to landing paid gigs with top fashion brands? All while juggling a budding photo career and the rigors of post graduate study, along with sharing insider tips to inspire your community on the side. 

We answer these questions and more in this, our second episode of Next Frame, a monthly podcast series shining a light on rising creative talents. 

Today's guest is Patience Ojionuka, a trendsetting creative known for multitasking between enviable photo assignments and working towards a PhD in psychology. We get the low down on her experiences in the power of pitching and the magic of sharing on social media.

“There's always projects happening, and I think that is the biggest thing I learned,” she explains. “There's nothing more powerful than sharing your work.”

Patience also admits, “I was waiting for the perfect time to start, which reminder to anybody listening, the perfect time to start is right now. I just posted it, and it got a reaction that I just wasn't expecting. And that could happen to you. That could happen to anyone.”
Guest: Patience Ojionuka
Episode Timeline:

2:07: Patience Ojionuka’s start in photography as an undergraduate doing senior portraits and school events.

4:09: Figuring out how to make photography fit into her life, plus getting past the stigma that part time artists don’t have a stake in the industry.

6:20: Connecting with ASMP’s Bridge Mentorship Program, how this changed her life, plus finding time, space, and resources to create at Shotti’s LR2 Studio. 

13:32: A love for lighting and the viral lighting tutorials Patience posts on TikTok.

17:19: How Patience has evolved as a photographer both technically and as a tastemaker.

19:56: A memorable assignment and the value of being kind and personable in a tough industry. 

22:53: Learning the power of pitching and sharing your work on social media.

26:13: Patience’s current social media strategy, plus the Instagram reel that changed her life.

29:16: Drawing inspiration from outside the photography world and merging the different parts of her brain. 

32:58: The most important thing that Patience has learned from mentoring and aims to impart to others.
 
35:21: Where Patience aspires to be as a photographer five years from now, plus news about a recent project for Teen Vogue.

Guest Bio:

Patience Ojionuka is a queer, Houston-raised, NYC-based photographer and psychology PhD student. Specializing in fashion and portraiture, Patience has worked on and assisted in projects for Teen Vogue, Wall Street Journal, Self Magazine, Who What Wear, Allure, and has had clients such as Tinder, Lex App, and National University. Outside the studio, you can find her singing a cappella, editing videos, or probably inappropriately doing doctoral homework at a party.


Stay Connected:

Patience Ojionuka Website: https://patienceojionuka.com
Patience Ojionuka Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patienceojionuka/
Patience Ojionuka LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/patience-o-051531212
Patience Ojionuka YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@patienceojionuka/
Patience Ojionuka TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@patienceojionuka	
LR2 Studio: https://www.lr2.studio/about
ASMP’s Bridge Mentorship Program: https://www.asmp.org/newyork/the-bridge-program/

Host: Derek Fahsbender

Senior Creative Producer: Jill Waterman

Senior Technical Producer: Mike Weinstein

Executive Producer: Richard Stevens


Next Frame: Juggling Time, Space, and Resources in Building a Photo Career with Patience Ojionuka

A chat between outdoor / nature photographer & mountaineer Matt Payne and photographer, filmmaker & Youtube sensation Sean Tucker, author of the creative guide The Meaning in the Making about how one can use photography to help find purpose in life and finding purpose with photography.

Finding Purpose in Your Pictures, with Matt Payne & Sean Tucker

A chat with Grace Mc Nally, a trendsetting young photographer and former attendee of NYC’s NYC Salt youth photo program, for the series Next Frame

Next Frame: Be a Sponge for Creative Insights with Grace Mc Nally

A description of Vickie Orton's artwork, Neural Pathways, for the exhibition Another Way of seeing, Leeds Art Gallery 2025.

Vickie Orton Neural Pathways audio description

Kritikarti Reviews: The Spaces Between Us, reċensjoni minn Gabriel Schembri

Οχι Μουσικη By Antigone Iliadi 26.11.25 w/ Natalia Maniaka

Jackie Green + Julie Hamilton
Beyond the Surface
10 December 2025 - 18 January, 2026
Opening: Friday 12 December 4-6pm

Beyond the Surface, featuring Jackie Green and Julie Hamilton, is a resonant exploration of feminine identity, strength, and vulnerability, shaped through a dialogue with two distinct artistic voices.  

Green’s vibrant iconography and typography merge seamlessly with Hamilton’s storied expres-sions and material exploration, creating a dynamic visual narrative that makes space for any viewer willing to step in. Her subtle yet potent imagery celebrates women’s strength through a mesmeris-ing stratum of hidden words and symbolism that reveal multifaceted identities, intentionally es-chewing cultural and temporal definition. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s introspective works, textured with ink, salt, and torn collage, speak to covert resilience, internal growth, and the quiet mechanics of self-preservation, echoing themes of vulnerability and control. Together, these two artists’ works form a rich tapestry that honours women’s diverse experiences, emphasising collective power and inner tenacity.  

This exhibition marks the second iteration of Kelli Lundberg Art’s Studio Collaborative Series, an ongoing initiative dedicated to nurturing and championing the vibrant creative community at The Studio & Co.

Podcast: Jackie Green + Julie Hamilton 'Beyond the Surface' 10 December 2025 - 18 January, 2026

"Sometimes even a cup of tea can fail" 

In a hyper-connected world, Samantha Cheng's durational performances examine failure as a generative space. In the final episode of Comic Release Joe Jowitt talks to Samantha about time, labour and the body. 

00:00: Introduction to Samantha's practice by Joe Jowitt 

1.50: Joe - "There seems to be a real tension between comedy and exhaustion in your practice. Could you start by describing what draws you to humour as a material or method?" Samantha describes her masters research on failure. 

3.30: Humour as a personal practice. Samantha asks Joe "What do you find funny? Where does your humour come from?" 

5.00: On making the video Happy Ever After (2021). The classic film trope of a happy ending. The repetitive gesture in Happy Ever After.

7.10: Joe compares the work to classic cinema devices "the fall, the loop, the failed gag". He compares the work to Bas Jan Ader and the slapstick tradition of Buster Keaton

8:13: The 'failure of narrative' in the work. Samantha describes watching it with an audience. Joe on the Sisyphean metaphor of human striving but never getting there.

9:20: Failure as a response to the problem of a highly optimised society. On failure, paranoia and contemporary digital surveillance and data harvesting. 

12:00: Humour and abstract art. Inefficiency in Samantha's practice. Samantha -  "It's not the really big failures that I'm interested in... smaller ones have more of a disruptive agency".

13:00: On the work Take a 10 (2022), work and labour. Time as money. "...making that work allowed me to kind of view what 10 minutes actually really felt like. 'Cause in a break, 10 minutes goes by so quickly doing that video felt like doing it for hours".

15:30: How does the absurd fit in your practice? Being "in on the joke". 

16:30 Western academic descriptions of humour versus origins of Samantha's own humour. Family.

17:10: How important is it to perform the work yourself? 

18:10: Social media as influence

19:30: On work Steep dreams (2024). 

21:00: Humour found in everyday life. How do you write about the big subjects? "You can start by writing about the small ones and then maybe we'll get there".

22:00: On Passengers (2023) public event, produced for Chez Derriere. 

23:30: Mass/Mess project at Window Gallery. 

24:24: On spontaneity and not over-working humour. Working in a space where humour is not welcome. 

26:00: What does it offer the viewer to ask questions about boundaries? 

26:43: Anti-ICE protests in USA using costumes. "Autocrats hate humour".

27:30: Is humour a way to stay present in the world? Weaponisation of humour. Individual sense of what's funny versus other people's interpretation. 

28:58: END

Episode 124: Samantha Cheng

To Pikap Radio is based in Thessaloniki, Greece. The station is located inside the record store of To Pikap's multi-purpose facility, at Olympou Street No. 57. Streaming live everyday with a monthly schedule of local DJs & Producers, Mini Radio Concerts, Performances, Special Shows and Presentations since 2017. A platform seeking to contribute to the creative universe, by becoming both a channel and a hub.
Café/Bar/Record Label/Art Space/Record Store/Bookstore

www.topikap.gr

Contemporary art gallery, visual art consultancy and artist-in-residence program on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

We write reviews not to please, but to engage, challenge, and push artistic discourse forward. We don’t do fluff. We don’t do safe. We do critical, honest, and informed writing that respects the work but never sugarcoats it.

The B&H Photography Podcast: Join us every other week for a conversation with insightful and entertaining guests. From gear and technique to history, science and art, we discuss the issues most important to the contemporary photographer.

CIRCUIT CAST is a podcast produced by CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image, interviewing contemporary artists about recent exhibitions and how they approach their practice. CIRCUIT is Aotearoa/New Zealand's leading distributor of artists' moving image works. 

www.circuit.org.nz.

New tracks tagged #visual arts