Keeping Up With The Present

Maureen McQuillan, Untitled (C/B2), 2025 Acrylic polymer, ink and acrylic on wood panel 30 x 40 inches. Courtesy the artist and McKenzie Fine Art, New York.

Sophie Kinsella, The Undomestic Goddess

“sometimes you don’t need a goal in life, you don’t need to know the big picture. you just need to know what you’re going to do next!”

As the days rush by and the calendar pages seem to turn faster than we can catch them, it’s easy to feel swept along by what’s ahead or weighed down by what’s behind. But there’s a quiet power in pausing long enough to choose the next right step. Nothing grand, nothing sweeping, just the thing you’ll do now. In a life that’s shorter and swifter than we often admit, giving our attention to the present moment can feel like an act of both simplicity and courage.

-Sophie Kinsella, The Undomestic Goddess

Maureen McQuillan joined us to talk about Coloratura, her recent show at McKenzie Fine Art. The title is an 18th century Italian term that refers to a highly embellished style of operatic singing as well as – McQuillan discovered in her research – the title of a very hopeful Coldplay song whose core message is that it’s the love you experience that is the most important thing in life. To learn more about these concepts, as well as the mesmerizing work in the series, listen to the complete interview.

Shontina Vernon joined us in this archival interview from 2018. A multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker, she was at the time working on a number of projects. One of these was a film called Grrrl Justice looking at the pathways for girls and gender non-conforming youth of color within the juvenile justice system. To learn more about her work, listen to the complete interview – and to keep up with her current projects, visit her website.