The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Nicole Clark!Who is Nicole Clark: Chicago-born, Baltimore-based artist and writer. Nicole works across paint, prose, and collage, often pulling from personal paper trails to build layered, funny, and pointed reflections on women’s lives.In our conversation, Nicole talks about moving from “Chicago proper” to Baltimore, why she leans on blinders to avoid comparison, and how running her own race keeps the work honest. She walks through mixing mediums—abstract and figurative painting with text and collage—and how revisiting old artifacts lets her thread humor, memory, and critique into a single piece. We also get into the art-and-business overlap: accidental entrepreneurship becoming intentional, and finding voice and community in Baltimore’s scene.Explore Nicole’s work and writing at https://tilqueendomcome.com/ and on Instagram at @til_queendom_come. The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore). Host: Rob LeeMusic: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.Production:Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel AlexisEdited by Daniel AlexisShow Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and TransistorPhotos:Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.Support the podcastThe Truth In This Art Podcast Fractured Atlas (Fundraising): https://www.fracturedatlas.orgThe Truth In This Art Podcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thetruthinthisart.bsky.socialThe Truth In This Art Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truthinthisart/?hl=enThe Truth In This Art Podcast Website: https://www.thetruthinthisart.com/The Truth In This Art Podcast Shop: Merch from Redbubble ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, artist Santos Shelton returns!Who is Santos Shelton: Bay Area–based artist and storyteller. Santos blends science fiction and fantasy with vibrant color and dynamic texture, using his work to explore vulnerability, healing, and lived experience through a lens shaped by being biracial—Black and Mexican.In our conversation, Santos talks about using art to translate personal and societal trauma into visual stories, and how making the work can be a way to express what’s hard to say out loud. He reflects on a deeply personal solo show shaped by difficult experiences at home and how those experiences can linger, influencing identity and self-perception. We also discuss his upcoming mini solo show at Gallery Ergo in Seattle, where he’s focusing on death and grief after years of family loss—and how cultural context shapes the way he approaches that theme.Catch Santos’s previous episode here.Follow Santos on Instagram at @santosart and follow the gallery at @gallery.ergo for updates on the March 13 opening.As a first, I have an extended version of this conversation if you want to check it out:  The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore). Host: Rob LeeMusic: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.Production:Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel AlexisEdited by Daniel AlexisShow Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and TransistorPhotos:Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.Support the podcastThe Truth In This Art Podcast Fractured Atlas (Fundraising): https://www.fracturedatlas.orgThe Truth In This Art Podcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thetruthinthisart.bsky.socialThe Truth In This Art Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truthinthisart/?hl=enThe Truth In This Art Podcast Website: https://www.thetruthinthisart.com/The Truth In This Art Podcast Shop: Merch from Redbubble ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is returning filmmaker Tristian “TrisRex” Johnson!Who is TrisRex: A filmmaker, monster maker, and practical FX artist whose work blends sci-fi and horror with hand-built creatures and DIY craft.In our conversation, TrisRex digs into his latest project, Aliens Resurgence (for the Hive). He talks through post-production—“doing a bid”—and how the edit sets pacing and tension. He breaks down working with real people alongside fabricated characters, including Big Pookie—“the biggest diva”—and what it takes to design, move, and shoot large-scale practical monsters. We get into planning for complex scenes, scrapping or reshooting choices, and staying disciplined so the story holds together while he pushes into unconventional territory.Don't miss Aliens Resurgence (for the Hive) —it’s a wild ride you won't want to overlook.  The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore). Host: Rob LeeMusic: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.Production:Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel AlexisEdited by Daniel AlexisShow Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and TransistorPhotos:Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.Support the podcastThe Truth In This Art Podcast Fractured Atlas (Fundraising): https://www.fracturedatlas.orgThe Truth In This Art Podcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thetruthinthisart.bsky.socialThe Truth In This Art Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truthinthisart/?hl=enThe Truth In This Art Podcast Website: https://www.thetruthinthisart.com/The Truth In This Art Podcast Shop: Merch from Redbubble ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Jonene Lee!Who is Jonene Lee: Philadelphia-based curator and owner of NoName Gallery, with roots in photography, dance, and deep ties across the city’s music and arts community.In our conversation, Jonene lays out how photography—documenting friends, parties, and performances—shaped her curatorial eye. She talks about organizing Philly DJ Day, uniting around 300 Philadelphia DJs for a single group photograph inspired by Gordon Parks. We get into her dance background and how that sense of rhythm and flow shows up in how she builds exhibitions and events. She also breaks down opening NoName Gallery in Chestnut Hill—learning business on the fly, tapping community support, and expanding the gallery’s role beyond a white-wall space to include urban, street, pop, abstract, and contemporary work, plus artist-made home furnishings.At the center is connection: photos that turn into relationships, music that anchors the scene, and a gallery that serves both artists and neighborhood.Be sure to check out NoName Gallery and explore the fantastic artists who are shaping the Philadelphia art scene. Visit NoNameGalleryPhilly.com for all the latest updates! The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore). Host: Rob LeeMusic: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.Production:Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel AlexisEdited by Daniel AlexisShow Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and TransistorPhotos:Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.Support the podcastThe Truth In This Art Podcast Fractured Atlas (Fundraising): https://www.fracturedatlas.orgThe Truth In This Art Podcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thetruthinthisart.bsky.socialThe Truth In This Art Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truthinthisart/?hl=enThe Truth In This Art Podcast Website: https://www.thetruthinthisart.com/The Truth In This Art Podcast Shop: Merch from Redbubble ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Dr. Lawrence T. Brown!Who is Dr. Lawrence T. Brown: Research scientist at Morgan State University’s Center for Urban Health Equity and author of The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America.In our conversation, Dr. Brown traces a line from West Memphis, Arkansas, to Baltimore’s neighborhoods, explaining how a racial dot map led him to say, “that looks like a butterfly,” and name the pattern “The Black Butterfly.” He walks through what he found in local archives—mayors’ letters, municipal journals, urban renewal files—and how those records show displacement and segregation written into policy. We talk historical trauma, “urban apartheid,” and institutions that turn one era’s rules into the next—“slavery becomes Jim Crow and Jim Crow is the new Jim Crow.” He also shares how board games and comics—Urban Cipher and the Black Butterfly Dream Lab—let people feel these systems in practice, not just read about them.Dr. Brown’s point is clear: show the evidence, make it experiential, and give communities tools to see—and change—the structures around them. The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore). Host: Rob LeeMusic: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.Production:Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel AlexisEdited by Daniel AlexisShow Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and TransistorPhotos:Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.Support the podcastThe Truth In This Art Podcast Fractured Atlas (Fundraising): https://www.fracturedatlas.orgThe Truth In This Art Podcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thetruthinthisart.bsky.socialThe Truth In This Art Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truthinthisart/?hl=enThe Truth In This Art Podcast Website: https://www.thetruthinthisart.com/The Truth In This Art Podcast Shop: Merch from Redbubble ★ Support this podcast ★