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Kaliisa Conlon is filmmaker, photographer and performer. Hailing from the lush emerald green forests of Oregon, Kaliisa fell in love with bright color, rich stories and exuberant displays of creative expression early on. As a young kid she enjoyed staging wild neighborhood fashion shows using discarded clothing from free boxes. Drawn to collaboration, she played in several witchy, all girl rock bands in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. From there, she headed to San Francisco to attend California College of the Arts. At school, Kaliisa made visual art and film and graduated with a B.F.A in Media Arts.
She currently resides in Los Angeles, having fun behind and in front of the lens, making collages and collaborating with like minded creative people. Kaliisa is fascinated by the politics of identity, particularly the role that history, psychology and sexuality play. She has edited several documentary features about issues of transgender identity and equality, a topic close to her heart. She whips out her camera whenever she can - photographing artists, actors, and musicians and the complicated and gorgeous world around her. She loves the rich and mysterious landscapes of the human psyche and it compels her to create. In film, Kaliisa loves honest performances and stunning cinematography. All this and so much more feeds her inspiration everyday.
Carlos Rosas is a Los Angeles based Artist and Photographer. He has been captivated by photography since he was a child when his mother gave him his first camera, a 1970 Kodak Brownie camera at the age of 13. He has studied photography and holography and most recently attended The Los Angeles School of Photography. He is a self taught artist that is inspired by Salvador Dali, and Mark Tobey.
His love for the arts also led him to The Geffen Play House, Cannon Theatre, and The Luckman Fine Arts Complex. During this time he was very privileged to have rubbed elbows with many Hollywood actors and directors like Gilbert Cates.
Throughout extensive travels to Europe and France he has been able to experience many different cultures and admire first hand works of the many master artist. His portfolio extends from local Los Angeles culture to some of the most popular landmarks around the world.
LA Gyrl by way of ATL and Brooklyn, NY. Spontaneous Aries Over Here! Traveler, Foodie, Wino and Fashionista. Just trying to figure out the best way to enjoy life. P.S. I also have a thing for Vampires. Follow me @wherethemeatis
Allegra Newman
Australian-born Allegra moved with her family to Virginia when she was six months old. In 2003, she settled in Los Angeles to pursue a career in television production. Previously a story producer for reality television, Allegra now enjoys her role as a production coordinator at the Hub network in Burbank, CA, because it allows time for her to pursue personal creative interests, like art and writing.
As a teenager, Allegra loved rifling through old National Geographic magazines and tearing out the full-page images, which she stored in a blue folder. Almost a decade later, Allegra uncovered the thick folder while moving apartments and decided the pictures would be perfect for expressing herself through collage art. What first began as a creative outlet for her stress has since grown into a passionate hobby that she loves to explore.
As an artist, Lee was trained in traditional Impressionist painting styles. However, as her affection for graphic novels and comic books grew, her style evolved into something she calls Deco Noir. Inspired by Art Deco painters such as Tamara de Lempicka, crossed with Frank Miller, Lee’s black and white style is unique and has become her signature.
Carlos Nieto III has worked as an artist on the Emmy award winning television show ‘The Simpsons” as well as being a design consultant for Disney and Universal Television. He currently works at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as an Artist in Residence, providing sick children and their families with creative outlets and artistic experiences.
Carlos is an American born Latino with parents from Colombia. In the absence of that culture, he has adopted a surrogate Latino culture readily available in Los Angeles through yearly Colombian festivals, Endless visits to Olvera Street, cultural curiosities found in Latino restaurants and shops throughout Echo Park and East LA and of course family parties.
Carlos is inspired by the idea of a global culture, he envisions a world where all cultures are connected through underlying similarities and shared ancestries.
Louis “Kengi” Carr is a California native, born and raised in Santa Monica. He is a published photographer, writer and guest speaker. Formerly a private chef and events caterer, this formerly homeless, HIV positive, proud Angelino is now a activist and advocate for people with HIV and homeless individuals. He is the creator/founder of Project Kengikat, Do Something Saturday, Unplugging HIV and the author of 29 Months.
A lover of photography, blogging and vlogging and USC Football, Kengi has been rediscovering his love for Los Angeles, ceramics, painting and cooking while elevating the conversations of HIV and homelessness. He enjoys being outdoors, spending quality time with his friends and his amazing rescue dog Dodger.
