This summer, we’re excited to share that two of our talented students had the incredible opportunity to attend SOMA Summer 2025 in Mexico City! Luc Biscan-White, a current MFA student, and Miguel Lastra, an alum, both participated in this immersive program.
Luc Biscan-White is an MFA student, and practice is a network, a collection of conversations with my more-than-human collaborators SCOBY, Fungi, Metal, Clay, and Plant relatives. I reject the idea of materials as inert; instead, I engage with living entities, nurturing SCOBY through weekly feedings, collecting discarded Metal for sculptures, and learning from the resilience of Coal, Clay, and Weeds. My sculptures and installations challenge human-centered hierarchies, inviting viewers to renegotiate what it means to be alive. Metal and SCOBY interact through scent and color, while Coal and Clay create immersive, suspended spaces that disrupt expectations of animacy.
Luc reflects: “During my time at SOMA in their summer program, I was so lucky to engage deeply and critically with questions that all of us—participants, tutors, lecturers, and coordinators—had about our times. This created such a deep feeling of community and connection. I’m pretty early along in my art journey, and having this experience so early has been foundational. The stories, the laughter, the dancing, and more that we shared this summer were a great reminder of why I’m pursuing this life’s endeavor of art.”
Miguel Lastra is an artist who explores the body in all its forms, physical, collective, and non-human, through the lens of clay and other materials like fibers, sound, water, and earth. My work investigates themes of transformation, hybridity, care, waste, and interspecies relationships. I engage with concepts of science, mysticism, and parallel time, drawing on Latinx and Indigenous practices, particularly the Tainos of the Caribbean, as well as research by writers like Jules Sturm, Elainne Scarry, Maria Lugones, and Laboria Cuboniks. His work is also shaped by observations and writing.
SOMA is a non-profit civil association founded in Mexico City in 2009 by a group of artists, dedicated to cultural exchange and the teaching of the arts. It’s a space by artists, for artists, promoting reflection and discussion on contemporary art at both national and international levels. Through its three programs, SOMA Educational Program, SOMA Summer, and SOMA Wednesday, SOMA fosters dialogue and collaboration between artists and cultural agents from diverse backgrounds, while exploring the aesthetic, political, and social impacts of art production.
We’re so excited and inspired by the experiences of our students and can’t wait to see how they continue to grow from these opportunities.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
1) LEARN MORE about SOMA by visiting https://somamexico.org/
2) EXPLORE the work of Luc Biscan-White by checking out their website at lucbiscanwhite.xyz or following them on Instagram @lucbiscanwhite.qxr.
3) EXPLORE the work of Miguel Lastra by visiting his website at miguellastra.com or by following him on Instagram @melm_o.
Brandon Zech of Glasstire: Texas Visual Art recently reviewed Professor of Painting and Drawing Raychael Stine’s exhibition, “Falls and Springs and Stardust Things,” in his piece “Chimerical Colors.” Zech writes, “Raychel Stine’s paintings are full of pleasurable...
Clarence Cruz, who is Tewa from Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan Pueblo), serves as the Professor of Ceramics in the Art Department. He has been a prominent and familiar figure on campus since his student days.
UNM Theatre and Dance brings the cult-classic Little Shop of Horrors to the stage this season. Part B-movie spoof and part social satire, Little Shop of Horrors follows a meek and shy flower-shop worker whose discovery of a mysterious plant changes his life forever....
