M&V: How have your Australian roots defined you and your career choices?
MACPHERSON: The Australian ‘true blue’ is an expression that means no BS, be authentic and truthful. I believe this is a great Australian trait. I also think Australians are brave and pioneering with a ‘give it a go’ mentality.
M&V: You’ve been the face of many brands. Now you are a boss and making the business decisions. Was it a difficult transition for you?
MACPHERSON: We have such talent behind WelleCo, from the nutritional doctors and Ph.D.s who work on our unique scientific formulations, to the management and production teams. We’re building a great company together, and it’s growing organically. I had to prove my credentials at WelleCo, just like everyone else. Our partners and the board all had to agree I could participate as an active partner. I had to prove I was more than just a spokesperson. I asked my business partner, Andrea Bux, to have faith in me to help run this business and to creatively direct its path. We had worked together on her chemical-free sunscreen brand, Invisible Zinc, in Australia, so she knew a little of what I was capable of. I take it as a huge compliment that she saw this potential and had this faith and encouraged me to step up to a more responsible role.
M&V: How did you first learn about alkalizing greens?
MACPHERSON: I have always been aware of the value of clean nutrition, but meeting Dr. [Simone] Laubscher and learning about acidity in the body and the alkaline solution actually changed my health and my life. I was feeling tired and toxic. As part of the process, Dr. Laubscher suggested I skip synthetic tablets and start taking an absorbable whole-food, alkalising greens powder. After I made lifestyle changes and started to become more alkaline, I noticed benefits right across the board. First was an upbeat energy and proper deep sleep at night, often associated with the body’s natural alkaline state. I believe in the importance of deep sleep and waking up refreshed increases my ability to deal with my day. It’s transformative.
Then as my metabolism started functioning more efficiently, I felt lighter, lost stubborn weight around my middle and had better digestion, so no IBS. It also started to show on the outside. They call it the ‘Alkaline Glow.’ I noticed my skin glowed and felt plump and moisturized, when I have always had a problem with dry skin. Also, my hairdresser commented that my hair was growing quickly and was strong and shiny.
M&V: In layman’s terms, can you explain the alkaline life, alkalising greens and the benefits?
MACPHERSON: In layman’s terms, the alkaline life means less red meat, more plant food, more sleep, less stress, more 
water, less sugar. I learned from Dr. Laubscher that too much processed food, sugar, caffeine, meat and alcohol will leave us with an acidic gut, the cause of inflammation, bloating, weight gain, susceptibility to illness, fatigue, headaches, insomnia and countless other undesirable symptoms. Maintaining the body’s natural healthy balance and opting for alkaline can leave the body feeling lighter, cleaner, and bursting with energy, which is why I love it.
M&V: What is the biggest misconception about being a model?
MACPHERSON: I’ve always been fascinated by the business behind the brands and tried to learn as much as I could along the way. It should be easier for women to go from the billboard to the boardroom. If you’re a model, it’s assumed you can’t do both.
M&V: The concept of beauty is subjective. How has your frame of mind changed about what beauty is?
MACPHERSON: I believe in beauty from the inside out: Get your body well, functioning well on a cellular level, and that will iron out a lot of the issues that you may think can be helped with a quick fix. I truly believe nourishment is the No. 1 place to look, particularly for women at my age. Simplicity is key and I value wisdom that comes with getting older.
M&V: Are your children involved with your entrepreneurial endeavors?
MACPHERSON: They are very inquisitive and love asking lots of questions. My son Cy is so excited and having his say about The Super Elixir new Kids Protein, which launches in 2016. My eldest, Flynn, is going to college next year to study business. I imagine he will be on the board of one of my companies.
This article was originally published in the Dec 2015/Jan 2016 issue of Muses & Visionaries. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
Main image shot by Gio Alma for Muses & Visionaries
Woodgate’s open-ended playfulness defuses audiences’ potential resistance or dismissal that preachy or heavy-handed approaches are more likely to provoke. Along those lines, she has drawn thousands of Hopscotch squares linking miles of sidewalks on three continents so far, starting in 2013 with Miami, where she has spent the better part of 10 years, and then her hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina, before extending this itinerant network across the Atlantic to Kraków, Poland, for last year’s Playpublik Festival, and traversing Denver this summer during the Biennial of the Americas.
Even as the recognizable shapes invite spontaneous interaction, Woodgate is drawing attention to incursions in urban infrastructure, reclaiming public space, and tracing this accessible street game back to its origins as training courses for Roman foot soldiers. “My work is related so much to the territory, so each location affects the work and affects the outcome,” Woodgate explained this fall from Tel Aviv. A residency at Artport Tel Aviv positioned her to conduct research and lay groundwork for future interventions, including a broadcast of her nomadic online Radio Espacio Estacion (radioee.net) that would address ways the transportation system divides Israelis and Palestinians.
Radio EE transmits live in multiple languages, forgoing translation in an effort to integrate the diverse guests in dialogue confronting core issues of migration and mobility, adapted to situations and events in each locale. Her largest pop-up since launching the periodic station in 2011 was last October at a Hmong market in Minneapolis-St. Paul, home to the largest concentration of the tribe indigenous to Southeast Asia that was granted asylum after the Vietnam War, whose members communicated with Woodgate in their native tongue.
Woodgate’s interest in education, indoctrination and immigration is a natural outgrowth of her 34-year personal trajectory and exposure to contentious debates and protests at the National University of the Arts in Buenos Aires. Since graduation, extensive travels have broadened her perspective and informed her overall practice and ongoing outreach projects. “All the work is one conversation,” says Woodgate, “and it gets morphed into a radio and a workshop and an object.”
This article was originally published in the Dec 2015/Jan 2016 issue of Muses & Visionaries. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
Her fascination with witches is rooted in the legends of New England, where she was raised by atheists amid the figurative Chinese bronzes and Indian artworks that her father studied as an art historian. “Gods and mysticism were always around the house and spoken of in a detached sort of way,” Weber recalls. “Historically that was one of the roles of art, to imbue a sense of spirituality in the object.” A sabbatical in Taiwan introduced the young Marnie to metaphors by way of old steam engines belching and bellowing from the train station next-door that she heard adults personify as “beasts.” That memory surfaces in The Ghost Train at the Mattress Factory, a museum dedicated to site-specific installations in Pittsburgh, where Weber collected sentimental cast-offs from local thrift stores to flesh out hybrid creatures embarking on their final voyage. The makeshift construction of these strange apparitions, in limbo until May 18 alongside their idling transport to the afterworld, and the train’s wooden frame draped in white fabric are intended to “trigger emotions from a place of artifice,” Weber explains. “I love the handmade, crude, naïve way it’s almost bordering on folk art. It feels sincere to me.”
Weber completed the scene by recording a medley of sound effects and her own original instrumentals, honed over years as a musician bringing her own costumes and props to live performances. Disappointed at the dearth of women in theatrical rock bands since the 1970s, she conceived an all-female ensemble of postmortem musicians in 2007 that rise up for appearances onstage and onscreen. Models embodying these “Spirit Girls” have also posed for photographs she cuts up and reassembles as disjointed silhouettes surrounded by improbable elements clipped from magazines to compose uncanny dreamscapes.
This article was originally published in the Dec 2015/Jan 2016 issue of Muses & Visionaries. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
Adolescent lessons in calligraphy, flower arrangement and tea ceremonies may not manifest as clearly in her current work, but they nurtured an appreciation for Eastern traditions and their Western interpretations. After returning to the states to attend art schools, Lorenz spent years restoring museum-quality antiques, mastering techniques for lacquer, mother-of-pearl inlay, silver filigree and gilding that infuse her paintings and designs with an innate elegance.
Her refined sensibility was a perfect fit for Beauty Reigns: A Baroque Sensibility in Recent Painting, a well-received exhibition highlighting the lush new abstraction by 13 established and emerging contemporary artists that originated at San Antonio’s McNay Art Museum in 2014, then traveled to Ohio’s Akron Art Museum earlier this year.
Several paintings shown in that survey are bound to stand out amid a sampling of her repertoire at PULSE in Miami Beach, where Lorenz (who turns 53 a few days later) is a finalist for the $2,500 Pulse Prize, awarded for a solo presentation at the fair. The booth Morgan Lehman Gallery is dedicating to Lorenz coincides with her 100 Elements exhibition at the New York gallery until Dec. 23. Lorenz, who mixes her own paint from powdered pigments, has spent 20 years working her way through the periodic table, “a perfect vehicle for exploring and enriching my catalogue of materials,” says Lorenz. “It’s very unscientific, not always mimicking the look. I have been studying certain associations with the various elements, so it’s really a much more poetic interpretation.”
This article was originally published in the Dec 2015/Jan 2016 issue of Muses & Visionaries. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
We live a good life. I’m aware of this, so I don’t like to complain. When I do, my inner critic’s eyes practically roll right out of her head. Aaron and I have spent 14 years building a full, fun and productive life. We’ve been raising our two sons in a lovely “in-town” house that has the kind of magic that draws people in for dinner and won’t let them leave until they’ve had one or two late-night cups of coffee on the porch or by the fire. Most of my 8-year-old son’s playmates are the children of people we’ve known since we were children. We work in professional fields we care about and are attached to the people and issues that come along with today’s professional immersion. We became adults in a place where the low cost of living allows us to travel easily for work and play. The setup we’ve worked to earn has been pretty ideal. Until it wasn’t…
We started to become inexplicably agitated and restless about a year ago, when the minutiae of our daily workings started to cloud our sunny vision. I struggled with knowing what steps were needed to keep up the momentum in my writing career while Aaron had hit a steady stride in his job. We were both battle-weary after rolling off nonprofit boards amid uncomfortable fireworks involving strong personalities. The kids—ages 4 and 8—were going through various and spirited little boy phases that could change from adorable to harrowing and back again in a five-minute spread. Within a year we’d gone from living the lives we’d hoped for when leaving college to wanting to shut out some of the fullness that came along with them. We were burned out, but didn’t feel we’d done enough to warrant it.
One night, at the height of summer, we were found ourselves speculating over our unease as we cleaned up the kitchen after dinner. We knew something needed to change, and suddenly had an epiphany: What if we moved to Charleston?
We weren’t running in a rat race, but our cruising speed also meant we weren’t hungry for an overarching goal or prize. We haven’t reached our pinnacles of work and experience, but we were climbing more of a mossy slope than a craggy mountain to get there. Doing so may have made everything seem easier, but how could we teach the kids about the feeling of fulfillment that comes with the surprise of one’s resilience if we weren’t modeling the idea? We didn’t fully recognize the extent to which we’d gone off track until we were talking with our real estate agent about the kind of situation we wanted for our move to Charleston.
“I want to give the boys an experience that will help them adapt to different types of living situations when they go out into the world one day. I want it to be natural for them to move through a metropolitan area or a tiny village,” I’d said while simultaneously dumbfounded at hearing my own words.
A week later the tragic massacre occurred at Emanuel AME Church. I was supposed to have driven down the next day for a third round of house hunting. Aaron was at a conference in London, and when I called to tell him he’d just heard about it on BBC Radio.
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “It’s weird, but I feel like I should go.”
“I feel like you should be down there, too. Go. It’s going to be fine, and this is going to be our home. You should go.”
Dylann Roof hadn’t been caught, but I made arrangements to meet two friends at the impromptu memorial service that was being planned at another AME church nearby.
A week and a half later we found our house. Our real estate agent dragged us into it after we’d seen it online and decided to pass. Once she convinced us to go in, we loved it. And it’s within a block of Mother Emanuel—a fact that would deter many, but for us it felt like a sign that we were finally going to expose our kids to a life that derives beauty from complexity. A life where there’s always reason to seek questions and answers.
Charleston is only a two-hour drive from our original home, and it’s not going to resolve our family challenges. We’ve visited a million times for recreation, but now it’s new and unfamiliar. We’ve given up having a backyard and neighbors we’ve known so long that they instinctively know when to show up unannounced. We’ll be walking the kids to school instead of gearing ourselves up for a carpool line. The dog is going to have to learn that we can’t just open the back door for him to relieve himself. We can no longer keep everything we’ve ever used for work or school because efficiency is de rigueur in tightly packed, downtown neighborhoods. Our neighbors vary from old Southern names working for a different kind of legacy, to college students, to homeless veterans who linger around Marion Square park. Every day our boys will, on some level, experience diversity in its true form, as it relates to race, class and outlook. This is what Aaron and I wanted for our future when we married in 2001. An early comfort led us to abandon our path. It’s been too long since we’ve felt a little discomfort. Discomfort is what pushes humans to realize what they’re capable of, and we almost forgot to present that essential lesson to our boys.
I wouldn’t suggest uprooting the entire family to many who’ve strayed from the experiential path of creating an enriching family life, but I certainly encourage discomfort—or at least some sense of the unknown. In 2015 there are unknowns within our own households that can be explored by taking actions such as banning television after 5 p.m., sitting down for dinner as a family at a fully dressed table at least once a week, or taking food to the homeless before opening a single present on Christmas morning. Our generation of parents has had their eyes superglued to the prize for so long that we’ve forgotten why we even want it. It’s not the prize we want, but the experience of becoming whole people as we reach for it, and showing our kids a picture of wholeness as they learn from what they see of us.
Q. I love that you are informing your audience about the ecological issues and the future of the humanity. What makes you feel so strongly about those issues?
A. The delicate relationship we have with our ecological environment and imbalance we are creating is one of my biggest concerns. We are out of tune with our mother earth. Our actions are not sustainable: Many species are endangered; plants are disappearing; forests are cleared; the climate is changing; and the waters are rising.My choreographed videos are inspired by nature and its self-organizing systems whose essential features are harmony and symbiosis. Many of my pieces address ecological issues and the future of humanity, dependent such as the plight of bees, potential abuses of technology, and the imperative for collective consciousness.
My work urges the viewers to shrink down to the level of insects, not only to empathize with these tiny but essential creatures, which are vanishing at an alarming rate, but also to better comprehend the situation in which we’ve placed ourselves.Beauty is omnipresent as an artistic statement of the essence of life sustaining processes supporting our planet.
Q. Your Videoportal is so intense and really encourages audience members to think. How do you make it so personal?
A. I adopt a bird’s eye view for each video to simulate the effect of looking through a microscope or a telescope to inspire my audience to find answers from an other viewpoint. I incorporate the written word in my “Video-sculptures” by choreographing dancers in a bird’s eye view in a green screen to perform my “Video-alphabet.” During the post-production phase, I assemble these dancing letters into a series of poetic questions.I work with the miniature and what that encompasses as an experience for the viewer. Collective effort can prevent ecological disaster but only if predicated by a sense of individual awareness and responsibility. Peering into the glass bubble is like having a conversation with oneself.
Q. You have traveled to so many countries. Which countries and cultures do you most connect with?
A. I like South America very much, especially Peru, Colombia and Mexico. I appreciate places where I can discover deep culture and ancient knowledge. I’ve started traveling to specific places to create new bodies of work.Last year I was living and working with Amazon indigenous in Peru for a period of time. I recorded their knowledge and songs with the intention to share with other cultures their deep understanding and respect of the world and all its forms and creatures, which inspired me to create the new series of trees. Now my path is guiding me to Africa.
Q. Tell us about the new projects that you are working on right now?
A. My newest series of work is based on found tree stumps: a “found object” and bubbles that are integrated into the tree’s cavities, resembling ephemeral soap bubbles flourished with 3-dimensional video images.They are reflecting the earth and water elements, as they nourish and sustain life symbiotically and synergistically. They also reflect the notion of a source: source of life, of knowledge, and of beginnings.My intention is for the object and its visual “intervention” to be sufficiently blurred, and where technology and the natural world find a happy marriage. They are actual elements abstracted from nature into functional video sculpture with poetic resonance, humor and playfulness.
Q. At the end of the day, what and who matters to you the most?
A. The warmth of red fire, the roundness of oranges, the dance of yellow bees, the melody of green trees, the transparency of blue water, the smell of purple flowers—the emergence of rainbows!
It’s not her typical thought process when observing art, but as art director of The Related Group, she’s charged with adorning the public spaces of one of South Florida’s largest real estate developers. She’s only been with the company since June 2013, when she was hired by Related’s founder and chairman Jorge Pérez—the man after whom the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is named—but she has already amassed a collection valued at roughly $10 million. Her immediate goal is this: to make people stop in their tracks and start a conversation about the pieces they see. “What we don’t want is for people to walk through a lobby and not even notice what’s on the wall,” says Hanna, who previously served as the director of Miami’s contemporary art nonprofit, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation.
Miami’s physical landscape is changing, and The Related Group is part of the equation. “Being one of the largest developers in the country and especially in South Florida … we are really committed to changing the cultural landscape, Hanna said. “We really think that great cities can’t flourish without having a strong cultural component.”
A June update from the city’s Downtown Development Authority reported 34 construction projects in the greater downtown area alone, with 12 more already slated to go up. Of those 46, seven belong to Related. That’s roughly 15 percent of development, so the company is investing in building a South Florida culture focused on art. It’s purchasing pieces, not only to go into buildings, but also in the projects’ outdoor areas as well. The ownership of the artwork is transferred to the condo associations once the pieces are installed. Hanna has free reign to treat each development as a stand-alone exhibition and works closely with design firms to fine-tune the interior and exterior spaces. The opportunity has allowed her to work with iconic artists such as Fernando Botero, Jaume Plensa, Fabián Burgos and Markus Linnenbrink.
As art director, Hanna plays multiple roles. She travels all over the country and Latin America in search of pieces ranging from paintings and sculptures to mixed media. She also plays art consultant to Pérez, whose personal art collection is a promised gift to the PAMM. She even works with interior designers and architects on the concept of buildings, in order to accommodate the art.
“We don’t buy pieces to match the spaces,” Hanna says. “We place pieces for them to be statements.” Ultimately, her objective is to make people notice art and to share her passion for artwork with the community. “For me, an art piece is a snapshot of what is happening in any place in any given moment. To be able to have that insight and that vision, and to be able to live with it, I think it’s an amazing experience.”
Nu Evolution
Natural and organic aren’t adjectives that often are paired with high fashion, but this new cosmetics line is changing that, one fashion show at a time. As of August 2014 Nu Evolution was the first and only natural and organic beauty sponsor for New York Fashion Week, and continues to grow a presence season after season. They focus on beautiful packaging and product functionality, a place where some organics fall short.
Nu Evolution is made in the U.S.A., not tested on animals and contains no parabens, sulfates, formaldehyde, artificial dyes or fragrances. None of the strict formulation guidelines take away from the selection, color and quality of the products. They manage to stand out in an industry where looks are everything.
Affirmats
For many people, their yoga practice is the one chance they have to let go of the day, turn off internal chatter and just be in their bodies. But have you ever found yourself on the mat with to-do lists and life’s latest dramas on your mind? Would a gentle reminder help quiet your mind? This was the idea behind Affirmats, a company that prints classic and custom affirmations on yoga mats. Choose from statements like, “I am enough,” “You are awesome” and “I am strong” or order a mat with your own verse to help keep you in the present and focus your intention. The mats are eco-friendly, printed or embroidered, and come in extra long versions. Next time you find yourself in a downward spiral in downward facing dog, just open your eyes and see that love is everywhere
Vega Jewelry
Everybody wants exclusive jewelry nowadays and made-to-order pieces are the ultimate luxury. Vega Jewelry’s handcrafted pieces take the customization process one step further by incorporating something very personal…your energy. You can have a one-of-a-kind amulet programmed with your desires and dreams or even do it yourself with some guidance. The preciousness of the stones and their powers are exhaustive, but owner Victoria Kray is passionate and helpful. (Her Instagram feed @VegaJewelry is like a mini course in astrology.) Our favorites are the necklaces and mysterious-sounding, aura cleanser that will “wash away all your bad juju.” Don’t be put off by the cosmic vibe; necklaces that look and feel good are a win-win in any circle.
Om Aroma & Co.’s skincare products are produced without any parabens, formaldehyde, synthetic dyes/fragrances or chemical fillers. The Champagne Grapeseed Organic Facial 
Cleanser is a triple-action favorite and has won a Best of Beauty award. Based in New York’s Catskill Mountains, the company hires women who are re-entering the workforce after staying home to take care of their children. All products are sold at sister store Savor Spa, in NYC’s West Village, where all customers can also enjoy holistic services like facials, massages and Reiki.
Pure Glam is a natural hair and skin care line that uses certified organic ingredients and sustainable sourced essential oils. All products are vegan and cruelty free, and the company prides itself on being an authentic green brand (not just a bandwagoner), every item is safe and worry-free. The Dry Shampoo and Waves Sea Spray are standouts with awards to prove it. On the skincare side, the Muscle Relief Body Massage Oil is good enough for the times when you can’t make it to the spa.
