Current Artist in Residence
Jozimar Matimano, 2023-2024
Photo Credit: Becky Field
About
Jozimar Matimano is a fine art painter. He was born in the East Democratic Republic of Congo, Butembo, where he grew up and moved to Uganda at ten. Since he was a boy he has been interested in drawing and illustration.
On October 5, 2016, Matimano moved from Uganda to Manchester New Hampshire as a refugee through the International Insitute of New England program. In 2018 he began painting in his free time as a way to express himself but it wasn’t until a year later that Matimano realized he had a voice that he could use to tell stories through his paintings.
After realizing that he wanted to pursue art as his career, he launched into a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art (BFA) at the Institute of Art at New England College in 2019. He received his Associate in Liberal Arts in 2023.
He currently works with oil painting because he considers it the noblest technique. Over the years, he began by painting landscapes and nature scapes until he discovered portraiture at the end of 2018. He used portraiture to express his view of what was happening in society.
In the future, he hopes to share his artwork with more people and see the impact that his art can have on other people and society.
Upcoming exhibition
Being Black: The Immigrant Experience at The Seacoast African American Culture Center, opening on April 20, 5:30pm. Exhibition includes works by Jozimar Matimono and Becky Field.
Previous artist in residence
Gemma Soldati, 2022-2023
Gemma Soldati is the current Artist in Residence at KJ. She is an American performing and teaching artist. She won Best Comedy at the 2019 Melbourne Fringe with The Living Room. She has taught in Los Angeles, New England, and Toronto for both adults and children.
Gemma’s focus is clown inspired work developed in front of live audiences. Her projects playfully dive deep into the heart of vital themes probing audiences with questions and meaning making - Grief, Ritual, Sleep, Dreams, Money, Wealth and beyond. Her current touring shows are The Poor Rich, an interactive 18+ clown show about the absurdity of money and The Adventures of Sleepyhead, a family show about the loss of one’s dreams.