Laeticia Keok on Poetry as Attention, Intimacy, and Collective Responsibility | Ma's House Podcast

Jeremy Dennis, lead artist of Ma's House, interviews January 2026 artist-in-residence Laeticia Keok, a Singaporean writer and editor based in New York City whose work considers grief care, borders, and collective responsibility. Keok shares how she moved from voracious reading and fiction to contemporary poetry, and how honesty on the page helps her process personal and political realities. She describes a COVID-era shift toward poetry as attention and witnessing, her practice of note-taking, and writing associatively from small moments like kelp farming and Shinnecock Bay "Hope Spots." They discuss intimacy, loneliness, vulnerability, confessional risk, and ethical citation and naming as community practice, as well as grief circles and her Ma's House workshop "You Are the One I Love." Keok reflects on distance, nation, and replicated systems across borders, previews a New York reading, and discusses finishing her poetry collection.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:16 Becoming a Poet
02:51 Honesty on the Page
03:36 Poetry as Attention
06:17 Notes to Poems
08:01 Intimacy and Politics
10:34 Publishing and Readers
11:48 Grief and Distance
13:28 Two Homes and Freedom
16:08 Risk and Confession
19:07 Grief Circles in Community
20:58 Influence and Citation
24:42 Editing and Authorship
26:37 Residency at Ma's House
30:37 Workshop Reflections
32:29 Letters to the Departed
34:42 Whats Next in 2026
37:35 Follow and Closing

In this episode, we speak with July 2025 Resident Artist XY Zhou. XY Zhou (they/them) is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in New York City whose work spans writing, painting, ceramics, textiles, and design. Their practice investigates the transmission of cultural traditions across generations, geographies, and mediums. They currently contribute to Phoenix House NY|LI's Art of Advocacy program, facilitating art workshops and exhibitions. XY's work has been exhibited at various NYC venues and has been supported by institutions such as NYU Gallatin and the Bobby Anspach Memorial Foundation. Their past honors include fellowships from Jiggle n' Juice, Newington-Cropsey Foundation, FabNYC, and a current grant from the Asian American Arts Alliance. They are also a member of the publishing collective Active Chapter, which supports local artists through printed media. XY is driven by boundless curiosity and a desire for lasting impact.

In this Ma's House podcast, we hear from Ma's House alumni artist Ella Mahoney. Ella is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), an artist, illustrator, and teacher. She received her BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts and an MA in Art Education from Pratt Institute.

Her work has been featured in galleries and performances across the United States, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Southampton Arts Center, and Invisible Exports. She has also illustrated multiple children's books for the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project.

Mahoney's painting techniques encompass the use of oil and acrylic mediums, as well as the art of silk painting. Her work is centered around storytelling and draws inspiration from creation stories, as well as from her personal experiences of indigeneity through the lens of love and nature.

In this podcast episode, Jeremy Dennis, lead artist of Ma's House and BIPOC Art Studio, converses with resident artist William PK Carter. William details their creative process, emphasizing themes of self-recognition, transformation, and various marginalized identities. They share insights on their debut puppet show, 'First Buds of the Garden', and its symbolic elements. William also discusses their inspirations, family support, and upcoming projects, including the 'Beautiful Without Consequence' puppet theater piece. The conversation underscores the importance of authenticity and community in artistic expression.

In this episode of the Ma's House podcast, host Jeremy Dennis speaks with Joshua Allen, the May 2025 resident artist at Ma's House, about their multifaceted career as an artist, community organizer, writer, and public speaker. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Joshua has been an active voice in the arts and activism scene since 2014, passionately advocating for LGBTQIA+ and people of color communities. The conversation explores Joshua's recent two-week residency at Ma's House, where they engaged in creative practices, including a public artist talk and a performance titled 'Waves and Meditation,' delving into themes of ancestral memory, queerness, diaspora, and healing. Joshua shares insights into their artistic process, the importance of rest, and how different environments impact their work. They also discuss the use of performance as a form of activism and the role of stillness and presence in their art. Future projects, including international performances and a year-long residency focused on a mentorship program, are also highlighted. The episode underscores Joshua's vision of a more just, equitable, and joyous world through art and community engagement.

In this episode, we're joined by two brilliant artists and Homebody Fellows: Chisato "Chisa" Hughes and Chris M Yee—both June residents here at Ma's House.

Chisa is a filmmaker whose work asks powerful questions about memory, belonging, and how we relate across time and place. Their debut film Many Moons explored the histories of Chinese expulsions in Humboldt County and the kinships formed between Chinese and Native peoples in the aftermath. Their next project, Behind the Horizon Line, is inspired by poet Etel Adnan and reflects on borders and their lingering shadows.

https://chisatohughes.com/

Chris M Yee is a multidisciplinary artist whose work beautifully deconstructs the human body—not just biologically, but politically and historically. Their sculptural and two-dimensional works explore memory, commodification, and what it means to carry the physical and emotional residue of this world in our skin, our posture, our presence.

https://www.christymyee.com/

Both of these artists are recipients of the Homebody Fellowship, a residency opportunity for QTBIPOC artists based in the Bay Area, supported by the Homebody Fund and the East Bay Community Foundation. We're honored to hold space with them this month at Ma's House.

We're excited to share a brand-new episode of the Ma's House podcast featuring May 2025 resident artist Jake Kimble (Chipewyan/Dënesųłıné), a multidisciplinary artist and curator whose work brings levity and layered meaning to the everyday.

🎧 In this clip, Kimble shares the story behind their unexpected use of paper towels as a print surface for landscape photographs of their homeland in Treaty 8 territory. What begins as a practical material choice unfolds into a poignant reflection on disposability, memory, and home.

This episode dives into Kimble's practice of self-repair, resistance through humor, and how Indigenous artists challenge dominant narratives with a wink, a twist, and sometimes a roll of Bounty.

🌀 Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

#IndigenousArt #MaasHousePodcast #JakeKimble #TwospiritArtist #ContemporaryIndigenousArt #PhotographyWithPurpose #ArtAsResistance #EastEndArts #HamptonsArtScene

NEW MA's House Podcast Episode featuring Juan Giraldo and Cecilia Lim!

📸 Juan Giraldo, a Brooklyn-based photographer whose lens captures the intimate, everyday stories of working-class life. Born in Colombia and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Juan's work is a love letter to his family, his roots, and the labor that shaped his journey. His photographs—quiet, honest, and deeply personal—reflect the resilience and tenderness found in the homes and break rooms of those often unseen.

🎥 Cecilia Lim (she, siya, ella) joins us from Queens, New York, where she's spent over two decades using art to build community. A filmmaker, printmaker, and facilitator, Cecilia's work centers care, connection, and justice. Through projects like Remember Y(our) Connection, she invites us to look closely at how we relate to each other and the land we live on—and what it means to heal, together.

Tune in as we sit down with Juan and Cecilia to talk about immigration, memory, everyday resistance, and the role of art in reclaiming our stories.