Kevin Kirkwood travels to Decatur, Georgia, to sit down with artist Tori Tinsley for a conversation about process and vulnerability.

Born in 1980, Tori Tinsley is an Atlanta-based artist whose practice navigates memory, labor, and lived experience. She earned her BFA from the University of Michigan’s Stamps School of Art & Design, a Master of Arts in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA from Georgia State University. Her work has been featured in Art Papers, Oxford American, and New American Paintings, and she is a recipient of a Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant, the City of Atlanta Emerging Artist Award, and an Idea Capital Grant. Tinsley is currently a Studio Artist at Atlanta Contemporary and is represented by Laney Contemporary and Co-op Art Atlanta.

In this episode, we discuss her current body of work, now on view at Laney Contemporary in Savannah through January 10.

Learn more: toritinsley.com laneycontemporary.com

Follow the host: Instagram: @kevinwillpaint Instagram: @strandpodcast kevin-kirkwood.com

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Kevin Kirkwood shared a conversation with Anila Quayyum Agha. She is an internationally recognized artist born in Lahore, Pakistan and currently based in the US. Anila creates immersive installations that explore global and environmental issues, culture, and social and gender roles.

Using Islamic geometric patterns, light, shadow, and steel cut with delicate designs, her work transforms spaces, inviting viewers to reflect while becoming part of the installation. Her projects explore boundaries, balance, and the connections between people, cultures, and ideas, encouraging viewers to notice both harmony and difference in the world around us.

Anila earned her BFA from the National College of Arts, Lahore, and an MFA from the University of North Texas. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Kew Gardens (London), Museum of Oriental Art (Italy), and major U.S. museums such as the Crow Museum (Dallas), Bruce Museum (Greenwich), and Cummer Museum (Jacksonville). She participated in the 2019 Venice Biennale collateral event She Persists and has received numerous awards, including the NEA for her 2024 traveling retrospective Interwoven, the Joan Mitchell Award, and multiple DeHaan Artist of Distinction honors. Agha has held the Morris Eminent Scholar Chair at Augusta University and received a Smithsonian Fellowship, collaborating with SAAM and AAA. Her work is collected by prominent institutions and private collectors worldwide.

ANILA QUAYYUM AGHA

anilaagha.com

Instagram: @anilaquayyumagha

Produced by KEVIN KIRKWOOD

kevin-kirkwood.com @kevinwillpaint @strandpodcast

Listen to The Strand via all major platforms. Including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, and Amazon.

Kevin Kirkwood traveled to Willow Pond in San Luis Obispo to visit the bright, light-filled studio of contemporary artist Carol Paquet. A South African–American visual artist, Carol works across photography, oil painting, and mixed media, blending analog and digital techniques to create fictional botanical landscapes shaped by memory, place, and imagination. After studying at the College of Art in Johannesburg, she spent 15 years as an art director before fully committing to her studio practice.

Kevin and Carol discuss the evolution of her work, the influence of landscape on her creative process, and how she navigates the intersection between the physical and digital worlds. With the stillness of Willow Pond just outside the studio, the conversation offers a thoughtful glimpse into Carol’s contemplative approach to art-making.

The episode also highlights upcoming workshop opportunities at Willow Pond, offering painters, digital artists, and multimedia creators the chance to work in a peaceful, immersive natural setting. Workshops for 2026 will feature artists Geoff Allen, Johan Barrios, Jason Hackenwerth, and Gorden Studer.

CAROL PAQUET

carolpaquet.com @carolpatriciapaquet

WILLOW POND – San Luis Obispo

Willowpondslo.com @willowpondslo

10 WEST GALLERY

10westgallery.com @10westgallery

MONTEREY MUSEUM OF ART

www.montereyart.org @montereyart

SAN LUIS OBISPO MUSEUM OF ART

sloma.org @slomuseumofart

Produced by KEVIN KIRKWOOD

kevin-kirkwood.com @kevinwillpaint @strandpodcast

Listen to The Strand via all major platforms. Including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, and Amazon.

This episode was recorded September 26, 2025 in San Luis Obispo, California.