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PODCAST

What’s My Thesis?

What’s My Thesis? is a podcast that examines art, philosophy, and culture through longform, unfiltered conversations. Hosted by artist Javier Proenza, each episode challenges assumptions and invites listeners to engage deeply with creative and intellectual ideas beyond surface-level discourse.

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

111:26

Robert Gunderman

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/10/06

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72:20

A Mother Was Searching for Her Daughter. Then Police...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/09/29

Victoria Delgadillo is a multidisciplinary Chicana artist whose practice spans painting, printmaking, video, performance, and collaborative projects, including her involvement with the MexiCali Biennial. In this conversation, she reflects on growing up along the Tijuana–San Diego border, working within Los Angeles Chicano art communities, the resourcefulness of rasquache aesthetics, artist collectives, institutional recognition, and her resistance to allowing the art market to dictate her

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115:02

311 He Slept on Chicago Trains. Then Rebuilt His Life...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/09/22

Oscar Eduardo De Paz joins Javier Proenza to discuss his socially conscious painting practice and his participation in a group exhibition at Charlie James Gallery. De Paz traces an unconventional path from Chicago and Philadelphia to environmental policy and eventually art, including his work around environmental justice and the Flint water crisis.The conversation considers social realism, murals and gentrification, political polarization, institutional power, and the contested idea of art as

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109:50

$180K in Art School Debt—and She’d Do It Again |...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/09/14

Painter Kristin Calabrese joins Javier Proenza to discuss her development as an artist and her commitment to painting, from studying at the San Francisco Art Institute and UCLA to building a life and practice in Los Angeles. She reflects on growing up between Massachusetts and Arizona, running away as a teenager, the relationship between personal history and artistic practice, and her continuing search for a visual language that can accommodate realism, abstraction, photography, and

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68:58

309 Why Artists Have to Do Everything Just to Survive...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/08/18

Azul Silverio is a Los Angeles-based artist, writer, curator, and arts administrator currently working at the Hammer Museum. Drawing on their experience at LACE and on the board of the National Performance Network, Silverio discusses supporting artists through institutions, developing a curatorial and writing practice, and navigating the contemporary art world.The conversation traces Silverio’s background in printmaking, performance, and autobiographical work exploring queer and trans identity,

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57:14

308 Why “I'm Sorry” Is the Wrong Thing to Say | Saba...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/08/11

Lebanese weaver and performance artist Saba Sadr, an MFA student at Otis College of Art and Design, joins Javier Proenza to discuss returning to Los Angeles after more than two decades in Lebanon and how experiences of displacement, caregiving, and political conflict inform an evolving artistic practice. Although Sadr's work centers on weaving and performance, the conversation expands into broader questions of identity, memory, and belonging.Together they examine the meaning of resilience, the

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83:18

307 Would You Buy Art That Won't Last? | Juan Gomez

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/08/04

Juan Gomez returns to What’s My Thesis? to discuss his evolving practice across sculpture, installation, and drawing, and the ways his Mexican American identity and family history have resurfaced through materials associated with physical labor. Working with wire, knots, cement, bricks, packing materials, and found objects, Gomez reflects on his family’s roots in Zacatecas, his father’s blue-collar work, and the unexpected relationship between the labor he grew up around and the work he makes

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70:58

306 Alex Gonzalez: Painting MacArthur Park, Sign...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/07/27

In this episode, Javier Proenza speaks with Los Angeles painter and sign painter Alex Gonzalez about the relationship between place, labor, and artistic practice. Drawing from a lifetime spent in the MacArthur Park neighborhood, Gonzalez describes how its density, street life, and changing social landscape have become the foundation of a narrative painting practice built on observation, symbolism, and allegory.The conversation explores the value of professional sign painting as both a craft and a

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57:16

305 Sterling Wells on Plein Air Watercolor,...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/07/21

Sterling Wells is a Los Angeles–based painter represented by Night Gallery whose practice combines plein air watercolor with ideas drawn from conceptual art, environmental systems, and site-specific observation. In this conversation, Wells reflects on growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida, studying painting and sculpture, living in New York after the 2008 financial crisis, and developing an interdisciplinary approach through graduate study at ArtCenter College of Design.The discussion examines the

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73:37

304 Moon | Chicago, HBCU Education, DMS Atelier,...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/07/14

Moon is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, art handler, and co-founder of DMS Atelier, an artist-run space in Los Angeles dedicated to exhibitions, artist residencies, and community programming. Originally from Chicago and a graduate of Grambling State University, he discusses the experiences that shaped his path from athletics and hip-hop culture to contemporary art and arts education. The conversation explores artistic practice, teaching, community-building, and the development of DMS Atelier's

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65:38

303 Azole Njengele | Photography, Architecture &...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/07/07

In this episode, Javier Proenza speaks with South African interdisciplinary artist Azole Njengele, an MFA candidate at Otis College of Art and Design, about the relationship between architecture, drawing, and photography in her evolving practice. Reflecting on her education and professional experience in South Africa before relocating to the United States, Azole discusses how architectural training continues to shape her understanding of space, image-making, and artistic process. Their conversation

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89:19

302 Manny Valdez on Participatory Art, MFA Education,...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/06/23

Interdisciplinary artist Manny Valdez joins What's My Thesis? to discuss his participatory practice, recent projects, and experiences as an MFA graduate from Otis College of Art and Design. Drawing on performance, installation, screen printing, and artist participation, Valdez examines how artists construct identity, navigate institutional structures, and create opportunities within the contemporary Los Angeles art world. The conversation explores the realities of art education, grant applications,

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80:16

301 Ioanna Sakellaraki on Photography, Grief,...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/06/16

Javier Proenza speaks with Ioanna Sakellaraki, a Greek visual artist, photographer, and Fulbright Scholar currently conducting research with the Smithsonian, about the development of her interdisciplinary practice across photography, collage, embroidery, and archival work.The conversation examines Sakellaraki’s transition from a career in communications strategy with EU institutions into contemporary art, the influence of personal grief and the discovery of her late father’s archive on

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95:19

300 Art World Gatekeeping, Internet Culture, and...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/06/09

For the 300th episode of What’s My Thesis?, Javier Proenza is joined by Los Angeles-based artists and cultural workers Dakota Noot and Christopher Anthony Velasco for an informal conversation shaped by friendship, shared history, and long experience in contemporary art communities. The discussion reflects on public visibility, social media hostility, reputation, and the shifting dynamics of creative life in increasingly online cultural spaces. The episode also examines practical questions of

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65:41

299 Dave Young Kim — Asian Mythology, Immigrant...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/06/02

In this episode, Dave Young Kim, a Los Angeles–based muralist and curator, discusses his recent exhibition at the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Developed around the theme of Asian mythical creatures, the project reframes historical material through the structure of the immigrant experience, pairing objects from the museum’s collection with contemporary artworks and newly commissioned pieces.Kim reflects on the research process behind the exhibition, including the cultural specificity of

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80:39

298 Snezana Petrovic — Yugoslav War, Migration,...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/05/19

Snezana Petrovic, a Yugoslav-born painter, installation artist, and former production designer, joins What’s My Thesis? to discuss her early career across film and theater in Yugoslavia and her forced migration to California during the country’s collapse in the early 1990s. She reflects on the loss of a national identity, the experience of displacement, and the complexities of being categorized within new cultural and political frameworks in the United States.The conversation traces the

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94:27

297 Joe Galarza: Punk, Indigenous Anarchism, and Art...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/05/12

Joe Galarza is a Los Angeles-based muralist, musician, and community educator whose practice engages Indigenous identity, political resistance, and the social role of art. Introduced through the East L.A. punk scene, Galarza traces his early influences from heavy metal illustration to anarchist thought, and later to Indigenous-led movements shaped by land struggles, NAFTA-era organizing, and Zapatista philosophy.The conversation examines art as a tool for education and collective questioning,

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91:09

296 Josh Schaedel — Artist-Run Spaces, Photography...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/04/28

In this episode, photographer Josh Schaedel discusses his work founding and sustaining an artist-run exhibition space in Los Angeles, reflecting on a practice rooted in service, hospitality, and access for emerging artists. He addresses the material and economic realities of photography, including the costs of production and framing, and the structural challenges that limit broader institutional support for the medium.The conversation also considers the impact of digital tools and AI on

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64:31

295 Donel Williams — Abstraction, Black Figuration,...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/04/21

Artist Donel Williams reflects on his unconventional path into art, from community college photography to his studies at UCLA, where he developed a multidisciplinary practice spanning painting, performance, and installation. Drawing on personal history and mentorship, he describes how early experiences shaped his engagement with labor, material, and image-making.The conversation centers on the expectations placed on Black artists within contemporary art, particularly the pressure toward

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107:42

294 Faris McReynolds — Painting, Art Market Critique,...

What’s My Thesis? ·

2026/04/14

Faris McReynolds is a painter and musician whose practice engages directly with the structures of the contemporary art world. In this conversation, he reflects on his early entry into the gallery system, the financial realities of sustaining a painting practice, and the conditions that led him to step away from commercial representation. The discussion addresses how wealth, collectors, and market forces shape artistic visibility and value, alongside a critique of galleries, art fairs, and

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314 results

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