Summer of 2023, I went to Art Farm, an artist residency located in Marquette, Nebraska, US. The founder, Ed, offered me to stay for 2 and half months, from August 15 to November 1. Only after arriving, I realized most residents stay for a duration of 1-4 weeks, which meant I got to meet a bunch of different people during my stay. 
It’s hard to describe how special Art Farm is. First of all, it is this patch of trees among corn and soybean fields. Ed has planted all of them over the decades. All the houses on the property were either bought and moved from nearby farms then modified, or built by past residents, some better maintained than others. There are 3 main living quarters, one of which is Ed’s teenage home, and the rest of the buildings function as studios or hangout spaces. 
Artists of all disciplines come and occupy spaces for short period of time, utilizing what’s available on top of what they bring. There are an abundance of materials on site, ranging from metal, wood, clay, to paper, fabrics, ink, and found objects of all kinds.
In exchange for the free accommodation and materials, everyone work together from 9am to 12pm, Monday to Thursday to contribute to the betterment of the residency. The main project this year was started in 2022, of building a shed from steel, tin, and wood. It is lovingly called the “Wonder Shed”, built to fix a multitude of issues on the property. Partially as a result of the work hours, and being away from cities, my sleeping schedule has never been so healthy and regular. I enjoyed extended period of naturally waking up around 7am, harvesting veggies from the garden, and watching the sun creep up the crowns of the trees. 

The idea for this series of sudio portraits came after a couple days of my arrival, and it stemed from my curiosity to see how each different individual occupied the same spaces, and what everyone was doing. It also served as a gateway for me to get to know people and get to learn some of their crafts.