Power Dynamics and the Creative Process: Hunting for What's Alive: Ali Silverstein in Conversation with Kasia Urbaniak

On Wednesday, November 16 albertz benda will host a conversation exploring the role of power dynamics in the creative process with artist Ali Silverstein and dominatrix Kasia Urbaniak within Silverstein's exhibition at the gallery.

About Ali Silverstein & Kasia Urbaniak

ALI SILVERSTEIN [American and British, b. 1980] studied visual art and comparative religion at Columbia University before attending the Slade School of Fine Art in London where she received her MFA in Painting.  Silverstein has been mining the world of BDSM, utilizing the power dynamics of domination and submission to guide her work. Using the act of painting to address issues of vulnerability and shame, Silverstein’s ultimate goal is ever-expanding freedom - a legitimizing of desire and a searching-out of the places that we don’t allow ourselves to go.

KASIA URBANIAK is the founder and CEO of The Academy.  She has spent the past 15 years researching power dynamics all over the world: from Daoism in one of China's oldest female-led monastery, to BDSM in New York City's dungeons.  She has been a speaker at conferences, corporations, and academic institutions worldwide, including the Yale University School of Management, and has taught some of the world’s most powerful women how to expand their influence in all aspects of their lives.