Content Magazine

Episode #144 - John W. Kim

Filmmaker John W. Kim joins the podcast to discuss his twenty-year journey in independent cinema and the founding of his production house, Civilized Beast. With a background in honors literature and an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Kim’s work—including his latest feature film, Reunion—focuses on authentic representation and the "stubbornness" required to create original stories in a corporate landscape.

In this conversation, Kim reflects on his Palo Alto roots, the influence of 1970s cinema, and his realization that the "line" for opportunity wasn't moving for everyone. From his "Machiavellian plan" to write his way into the industry to the world premiere of his new film at Cinequest, Kim offers an informative look at the reality of being a "civilized beast" in the world of film.

Explore John’s portfolio and ongoing projects on Instagram at @jkinstant and on the web at johnwkim.com

Follow the journey of his latest feature on Instagram at @reunion.movie and on the web at reunionfilm.net

Episode #143 | Content Magazine: A look at 2026

It’s been a minute, but we are officially back with the first podcast of 2026. Founder Daniel Garcia and Production Manager David Valdespino Jr. discuss a big year ahead, including a team transition and an overview of projects currently hitting the streets.

After founding Content in 2012, Daniel is preparing for a planned transition to focus on his personal art practice. Starting April 1st, David Valdespino Jr. will step into the role of Executive Editor to lead the publication toward its 74th issue and beyond.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• The 2026 Special Edition, Explore San Jose–produced in partnership with Visit San José.
• David’s transition from managing production logistics to editorial leadership.
• The search for a new Production Manager to join the Content team.

Links:

• Read the full blog: https://bit.ly/2026Pod143
• Apply for the Production Manager role: https://bit.ly/CPM2026App

Cooper Salmon | Featured: Issue 18.2, "Sight and Sound."

“I challenge the idea that a disability is an inherent negative and that people with disabilities are not capable of living full and rich lives.”— Cooper Salmon

Painter Cooper Salmon at work in the studio.

Featured in Content Magazine, spring 2026 Issue 18.2, "Sight and Sound."

Read more about Cooper Salmon’s life and work in Content Magazine Issue 18.2

bit.ly/182SNS

Published by SVCreates

Written by Taran Escobar-Ausman

Photography by Daniel Garcia

rafa esparza is a multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles, working across live performance, sculpture, installation, drawing, and painting. Known for his work with adobe brick, a skill he inherited from his father, Ramón Esparza, his process connects the artist to community and centers inclusivity within contexts of historical exclusion.rafa’s current work uses adobe as a platform to "probe a history of institutionalized racism in traditional art spaces".

Central to the work is collaboration, often involving other BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and Queer artists. By bringing this process into historically exclusive institutions, he explains, the work is designed to "ground conversations that are about inclusivity".

In his 2025 installation, Casi Casa: De Borrado, at MACLA in San Jose, rafa is creating a large adobe slab meant to prompt visitors to imagine what it would mean to “pause” the relentless drive to build and instead imagine the Earth swallowing up life as we know it.

Follow rafa on Instagram at elrafaesparzaFollow MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana on Instagram at macla_sanjose and on the web at maclaarte.org

Follow Montalvo Arts Center on Instagram at montalvoarts and on the web at montalvoarts.org

Follow the Lucas Artists Residency Program on Instagram at lucasartres

Alfredo Muccino: Memories & Dreams

Alfredo Muccino: Memories & DreamsAlfredo Muccino was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and raised as an Italian. His father’s engineering career took the family across the world. His father was a painter, and Muccino would imitate his work. His artistry has been influenced by Picasso, Matisse, and Basquiat, as well as the art and architecture of Rome, where he grew up. As Muccino recalled, “A lot of it also comes from growing up in Rome as a kid, riding my bicycle around, drawing the statues of Bernini and the churches of Michelangelo.”In 2025, Muccino is returning to his roots with a solo exhibition, "MEMORIES & DREAMS," which showcases his meditations on life, mortality, and the death of dreams. At the heart of this series is the idea that dreams can change over time. He hopes to explore the disparity between memory and reality, turning his personal reflection into a shared experience.

Follow Alfredo on Instagram at alfredo.muccino and on his website, solidbranding.com 

Check out the upcoming Morgann Trumbull Projects’ exhibitions at morganntrumbull.com 

#MEMORIESandDREAMS #AlfredoMuccino #ContemporaryArt #SanJoseArt #SoFADistrict #ArtExhibition #CreativeDirector #LiquidAgency #SolidBranding #ReturnToRoots #FineArt #LifeMortalityDreams #InstaArt #SupportArtists

Featured Artist: Paulina (Goff) Stovall

San Jose-based professional pumpkin carver Paulina (Goff) Stovall discovered her passion for carving pumpkins when she was commissioned to live carve them at a high-end party. She has since transformed this seasonal tradition into a highly technical art form that blends artistry, imagination, and precision.

While most of Paulina’s carvings are commissioned, she always ties in a piece of herself, inspired by mythical creatures and sci-fi horror films from the ’80s and ’90s. She notes, “when I have the opportunity to carve for myself, I bring in things that inspire me, which tend to have a lot of teeth and look more scary and movie-inspired.” To add texture and form, she often incorporates other vegetables like butternut, carrots, and zucchini to create standing 360-degree sculptures.

Paulina has dreams of expanding her practice to more permanent sculptures carved from stone. For her, the carving pumpkins is about creating joy and lasting memories, hoping to inspire others to make art and pursue what they love.

Follow Paulina on Instagram at carvedfx and explore her portfolio at crvdfx.com.

#PumpkinCarving #ArtistryUnleashed #SanJoseArtist #HalloweenWars #FoodNetwork #LiveCarving #PumpkinArt #SeasonalArt #CreativeEntrepreneur #CarvedFX #SciFiArt #Techtoberfest

Featured Artist: Sarah Bianco 

Artist Sarah Bianco’s work can be found at the intersection of fine and commercial art. Her current studio practice at the Tannery Arts Center is quite literally built from her commercial practice, where she uses old drop cloths from her painting business as the foundation for her fine art. Bianco’s process often results in airy dreamscapes that depict figures jumping and suspended in space. This motif represents her artistic approach, taking risks and leaping into the unknown—that liminal space between when you jump and when you land, which is also echoed in the gallery name, Apricity.

Sarah Bianco will be featured in the 2025 40th annual Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour and Content Magazine Issue 18.1, "Discover

Follow Bianco on Instagram at paintingbybianco & apricitygallery

Explore her portfolio at sarahbianco.com 

Learn more about the Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour at openstudios.artscouncilsc.org

#SarahBianco #ArtistTalk #WomenArtists #CreativeProcess #ArtPodcast #SantaCruzArt #MixedMediaArtist #VisualArtConversations #OpenStudios2025 #ApricityGallery #FineArtJourney #ArtAndCreativity #BehindTheCanvas #ArtLifeStories #EmergingArtists

Laamsha Young

Santa Cruz-based artist Laamsha Young has worked across three primary artistic disciplines: jewelry design, painting, and sculpture. While receiving her MFA in painting from San Jose State University, she discovered her latest passion for foam sculpture, which built upon her earlier practice in jewelry and painting.

For the past three years, this inexpensive, low-brow foam material has been the basis of her current practice: large-scale foam sculptures. These pieces often take on elaborate drippy and squishy Baroque forms that she shares, “make squeezy noises.” A philosophical interest in ornamentation connects Young’s practice in jewelry, painting, and foam sculpture. Drawing inspiration from formal design elements like "wallpaper and silverware," Young’s work examines: “Who gets to have ornament?”

Young will be featured along with over 340 Santa Cruz County artists in the 2025 40th annual Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour. She is concentrating on debuting a new collection of ornate foam candelabras, which serve as a material-based continuation of her inquiry into the role of ornament in contemporary sculpture.

Follow Laamsha on Instagram at younglaamsha

Explore her portfolio at laamshayoung.net 

Learn more about the Santa Cruz County Open Studios art tour at openstudios.artscouncilsc.org

#FoamSculpture #ContemporaryArt #SculptureArt #ArtInstallation #MixedMediaArt #SantaCruzArt #JewelryDesign #BaroqueArt #WomenArtists #OpenStudios2025 #EmergingArtist #LaamshaYoung

Below the Surface – Sieglinde Van Damme

In a time of noise, uncertainty, and collective exhaustion, multi-disciplinary abstract artist Sieglinde Van Damme offers something rare: a visual sanctuary to breathe.

Sieglinde Van Damme’s path from economist to full-time artist may seem unconventional, but her work reveals a consistent focus: human behavior. Born in Belgium and now based in California, Van Damme brings a thoughtful, introspective lens to her art—one shaped by systems thinking and lived experience. Her guiding mantra, “Re-imagine what else is possible”™, " informs her process and message.

Working across painting, mixed media, and installation, Van Damme builds her pieces through a slow layering process. Each layer represents a life phase—some joyful, others painful—resulting in textured works reflecting the complexity of personal growth. A recurring element in her practice is the use of white, often applied as a final gesture. For Van Damme, white symbolizes a clean slate: a space to release the past and make room for what’s to come.

Explore more of her work at sieglindevandamme.com or follow on Instagram @sieglindevandamme.

Episode #142 - Ha Nguyen - LOLAH Entertainment 

This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Born in a small town in Vietnam, Ha Nguyen was raised with a clear path laid out before her: academic achievement, a professional career, and a life of quiet respectability. For years, she followed that path—studying dentistry for six years at the insistence of her father. But even in the lecture halls and clinical labs, something louder was calling.

Music had always been in her bones. As a child, she played piano, fashioned guitars from broomsticks, and recorded her favorite songs from MTV on cassette. It wasn’t until her late teens that she picked up a guitar and started taking lessons. In her early twenties, she joined an all-female rock band in Saigon, and soon after, she never looked back.

In this conversation, Nguyen is reflective, grounded, and quietly fierce. She speaks of her Buddhist practice not as a performance of spirituality, but as a daily discipline—a reminder to stay present, to stay soft, to stay open. She’s also a mother now, a role that has softened some of her edges while sharpening her sense of purpose. Songs like “Best Thing” reflect this shift—less rebellion, more resolution.

Follow Ha on Instagram @lolahentertainment or visit her website at lolahentertainment.com 

Ha was most recently featured in Issue 17.2, “Connect.”