In conversation: Judith Belzer and Daisy Nam

Judith Belzer is a Berkeley-based artist who uses the language of landscape to try to understand and come to terms with the current environmental, political and social climate. Her most recent work explores the idea that instability and unpredictability, though anxiety-provoking, may offer opportunity for growth… and maybe even the possibility of finding peace. Belzer graduated from Barnard College with a degree in English and studied art at The New York Studio School. A Guggenheim Fellow, until recently, she taught at Harvard University in the Department of Art, Film and Visual Studies.

Daisy Nam is the Zlot Family Director and Chief Curator of the Wattis Institute Contemporary Arts at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco. Previously, she was at Ballroom Marfa, a contemporary art space dedicated to supporting artists through residencies, commissions, and exhibitions, first as the curator in 2020 and then the director and curator in 2022. From 2015–19, she was the assistant director at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, managing the administration and organizing programs, exhibitions, and publications. From 2008–2015, she produced seven seasons of talks, screenings, performances, and workshops as the assistant director of public programs at the School of the Arts, Columbia University.