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Dominika Ksel (also known by the aliases Magdalena Kakabrain, Holotropik, and Bloodflames) is an American multidisciplinary artist, educator, sound researcher, and activist based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work incorporates immersive technology, sound, performance, public art, hypnosis, and socially engaged practice to explore environmental justice, expanded consciousness, and decolonial futures.

Education and Teaching

Ksel earned an MFA in Combined Media and a BA in Media Studies and Studio Art from Hunter College (CUNY). She is certified in Deep Listening through Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2021–2023) and is a Certified Hypnotherapist. Ksel has taught courses in immersive storytelling, sound art, animation, and media justice at Baruch College, Hunter College, City Tech, LaGuardia Community College, Marymount Manhattan College, NYU IDM, and the University of Washington.

Artistic Practice

Her interdisciplinary practice blends VR/AR, field recordings, hypnosis, and interactive installation. Ksel's work explores themes of consciousness, technofeminism, environmental justice, and collective healing. She employs sensory-driven methods such as binaural, ambisonic, and hydrophonic recordings to create immersive experiences.

Collective Work

= HOWDOYOUSAYYAMINAFRICAN? (YAMS Collective) =

Ksel was a member of this global collective, whose Good Stock on the Dimension Floor: An Opera was featured in the 2014 Whitney Biennial.{{cite web |title=Yams Collective Withdraws from Whitney Biennial |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/yams-collective-withdraws-from-whitney-biennial-3341/ |website=ARTnews |date=2014-05-15}} Other exhibitions include:

Post-Speculation Act I & II – P! Gallery NYC & The New Foundation Seattle

No Humans Involved – Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam

Pot Liquor Medicine Women – Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

= Temporary Agency =

As co-founder of Temporary Agency, Ksel helped organize public programs and experimental exhibitions including:

Mimesis: Part I

In No Man's Land

Rowing in the Dark

Wild Seeds

Community-Based Projects

= Buena Onda Art Lab =

Ksel co-founded this bilingual community media lab with Camila A. Morales in Far Rockaway, NY. The lab offers free workshops in VR/AR, 3D printing, sound art, and ecological storytelling. The lab's public installations such as Sonic Constellation and emergentSEAS blend reclaimed materials and immersive technologies with intergenerational engagement.

Selected Exhibitions

{{cite web |title=Dominika Ksel: emergentSEAS |url=https://www.flushingtownhall.org/emergentseas |website=Flushing Town Hall |date=2024}}

= Solo Exhibitions =

emergentSEAS – Flushing Town Hall, 2024

Staying Afloat! – NYC Parks, Rockaway Beach, 2024

Oneiromancy XR – RISE, Queens, 2023

Sonic Constellation – RISE, 2020–2021

Breathing Together: A Love Story (CARE) – NYC Parks, 2022

= Group Exhibitions =

Whitney Biennial – 2014{{cite web |title=Whitney Biennial 2014 |url=https://whitney.org/exhibitions/2014-biennial |website=Whitney Museum}}
Bronx Museum Biennial – 2017{{cite web |title=AIM Biennial at the Bronx Museum |url=https://www.bronxmuseum.org/exhibitions/aim-biennial-2017 |website=Bronx Museum}}
ICA Boston – Art in the Age of the Internet, 2018{{cite web |title=Art in the Age of the Internet |url=https://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/art-age-internet-1989-today |website=ICA Boston}}
El Museo del Barrio Biennial – 2013{{cite web |title=The (S) Files Biennial 2013 |url=https://www.elmuseo.org/exhibitions/the-s-files-2013 |website=El Museo del Barrio}}
Every Woman NFT Biennial – Superchief Gallery, 2021
Queens Museum, Wallach Art Gallery, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Chile), Kunstinstituut Melly (Netherlands)

Sound Practice and Discography

Under the monikers Holotropik and Bloodflames, Ksel has released experimental sound works featuring ambient textures, electromagnetic recordings, deep listening, and political remix. Notable releases include:

(sea)nce (2021) – Album released as Dominika Ksel, Jade Payne, Teresa Loken, Naya Jayaram

Infrequentseas (2016) – Album released as Bloodflames

Blessed Be (2014) – Album released as Holotropik

Parable of Democracy – SoundCloud single integrating Octavia Butler excerpts

Featured artist on Audible Women's archive

Awards and Grants

Ksel has received numerous awards and fellowships, including:{{cite web |title=National Endowment for the Humanities Grant Recipients 2022 |url=https://www.neh.gov/news/press-release-2022-neh-grants |website=NEH}}{{cite web |title=NYFA 2023 Queens Arts Fund Awardees |url=https://www.nyfa.org/qaf-2023-awardees |website=NYFA}}

National Endowment for the Humanities – Aquapolis XR (2021–2022)
National Endowment for the Arts – Oneiromancy XR (2023), (sea)nce
New York Foundation for the Arts – Artist Corps Grant (2021), Queens Arts Fund (2023–2025)
More Art Fellowship – Socially Engaged Art (2022–2023){{cite web |title=More Art 2023 Fellows |url=https://moreart.org/projects/2023-artist-residencies |website=More Art}}
Culture Push – Utopian Artist Fellowship (2020–2021){{cite web |title=Dominika Ksel, Utopian Fellow |url=https://www.culturepush.org/utopian-fellows/2020/ksel |website=Culture Push}}
Silver Arts Residency – World Trade Center (2021)
Works on Water Triennial Grant (2022){{cite web |title=Works on Water Triennial 2022 |url=https://www.worksonwater.org/2022-triennial |website=Works on Water}}
Clipperton Projects – Antarctica Fellowship (2017)
PSC-CUNY Research Grant (2023)
AIM Fellowship – Bronx Museum of the Arts (2017)

References

Media Coverage and Interviews

Posture Magazine – "Introducing the Interdisciplinary Artist Dominika Ksel" (2014){{cite web |title=Introducing Dominika Ksel |url=https://www.posturemag.com/online/dominika-ksel-artist-profile/ |website=Posture Magazine |date=2014-03-30}}
Audible Women – Featured profile for feminist sound practice (2015–2018)
Rockaway Times – Coverage of Buena Onda Art Lab (2024)
Open Source Gallery – Artist-at-Home interview{{cite web |title=Dominika Ksel: Artist-at-Home |url=https://www.openspacegallery.org/at-home/dominika-ksel |website=Open Source Gallery}}
Culture Push – Fellowship documentation and project interviews
Center for the Humanities (CUNY) – Teaching profile focused on sensory media{{cite web |title=Dominika Ksel |url=https://centerforthehumanities.org/programming/participants/dominika-ksel |website=Center for the Humanities}}
SoundCloud – "Parable of Democracy" featured in independent sound archives
Bandcamp – (sea)nce concept album (2022) with climate/ecology focus