Coaxial Staff
Eva Aguila (she/her) Artistic Director
Eva Aguila is a Mexican American interdisciplinary artist and organizer. As a first generation born in Los Angeles her work currently is centered around oral histories of the Mexican diaspora, specifically her ancestral familial rural Michoacán communities. Aguila works with video, sound, and installation to examine personal histories and the in-betweenness of the Latine experience. Using research and personal archives her current work is informed by the materiality of memory. Inspired by ephemerality and Indigenous Futurism, she works with time based media to depict stories and alternative histories to reinterpret cultural portrayals of the diaspora. Aguila is also one of the founders and Board President of Coaxial Arts Foundation, an artist-run non-profit organization dedicated to experimental sound, video and performance art. Aguila co-created Coaxial Arts Foundation as a way to further the community of interdisciplinary media artists in LA, as well as foster the community itself. Her passion for grassroots organizing started as a need to support underrepresented artists communities as ephemeral art is not always represented in traditional art galleries.
Shannon Kennedy (she/they) Director of Operations
Shannon A, Kennedy is an interdisciplinary, multi media performance artist, theater designer, sculptor, musician and teacher. Her current work focuses on systems and networks that appear throughout our world, how they influence our conscious and unconscious perception and shape our very existence. The work stems from a lifelong study of ecology and psychology and a love of learning, teaching, and finding connection with others. Shannon has been composing sound narrations, performing with hand made, physically activated instrument sculptures for 25 years. Her method as an artist is in exploring non-verbal ways of storytelling by using sculptural sound makers, set pieces and physical movement to create abstract, immersive environments of sound and visual stimulus that tell a story and elicit a strong, visceral, emotional response from the audience.
Shannon performs solo under the moniker Nephila and as half of the duo Pedestrian Deposit, which has toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe, played countless performances and festivals in both traditional and non-traditional settings, released numerous recordings and participated in film scores.
Shannon has been member of the Coaxial board since its inception and is passionate about providing a space which promotes experimental art from new and emerging artists, and a strong sense of community. Since taking on the role of Director Of Operations, it has been her mission to enhance Coaxial as a place of learning, where marginalized communities in particular can feel free to express themselves and social networking can thrive. Shannon holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Connecticut and an MFA in Scenic Design from UCLA.
Marlo De Lara, PhD (they/siya) Director of Grants and Community Care, Interim Director
Marlo tends to Coaxial’s funding needs and supports the staff in facilitating decision making within the team. Using their critiques of the nonprofit industrial complex and institutional learning, De Lara aims to transgress and subvert traditional hierarchical ways of managing contemporary art spaces. In the role in community care, Marlo uses mutual aid and emergent strategies in combination with current equity, diversity, and inclusion practices to ensure safety and access for all.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, artist Marlo De Lara received a PhD in Cultural Studies (University of Leeds) and an MA in Psychosocial Studies from the Centre of Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex. Their practice works within the realms of sound performance, visual distraction, and film. Using found objects, installation, and various forms of amplification, environments/structures use sound to impart meaning and affect for the participant. As the child of Philippine migrants, De Lara’s unabashed feminist sociopolitical practice/research editorializes on contemporary global conditions.
Mas Guerrero (she/they) Events Manager
Mas manages Coaxial’s live event & public programming. Mas supervises technical production equipment, ticketing, volunteers, space maintenance as well as the covid compliance coordinator. Mas opens, runs and closes live events which are crucial to Coaxial’s community presence and functionality.
Mas Guerrero is a multimedia artist who's auditory and visual work focuses on excess, simulacra and the means of production. Mas actively exhibits, performs and curates in DIY spaces in and out of Los Angeles.
J Borges (they/them) Events Manager
As an active part of Coaxial since it's inception, J has contributed to nearly every facet of the organization -- from curating and managing events as a former board member to promotion, flyer design, webpage maintenance and mailorder fulfillment. Currently, J serves as event manager with a focus on live sound engineering, lighting, inventory organization and technical maintenance.
J Borges is a composer, sound designer and visual artist; active for over 25 years, most notably with their projects Pedestrian Deposit and Vasculae. They also operate the Monorail Trespassing label, which is focused on specific extensions of noise, dark ambient and electro-acoustics -- often with a concordant, minimalist design aesthetic.
Rain Matheke (she/they) Communications Manager
Rain mothers all things social media, newsletters, press, ticket links, and promotion for the organization and community. She comes to us with over 10 years of experience in higher education administration, and several years as a marketing professional in the field of virtual production. No stranger to Coaxial, Rain has been a performer, curator, and even an artist in residence since we first opened our doors, and they now work with Coaxial Arts Foundation behind the scenes.
Born, and currently living in Pittsburgh, PA, Rain received a Master’s Degree in Visual Art (CSUN). She is an interdisciplinary visual and experimental sound artist. These days, their work mostly takes the form of video art, noise, touring, and tattooing. Rain’s work is always in service of deep connection and understanding, and focuses on navigation of the decaying body and identity as it shifts and evolves within the shell of illness and disease, and blooms through transition.