Studio
Miscellaneous Activities [mi-suh-lay-nee-uhs ak-tiv-it-ees] is an interdisciplinary art and design studio led by Tsēmā and Jonathan Igharas. The studio creates site-responsive works within the public realm that integrate sculpture, installation, and ecological and cultural narrative—listening closely to place and weaving together land, memory, ecology, and the rhythms of public life.
Rooted in Indigenous approaches to placemaking, the studio is intentional in honoring ancestral concepts of time, reciprocity, and responsibility. Guided by decolonial ways of seeing the world, their practice centers care—for land and water, for communities and future generations, and for the more-than-human worlds that surround and sustain us.
Profile
Tsēmā Igharas is an interdisciplinary artist from the Tāłtān Matriarchy whose practice is grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems, land-based research, and material culture. Her work frequently engages concepts of kinship, stewardship, and deep time, translating them into sculpture and performance that honor place while addressing contemporary environmental and social conditions. Tsēmā brings extensive experience leading culturally grounded art, design and education projects in collaboration with her Indigenous Nation in northern British Columbia, Canada.
Jonathan Igharas is a Filipino-American industrial and environments designer raised in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. His work explores the intersection of art, objects, and architecture, focusing on how environments shape human emotion and movement. Leading technical design and development for the studio, Jonathan translates artistic insight into meticulously crafted spatial works. His practice is defined by material and cultural sensitivity and a profound responsiveness to place.
Working together—in life and in practice—for over fifteen years, their work is rooted in a shared care for protecting water and natural ecosystems, and in the ongoing work of shaping socially and environmentally conscious futures. Their collaborative process brings artistic inquiry into dialogue with technical rigor, allowing projects to emerge as sculptural landmarks, culturally symbolic forms of dialogue, and ecological and social interventions. For them, Misc. Activities is a conduit for responding to their lives, society and the world in tangible ways that move beyond words.
Public Art Methodology
Our work begins by listening to the land. We approach each site as a living system shaped by environment, history, and the layered relationships of those who have moved through it. Through research, dialogue, and observation, we seek to understand the rhythms, materials, and stories already present. From this process emerges a conceptual framework rooted in place — one that reflects both ancestral memory and contemporary life.
We design with stewardship in mind. Materials are selected for durability and integrity; forms respond to climate, light, and movement; structures are developed to weather time with dignity. Sustainability is not an add-on, but a guiding principle that informs how the work is built, how it functions, and how it will be cared for.
Our practice moves between hand and software, studio and site, working in collaboration with engineers, fabricators, architects, and community partners. Each artwork is conceived as a gathering point — a landmark that participates in its environment and supports ecological and cultural continuity for generations to come.