Artist Spotlights
Melissa Joseph
“I work largely intuitively, and I feel like when I’m making I become a channel for collective memory or knowledge to pass through. It feels directed in a way that is unlike other things I do.”
Hafsa Riaz
“The line etching process is the longest as I build up the drawing with repetitive marks in circles, instead of straight-line drawings. This process is almost meditative. A monotone color palette dominates most of my works as it enhances the nostalgia of the visuals.”
Keli Safia Maksud
“My practice involves a lot of research and the work that is produced as a result of this research is interdisciplinary. I am interested in ideas around identity formation and enjoy thinking about these ideas from different angles, which then necessitates working in different mediums.”
Jovita Alvares
“I like to observe... Everything. I make it a point to walk everyday and notice the world around me no matter how seemingly mundane. I have noticed, over the years that this is how the thought process for any of my works begin... From life.”
Kelsey Skordal
“A memory fragment or a mood is usually the starting point for my work. I often start by covering the surface in loose drawings that are related to the idea of the piece, then I begin painting the central image on top of those drawings, using them as the foundation for the narrative.”
Loren Eiferman
“I want the work to appear as if it grew in nature, when in fact each sculpture is composed of hundreds of small pieces of wood that are seamlessly jointed together. My work can be called the ultimate recycling: where I take the detritus of nature and give it a new life.”
Chelsea Wrightson
“Quarantine felt like entering a cave; while my eyes adjusted to sudden total darkness, my brain constructed its own lights, shapes, and colors to focus on in the absence of clear vision. What forms out of the dust on paper are contracts of interconnection.”
Nola Parker
“What drives and inspires me is my experience of the world. I spent a lot of time outdoors growing up in Vermont and I still feel that same sense of wonder and mystery I felt as a little kid standing in the big woods and just feeling like, “I don’t know the half of what is really going on out there” and finding some calm in that.”
Kieren Jeane
“I often have these lightning-bolt moments of images in my head, probably derived from something buried deep in my mind; a line of a poem that stuck to me, something that my ex said to me, etc. I try to stop whatever I’m doing when the image pops up in my head and grab whatever is nearest to me, a pen and a paper, or my phone, and just quickly sketch the image so I don’t forget about it. I use those rough sketches to stimulate my memory and jump right into painting. ”
Sidney Mullis
“Visions of objects come to the fore of my brain. I take the ones that linger to the studio and set out to build them physically. I have a background in dance and consider my art materials to be my dance partners. In the studio, we share who leads. We move about in an improvised choreography—a back-and-forth where one action influences the next. ”
Elliot Avis
“All of the references of my work are autobiographical in some way, in that they represent an interest of mine but that could range anywhere from cartoons, religion, history, or even pure math. As far as themes go I am aiming more for a feeling rather than someone understanding all of the references that may exist in a work.”
Jeong Hur
“Photographs are the most direct method by which I can look at myself and my past. I am not the same person now that I was when I was photographed, but it is still me, so photographs are the best way I have of looking at myself objectively. I am looking at myself but also at the shape of something similar to me. Through this process, I can see and know myself a bit more.”
Megan Foster
“As much as I like the perfection, I like the disorganization. Sometimes I start with a strict plan and specific location for each sticker and others are a collection of stickers placed without a plan. The shape is important and I precut them in various sizes. The circle references many different forms of light such as drones, orbs, stars and lite brite pegs.”
Alina Birkner
“I am working freely on more complex paintings. I try not to judge them as much as I used to, embracing the process and their strangeness.”
Jeffery Dell
“I often make maquettes, which is one way of playing. Instead of “thinking” of the image I want to make, I can interact with the maquettes until I “find” the image. I just don’t see my conscious mind as being particularly good at determining the image from the start. The play allows for other parts of me (the unconscious, the lower levels of the self, etc.) to influence the work. Meaning and content feel much richer to me that way.”
Isabel Cavenecia
“I think almost everybody has a paper and a pencil at home so it's a very accessible thing to do. Which is also what I love about drawing. It is almost as writing. It's a really direct way of making an image and transferring your mind onto the paper. You only need like 3 euros to make it and also you don't need a studio or a lot of space. I can always draw whenever I want, may it be at a cafe or a day at the lake. It’s simple and easy and it’s one of the most joyful things I can think of.”
Jasmine Murrell
“I’m really drawn to the communication and collective memory of things, sites, and abstract forms. I question the hierarchy of different life forms.”
Elizabeth Shull
“I am enthralled with the natural world and being outdoors. Of course my environment provides my inspirational backbone so the ocean, night sky, and birds regularly prompt many ideas. I am fascinated by history and science, the passage of time, connections, cause and effect, and the endless trail of visual and literal information.”