For Absolution

Rebecca Spilecki is a sculptor, printmaker, papermaker, poet, and educator working from her home studio in Maine. She attended Wellesley College, graduating magna cum laude, and was inducted into the nation’s oldest academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. She sometimes lends her skills to her local community theaters, custom-building specialty props. Her prints, sculptures, and handmade, custom-watermarked papers have been displayed across the country, and in the Spring of 2020, she was a Featured Artist on Campus at the University of Maine at Farmington as well as being in residence at A.I.R. Studio Paducah.

My favored art-making practices are printmaking and sculpture, wherein I experiment with the media and methodologies concomitant with each. In print, I investigate structures of oppression, power, and privilege, looking at a wide array of social justice concerns regarding reproductive battles, race, trans rights, and more. Sculpturally, I generally explore the female body, in whole or in part, often focusing on reproduction, maternity, or deliberate materiality. I tend towards solidity in physicality, towards intimate but largely asexual portrayals, frank and often unpretty. Despite this, though, I simultaneously refuse to ground myself too firmly in practical reality, instead choosing either mythologizing the norm or norming the mythological. In those moments I do leave behind the body, I turn instead often to creatures unreal or extinct, trying still to ground them and offer them quieter, somehow still relatable life.

For Sale

Since the late 1960s, Michael Padwee (b. 1942) has been photographing and chronicling the labor, anti-Vietnam war, and social justice movements. As a member of the “Minority Photographers” group, he displayed his work around the New York metropolitan region. More recently, he joined the Long Island City Artists, the Cranbury (New Jersey) Digital Camera Club, and the Brooklyn-based IRVA (Inspired, Retired Visual Artists) collective. Michael’s current projects include nature and architectural photography, photo collages, surreal and abstract photography, and photography with political themes.

The social justice, anti-nuclear, and labor movements of the 1960s and 1970s were my first major sources of artistic inspiration. These movements continue to influence my work, as do the present socialist, environmental, and climate movements. Additionally, I developed an interest in architectural photography after I used my images to illustrate two blogs: “A Sometime Architourist” (2013-2014) and “Architectural Tiles, Glass and Ornamentation in New York” (2012-2021).

Foraging

I am the youngest child of a dad who was a merchant marine and a mom who was a community activist. I spent my time reading books and watching Star Trek. My love for photography fully started when I was gifted my very first film camera in 1978. I still have that camera. Digital photography started in 2010. I am self-taught in this arena but have had much help from Pace University’s Continuing Adult Education and School of Visual Arts along my journey.

My work is an expression of my emotions. Sometimes my emotions are scattered, and sometimes not. I express myself best in black and white, yet there are moments when color is a must. We walk through life and miss the beauty. It’s only for a fleeting moment when we come across something that we gravitate to. My camera allows me to revisit those moments.

My work is an expression of my emotions. Sometimes my emotions are scattered, and sometimes not. I express myself best in black and white, yet there are moments when color is a must. We walk through life and sometimes miss the beauty. It’s only for a fleeting moment when we come across something that we gravitate to. My camera allows me to revisit those moments.

Forest Nymph

Ria Shanker’s international heritage inspires her signature aesthetic style. She describes herself as a global citizen. Originally from India, she spent most of her life in the Middle East; in Bahrain and recently, Dubai. Her background is a melting pot of cultures with unique qualities, which influenced what would become her creative expression.

The complexity of the mind, emotions, and intuition are common subjects of her work – a homage to the wonders of nature and women alike. She considers this to be beauty in its most natural form.

Ria has exhibited virtually at the Milan art gallery, and Azerbaijan art gallery, and has her work published in an Australian publication called Curatorial Volume 3: Leaders in Contemporary Art. She has had exhibitions in Dubai showcasing some of her recent work.

She has worked with a leading robotics company in London to be part of their immersive and interactive art experience.

Forever

Born and raised on Long Island in New York, Veronica dreamt of being an artist as a child, but it was many years before she could follow that dream and make it come true. Ms. Russo received her Master’s Degree and Certificate of Advanced Study in Education and worked as a teacher and school administrator while continuing her art. She has had four solo shows featuring her oils, pastels, and drawings and was named Artist of the month at the Center for Creative Education in Kingston, NY. She has been in 30 group participation online art exhibits including the Stay Home-Make Art for the Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz in NY in 2020. Ms. Russo won a page in World Wide Art Magazine #9 and #10 in 2022. She was selected to participate in the Art for Ukraine exhibit on Artjuxtapose.com in July of 2022 and her work was chosen for the Rebel online show and 2022 online show at the HMVCgallery.com. She continues to draw, paint and follow her dream every day.

All I need is a pencil and paper.

Forever

Kylo-Patrick Hart is an award-winning photographer (Budapest International Foto Awards, European Photography Awards, Global Photography Awards, Golden Shot International Photography Awards, London Photography Awards, Pollux Awards, Tokyo International Foto Awards, etc.) and chair of the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media at Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, Texas, USA). He received his formal training in digital media arts while a student at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, with additional instruction provided by offerings of the Maine Media Workshops and Santa Fe Workshops. His photographs have been exhibited in numerous cities throughout the United States and in several countries abroad.

Photography has been my passion since early childhood. My motivation is to discover and capture the beauty, even when it is not always readily self-evident, that surrounds us continuously in all areas of our everyday lives. I believe the finest images are those that are serious yet playful, aesthetically appealing yet a bit quirky. As both an artist and an admirer, my favorite photographs tend to be ones whose contents speak loudly for themselves — even when it is not immediately clear exactly what they are saying. They seek to inspire their viewers to wrestle with their intriguing content and, as a result, ponder various aspects of our surrounding world in new and unique ways.

Forever Summer Girl With A Pail

Joanne Chase-Mattillo was born in the beautiful Midwestern University town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. While the natural surroundings of her childhood were inspiring, the beauty of nature surrounding Los Angeles was the impetus for her entrance into the field of photography. Joanne began vigorously studying photography and other art arenas to hone her skills as a visual artist. In 2000, she graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA). She is now a full-time artist.

In addition to color and black and white film, Joanne shoots digitally and employs the techniques of infrared imaging and enjoys creating 3D anaglyphs to be viewed with red/blue lenses. As an extension of photography, she has branched out to do videos and has a YouTube Channel, THE VIDEO ART OF JOANNE CHASE-MATTILLO. Along with nature, Joanne frequently photographs female and male subjects at themed studio shoots. She often uses the photograph of models combined with images of her nature photography to create unique photo montages.

Joanne has exhibited throughout California, nationally, in Korea, France, England, Switzerland, Scotland, Greece, Spain, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Holland, Taiwan, Brazil, Dubai, and Italy.

As a photographer, I am constantly in search of iconic imagery. The craftsmanship and perfection of classic Hollywood cinema have always been an inspiration and a goal I seek to achieve in my photography. While enjoying the technology of the present and how it has enhanced photography, I am very drawn to recreate photographs that reference the best of the past. It is my intent that the viewer of the images I create will be taken out of the everyday present to a magical place where, at any time, they would dream of going. Whether photographing people or nature, I strive to honor the best and the beauty of all that I have an opportunity to capture with my camera.

Summer days are the dream moments of the year that are looked forward to in dreary seasons. The beach, pool, lakes, and oceans draw all to embrace the sun and beat the heat. When we think of summer, we embrace all that the warmth of the sun brings.

Forgotten Love

Michele Matthews (B. 1989) grew up and currently lives on Long Island, New York. She received her BFA from Adelphi University in 2011 and was awarded the Hugh A. Wilson Award for Excellence in Abstract Painting that same year. In recent years, she has received several merit scholarships from Urban Glass Studio in Brooklyn, allowing her to study and explore light, color, and the urban landscape using glass. The structures and subway system of Manhattan have intrigued her as she grew up and influenced her art greatly, becoming the focus of her art. Michele enjoys using gouache, acrylic, and flashe paints on paper and canvas, while also begging to incorporate glass as a new medium to further experience color, light, and the urban landscape of Manhattan.

The Manhattan skyline is filled with complex elements that are in a constant state of evolution & continue to expand before our eyes. On the surface, buildings grow as tall as trees, overlapping each other with size and design, while trains mix & mingle in the rivers of tunnels down below, burrowing deep underground and connecting the populous of Manhattan. Often focusing on quick snapshots taken around the city, observing the relationships of the everyday people & objects existing within the larger world of Manhattan. I enjoy mapping out the shapes & colors I see, working from photographs taken on site. Through quick studies & sketches of each scene, the image becomes a narrative, presenting to the viewer a quick snapshot of the city. The quick narratives & interactions presented in my work, combined with the expression of color and light that is unique to the Manhattan landscape, aids in the expression that few may experience while they are exploring themselves.

Form + Rythm

Eoin Schnell (b. 2000, New York City) is a visual artist and composer working at the intersection of gesture, rhythm, and material. His abstract compositions explore the vitality of motion—and the aesthetics that emerge when that energy is interrupted through material process or tool. Schnell uses brushes, power tools, and self-made implements to engage the tension between control and improvisation.

With a BA in Musical Studies from Oberlin College, his background in sound deeply informs his visual practice. He has studied with Tyshawn Sorey, George Lewis, and Anthony Braxton, and attended the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music. His work often reflects a sensitivity to silence, rupture, and rhythm drawn from those experiences.
Schnell’s work spans painting, drawing, live performance, and research-based collaborations. He has shown in group exhibitions across the U.S. and worked on projects presented at institutions like Hauser & Wirth in New York. He is currently based in New York City.