Hallway

Jiashun Zhou is a fiber artist whose work intricately explores the intersection of memory, space, and emotion through weaving. Based in Chicago, Jiashun Zhou got a BFA in Fiber and textile from the University of the Arts， and an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His artistic practice transforms personal experiences and fleeting moments into tangible, three-dimensional forms.

Jiashun Zhou’s work is deeply influenced by his desire to decelerate the rapid pace of modern life and draw attention to the often-overlooked details of our surroundings. By weaving elements such as the door from his undergraduate studio, he aims to slow down the act of capturing and bring forth the essence of spaces that are crucial yet frequently ignored.
Throughout his career, Jiashun Zhou has received several prestigious awards, including multiple scholarships from the University of the Arts and the Rosalie Borowsky Belkin Award. His exhibitions, such as “Sizzle” and “With Every Fiber of Our Being,” reflect his commitment to using weaving as a language to articulate indescribable emotions and experiences.

Jiashun Zhou views weaving as a personal diary, shaping his emotions and memories into concrete images. Each piece he creates is a dialogue between his inner world and the external environment, transforming subjective experiences into vibrant, physical forms. His use of color and texture serves as an emotional language, revealing aspects of his personality and perspective.

In his creative process, Jiashun Zhou draws inspiration from his travels, the places he has lived, and the myriad of experiences that color his life. Through his art, he captures the meaningful encounters of daily existence, weaving them into a tapestry that reflects both the visible and invisible aspects of our shared experiences.

Weaving provides me with an artistic language that brings indescribable emotions and experiences to life, integrating them into my 3D world. It allows me to sculpt memories and feelings into tangible forms and spaces. As I weave thread by thread, I uncover a new space through the interplay of light and shadow—spaces that belong to us alone, unaltered by the passage of time. Even as we lose or change old environments, the essence of those spaces persists. They exist not only in our memories or imagination but also in the 3D world I aim to create through weaving. I am convinced of the existence of this space, shaped by our habits and the scents we associate with them. When we discuss the same object or space, we inevitably have different memories and perspectives. At that moment, each person’s unique habits transform these spaces into identical yet differently scented and colored realms.

My understanding of art is that I treat weaving as a diary to record my life, through which I can shape my emotions and memories into concrete images. Weaving is a means of expressing emotions and memories, in my creative process, weaving has become an important tool for me to talk to my heart, it opens up a piece of heaven and earth for me, only my conversation with it is unprecedentedly quiet, and I think of the final work as the letters we exchange. Our encounters and separations with the people we love in our lives are a kind of interwoven weft, which if we are lucky enough will also create a kind of tapestry between you and me. There are visible parts and invisible ones.

I use colors to express my emotions. I use a specific color palette to represent my personality. The way I perceive art is that people use art as journals to record their lives. Similarly, I use weaving and printing as a way to document meaningful things I encounter in my daily life.

Rather than recreating the space, my work emphasizes the feelings the space once evoked, transforming those sensations by distorting objective reality. I use colors to express my emotions and a specific palette to represent my personality. My approach to art is akin to using a journal to document life. Similarly, I use weaving and printing to capture the meaningful experiences I encounter daily. My inspiration comes from the emotions tied to my memories, drawn from the cities I’ve traveled to, the apartments I’ve lived in, the trees, people, houses, and even the sunrises and sunsets I’ve witnessed. Over time, these sketches and photos become an archive of memories, and I select the most captivating ones to bring to life through weaving.

Happiness

Jessica Hansen is an artist based out of Southern California where she lives and works with her adorable dogs and sidekicks. Growing up, her family fostered a love and appreciation for art, history, and travel. She graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor’s Degree in history. When she’s not painting, she’s at her day job managing an elementary school office, working out, or likely to be on a coffee run!

Over the past few years, Jessica has been gaining momentum in her art career. She feels fortunate to have shown in exhibits across the country and looks forward to participating in more shows in the future.

“Happiness” is a moment of sheer contentment and joy. It’s based on a photo I had taken a few years ago while on a trip with my boyfriend. School had just ended so we drove up the coast to the beach for a few days. On our first morning there, we sat on our balcony, peacefully drinking the coffee he had made for us. It was quiet & calm & absolutely perfect. I was with my best friend, & I had truly never felt that kind of happiness before.

I don’t know what it is about palm trees, maybe it’s their California vibes or a reminder of trips to tropical beaches but, I always seem to be admiring them. I was on a walk when I encountered this pair of trees. Looking straight up at them as I approached, they were a lovely combination of black and white from the sun’s rays and shadows. The fronds featured shades of green that were set against the most vibrant blue sky. It was so lovely and as I tilted my head up to see them better, I thought “Things Are Looking Up.”

Happy Birthday

Christine’s near-perfect memory haunts her work at every turn. Many of her paintings depict an anxious tension between the romantic clarity of her past, a chaotic present, and her unknowable future. Collage represents a concrete representation of the artist at work as she metabolizes her old memorabilia into new forms, finally tearing up old memories to create new ones.

She has also turned the microscope on her physical self. For twenty-five years Christine has suffered severe chronic pain due to sarcoidosis and fibromyalgia, often being forced to change the way she holds a brush, or the medium she works in, due to degenerative hand and shoulder damage. Her paintings are almost topographical, charting the tributaries of pain as they circulate her body in vibrant, dangerous, angry colors.

Christine’s work is a diary of a private woman laid open for everybody to read. In that way it does what art does best—shines a light inside so that everyone else can find their own way.

The series I am working on currently is watercolors of old childhood photos that I’ve reimagined slightly to more honestly depict the feelings evoked when I look at them. The reimagining of the photos also plays with commenting on how capturing images used to be: documenting, dropping off the film, waiting, and waiting with great anticipation only to have people’s eyes closed out of frame or out of focus. As opposed to today’s editing and filtering of every image saved or shown, one ended up with imperfect images that didn’t match up with our memories or expectations. Those imperfect images may be more accurate than either.

Happy Hour

Gayle Faulkner, with over 35 years of artistic exploration and creativity, stands as a seasoned watercolor, acrylic, and mural artist. Her journey has been marked by constant exploration, a playful engagement with diverse media, and an unwavering commitment to growth in the world of art.

Her academic journey, rooted in a BA in Sociology from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, initially led her to work with children, integrating art into their day-to-day experiences. Gayle’s passion for art eventually pulled her into a more immersive pursuit. She delved into Art and Design courses at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, unlocking her artistic soul. The willingness to ”put herself out there”, coupled with years of hard work and a penchant for thinking outside the box, allowed her to undergo a major growth period.

Finally, the challenges posed by the COVID-19 quarantine became a catalyst for Gayle’s artistic metamorphosis, leading her to focus on acrylic paintings on canvas. Engaging in an online course.

In my art practice, I describe my creations as Textural Acrylics. This term represents the exciting experience of observing paint flow from the palette knife, forming captivating textures and colors. Each stroke channels emotion, and every canvas captures a moment of creative inspiration.

My process is spontaneous – I start with a loose outline, sketch the composition, and then fully immerse myself in the act of creating. Throughout the process, music is my closest companion, its volume soaring. I dance to the rhythm, losing myself in the beats, and, on occasion, even letting out a song. My painting process is a multisensory experience, an immersive journey into the fusion of sound and color, where each note becomes a brushstroke, and every stroke on the canvas is a dance of creation. I often liken my paintings to cherished children—it’s a relationship that involves nurturing, engaging in heartfelt conversations, and weathering the challenges of creative adolescence with boundless love and patience.

Happy Sea Garden

Benjamin Xu. 1961 Born in Shanghai, China. He is a disciple of the 3rd generation of master artist Zhang Daqian. A director of the USA / Chinese Art Institute of Painting and Calligraphy. A director of the Chinese Art and Culture Association. Green Mood Painting Club founder. He has been dedicated to the combination of artistic creation and abstract landscape for a long time, painting originated from the appearance of nature, and then towards form and spirit as the ultimate goal, using the linear structure of calligraphy to paint. The temperament of splash, impact, coldness, and lushness, accompanied by chaos and flying.

Over the past 20 years, everyone knows that the world has undergone historic changes, which our generation has experienced and witnessed, and which have also made me learn so much more than I have learned in my life. The so-called art comes from life. As an artist, I use my method to present this feeling with a modern and unique expression technique. It is also my feeling and reaction to this reality. I think art is based on the times. Works are the trajectory of an era, and they are worthy of us leaving a mark on this reality. The temperament of splash, impact, coldness, and lushness, accompanied by chaos and flying, creates another Zen image.

Hard Bop No. 8

Dean Logan grew up in Shelbyville, Kentucky where art and culture were always present. His mother was a Cartographer for the army in WWII and would later become an in-demand portrait painter. Painting and drawing classes, crafts, and art books of every sort were an integral part of his growing up.

He majored in Fine Arts at Transylvania University, studying under Jack Girard who is still a Professor of Art there. His focus on collage and layering was a strong influence on Dean who started experimenting with 2d and 3d creations of his own in addition to the foundational work the program required.
From there he attended the Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, Florida as a Computer Graphics major. In addition to studying and completing the general coursework, it was here that Dean first began his unique style of 3D assemblage sculpture.

Dean is an advertising and design professional with over 30 years of experience in consumer and B2B marketing and design firms across the southeast.

My sculptures are abstract, three-dimensional wood compositions in vibrant colors and natural wood finishes.

As abstractions, they are not meant to represent any one thing. Instead, they are expressions of color, form, and energy as shapes juxtapose and create random and unexpected relationships with each other.

I’m inspired by jazz with my latest work – hard bop jazz specifically. I’m especially drawn to the concept of improvisation as it relates to music. It’s chaos with discipline – randomness with structure. Much like a player in a band taking his turn at a solo, my work is not planned. There is no sketch or idea before I begin cutting the wood. I simply cut and then compose the pieces until it feels right. Then I add color and textural elements to make the piece finished.

I leave it to the viewer to decide what is being communicated and how they choose to interpret the work.

Hard Way To Grow

Sophia Wroblewski is a queer artist based in Albuquerque New Mexico. Sophia spent her first few years of life in the northern Maryland area. Sophia moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico at age 12 with her family and she is the youngest of four children. After completing high school Sophia was greatly encouraged to attend the Jesuit University of Regis in Denver, Colorado. However, after just one year she grew significantly homesick. She wanted to explore her art in a more familiar and comfortable setting, allowing her art and overall style to evolve and expand. To be in the place she so desired, Sophia moved right down the road from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, NM. Sophia is studying to get her BFA in Studio Art at the University of New Mexico and will achieve much in the winter of 2024. Sophia dabbles in many different mediums and likes to expand her skill across many different formats. Although, her primary focus is on traditional and digital drawing in the 2-D form all of her work has a geometric and abstract feel to them. She works and will continue to work and expand her compact designs and utilize them in larger and more grand works after the achievement of her bachelor’s degree. The modern East Coast, feel, as well as the Southwest feel are evident within her works. Sophia uses the inspiration and mixture of the two cultures to help fuel the ideas that has experienced throughout her life to create her very complex layouts and subject matters.

Abstraction and patterns have always been an intuitive process for me. Due to this, I create intricate designs layered on top of one another to form complex arrangements almost like mosaics on paper in my drawings with gel pens. Making these works is an extensive and consuming process creating works primarily 17’’x14’’, due to the countless detailed sections filled with my zentangle designs. Through my work, I hope to create an all-consuming and exciting experience for the viewer that causes their eyes to keep coming back rather than something that can be absorbed in seconds or minutes.

Recently I have been creating main focal points in the drawings that are easily hidden and present at the same time. Some other techniques I use for my work are graphic design, painting, and pyrography (wood burning). The goal is always to create very detail-oriented work by pushing the limits of the two-dimensional form. I like for all my jobs to be straightforward rudimentary and geometric ways of making art. My method of achieving this is working with simple forms that can bring forth the amazing things that can be done with simple shapes and different line weights.

Harmonious

Kylo-Patrick Hart is an award-winning photographer 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.