Island Time
Vicki Withers is an Australian abstract painter working across color field and abstract expressionist traditions. Based in the Yarra Ranges, Victoria, she has maintained an active studio practice for over 20 years.
Her practice is grounded in a degree in metaphysics and diplomas in both holistic art and counselling, informing a body of work shaped by Jungian psychology and Gestalt theory. She works in acrylic on canvas and paper, with a focus on color as a vehicle for psychological and spiritual meaning. Each work is made to be in service. Not decoration. Something that actively works within a space and the person inhabiting it.
Withers actively entered juried international open calls in 2026. Her work becomes available to the public for the first time in 2026 with originals through Blue Thumb and selected works as limited edition prints. Available for corporate leasing and acquisition.
Color arrives before thought. It works ahead of the intellect and before the mind can process and assign meaning.
My paintings are made through color field and abstract expressionist practice in conversation with the work itself, in a flow state that listens rather than directs. I paint what comes through, then fine-tune to clarify and amplify. Each work is made to meet the viewer where they are, not to prescribe an experience but to offer a field where different viewers take what they need. Influenced by Jungian psychology and over twenty years of practice, my work makes the invisible visible. At the heart of every piece: an “I see you,” what is felt but rarely named. Autobiographical in origin, universal in experience, and speaking to what we all carry: loss, transformation, endurance, the persistence of the life force in difficult conditions. Color Speaks.
Isolate At Home
Shane was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was always involved with art throughout school. He joined the US Navy and served in Okinawa, Japan for his first duty station. While stationed in Japan, he and his high school sweetheart got married back in Cleveland and she moved out to Japan with Shane thereafter. From Japan, Shane went back to school in the military and served the next 9 years in special forces. He first served with SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team ONE, conducting several deployments, workup cycles, and deployments on SSGN submarines. Following that, he served at Joint Special Operations Command, where he has many deployments to Iraq, Syria, East Africa, and Afghanistan. Following his time in special operations, Shane and Miranda went to Virginia to take a breather. While serving in Virginia, Shane had been selected to be commissioned as a Naval Officer and they would be expecting their first son, Cameron. Shane and Miranda currently live in San Diego with their son Cameron and baby two (Carson) on the way in July. Shane rediscovered his passion for art following his deployments overseas and use the hobby as a form of therapy. Next summer, they are expecting to move to Monterey, California, where Shane is expected to retire from Naval service after 21 years and move back to Ohio to raise their family.
This entry of “home” reminded me of how isolated we all felt during the first several months of COVID-19 and thereafter. Isolating at home started to feel like an island, a place that we circled about trying to figure out what would happen in the world next. This piece is a representation of what home has been like over the past few years, especially early on. As real life was not as dramatic as this painting, it captures what home has felt like at times.
Isolated But Connected
“I was born in Los Angeles California and graduated from California State University of Northridge in Art and Anthropology in 1970. Shortly after graduation, I moved to Yosemite National Park where I developed a Living History Program at the Pioneer History Center. During this time I painted the natural beauty of Yosemite in oil paint. I had a solo exhibit at the Yosemite Pioneer History Center gave sketching and natural history walks as well as portraying a pioneer artist and demonstrated oil painting. I worked as a Naturalist for the National Park Service.
After three years I moved to the San Francisco Bay area in Northern California where I now live. I worked as a staff artist for East Bay Regional Parks, creating photography exhibits, designing and illustrating trail guides, and exhibiting my original artwork at the Tilden Nature Center, the Coyote Point Museum, in San Francisco at the Cory Gallery as well as other venues. I married in 1978 and had three children within five years. I continued exhibiting my artwork, changing my medium to experiment with watercolor, acrylic, and mixed media. I became a secondary ( high school) art teacher, a career I thoroughly enjoyed. I have recently retired after working as an art teacher for 27 years. I was honored as the Outstanding Secondary Art Educator of the Year by the California Art Educators Association. I continue to grow and experiment as an artist.”
My abstract paintings are often inspired by nature, colors, and emotions. In the process of applying paint, I allow colors, lines, shapes, and spaces to merge in a conscious or partially unconscious and often spontaneous way, while thinking of the movement, balance, and markings I want to create. For example, I may want to convey the feeling of isolation during the covid 19 pandemic yet be open to other thoughts and interpretations by the viewer. I may think of boxed-in spaces but as we are all connected by our humanity and media if nothing else, want some ambiguity to be part of the painting. Often while painting, unconscious feelings, and choices direct my decisions. I have learned to follow these instincts and play with the creative work as it unfolds. My abstract paintings keep evolving, with a spontaneous swish of the brush stroke as well as the juxtaposition of colors. I keep looking at the positive and negative spaces and soft and hard edges and playing with color to create the feeling or concept in a visual abstraction.
Isolation
Born in Geneva, Switzerland of Romanian political refugees, Sanda Manuila experienced expatriation and isolation at an early age. Her personal history of separation and traumatic family experiences have shaped her vision of discrepancies and differences and gave her the perspective of an outsider. That is why she feels so strongly connected to her artwork. She tells the story of her life, and the world around her, and the need to narrate has become visceral.
As a young adult, she left her native country and moved to Northern California where she is currently living. Over the years Manuila has learned how to become a citizen of the world, a status she gained by studying art over many years in different locations. She studied at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, France, Atelier Bessil in Montpellier France, and at the Cornish Institute of the Arts, in Seattle, WA. More recently she traveled to Italy to attend the Angel Academy in Florence and the Rome Artworks Studio in Rome, Italy. Additionally, she participated in artist residencies at Dacia Gallery in NYC and in Sibiu, Romania.
Sanda Manuila creates oil and mixed media pastel and gouache paintings, which are stylized representational images that exude an allegorical quality. Her visual stories depict a state of mind in which the boundaries between dream and reality have become very fluid. Her purpose is to make art that depicts the challenging path of life in these disturbing times, warns about the danger of climate change, and depicts the fear of loss and the struggle for survival. Even when we abuse her, Mother Nature remains beautiful.
I paint visual stories of a world on the edge. The story of a new normal.
The story of tribalism, discord, and the threat of destruction.
The story of nuclear war changing the landscape.
The story of our home, torn by conflict and mistrust.
The story of the danger of the denial of climate change.
The story of Nature’s resilience and beauty even after the abuse we have been inflicting upon her.
I paint stylized representational images which exude an allegorical quality. I want my work to be confrontational and emotionally charged. I aim to engage the viewer with surprise, doubt, and curiosity and raise many conversations in these challenging times.
I paint poetry.
It Takes Two
Oluchi Zom is a prolific visual artist with a BSc in Multimedia Design and Technology from Brunel University, London who was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Oluchi, whose primary expression of choice is painting and mixed media is largely self-taught and passionate about showcasing expressions of everyday life that establish a connection to her audience.
Oluchi’s path has led her to traverse diverse continents for a substantial portion of her life, and this journey has distinctly shaped her artistic expression, infusing it with the imprints of her global experiences.
Art has been a significant presence throughout Oluchi’s life, ingrained in her memories from the earliest recollections. It bestows upon her a profound sense of purpose and hope.
One of four artists selected to mark the prestigious jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. in 2019 with a special exhibition hosted by the British High Commission in Nigeria, Oluchi has found a way to be a shining light through her art and to reach individuals on an emotional level. Oluchi has participated in various exhibitions, and her works are held in several private and corporate collections, including several pieces in the collection of The Embassy of Ireland in Nigeria
My works explore nuances of human emotion, personal identity, and individual stories. I perceive my paintings as glimpses of life, often using symbolism to seek out narratives that highlight hope, positivity, and strength. The use of vibrant expressive colors is intended to serve as a direct translation of emotion, and the infusion of textures to create depth and dimension which further enrich the emotional landscape. I work a lot with figurative elements and value experimentation and variety in my mediums, processes, and subject matter. Through my art, I aim to tap into shared connections that transcend the physical and resonate with the emotions of those who encounter them.
It’s My Body
I am a weaver and dyer focusing on weaving tapestry. I use natural warp and weft yarns for all my tapestries and frequently include my handspun and naturally dyed wool yarns. My tapestries are expressions of my thoughts and feelings about inequities in the world. My first series on inequities is “Women’s Equality” with currently has seven pieces, including a portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg that has toured the United States.
AWARDS:
Craft Hilton Head 2016
Honorable Mention Beaufort Art Association Matthew Bogan Winner 2019
Craft Hilton Head 2020 Honorable Mention
SC Palmetto Hands Fine Craft Competition & Exhibition 2021 Honorable Mention
Handweavers Guild of America 2021 Small Expressions Tour
The recent Roe v Wade decision by the Supreme Court has awoken many women in America to the danger that the equality we have enjoyed was hard fought for.
My tapestry uses as inspiration a Titian model, ”Danae”, painted in the 1560s.
Abortion has a very long contentious history. There have been many times in history when it was accepted.
I have hope that this new awakening of women will result in more women candidates and voters ready to replace the ultra-religious politicians elected to overturn Roe v Wade.
It’s All In My Mind
Andrea Snyder, BFA, cum laude Tyler School of Art, MFA program NYU with additional studies at Wharton, University of the Arts, and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, is a prize-winning printmaking & mixed media artist who has exhibited in the U.S. and Great Britain. She has taught art in public and private schools, universities, and art centers in the USA, England, and Switzerland. Andrea has been a consultant in crafts marketing & merchandising in the USA, Canada, Namibia, Bangladesh, and Mali. She has also done product development and craft marketing in 22 countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
Currently, her art combines multiple mediums in collaged abstracts on paper, canvas, and Mylar. In addition, she has worked in high shrinkage fibers to create wall sculptures & hangings of handmade paper and mixed media, as well as created anecdotal paper & clay torsos and games.
I want to create something tangible out of the hidden and non-verbal places within me. I try to capture the elusiveness of the moment – using imagery and materials from my African, South Asian, and Middle Eastern travels. I also want to educate others about ancient, exotic, and ethereal cultures through complex, abstracted, and textural imagery, using unusual combinations of handmade fibers, papers, canvas, and 3D materials.
J Standing
As a member of the LGBTQIA community, as an outspoken feminist, and as a Jewish woman who has experienced discrimination and antisemitism, CJ Shapiro uses her work to highlight social conditions that undermine individual liberty and agency. Her work grapples with issues including violence against women and children, sexual abuse, sexuality, race, and gender. Shapiro’s paintings viscerally expose the impact of, and adaptation to, a society that denies its own exclusion, oppression, and exploitation.
Born and raised in New York City, Caren Jo Shapiro is a visual artist, a psychotherapist, and the co-founder of Endangered Bodies. She holds a Master’s in Fine Arts, a Master’s in Social Work, and a Postgraduate Therapy Degree specializing in eating disorders. Recent exhibitions include “May I …” at StartaArta in New York, NY, and Art for Social Change: DISSENT at Oak Park Art League in Chicago, IL.
Institutional and individual prejudices have become normalized, idealized, and redefined as patriotism. These aggressions have grown to be widespread and extreme while lives and liberties have been eroded and destroyed.
My artwork is a reflection of these experiences as a queer, feminist activist, a cultural Jew but practicing Atheist, a visual artist, and a psychotherapist. It examines the social conditions that undermine our individual agency: violence, oppression, and exploitation. The realities of sexual and physical abuse, sexism, racism, transphobia, and xenophobia are exposed with bold, colorful brushstrokes on large-scale canvases.
My paintings leave no room for interpretation. They are a shameless call to action. The truth is hard to avoid when you are forced to confront it.
Jackson Gross, Banana Bread Slinger, Los Angeles
Growing up in China, I’ve been a film photographer that creates works out of social relationships and real events with great casualness and informal motivations.
My works aim to transmit human connections and surrealist feelings, breaking the fourth wall. My daily creating process includes going on the street asking strangers for picture exchanges, talking with the kids about how they feel, and exploring places that nobody ever wants to go. I expose myself to new environments with both curiosity and fear. All the subjects in my pictures are people that I don’t know, or I just met at the moment.
“Hey, I’m a photographer, can you do me a favor? I’ll take a picture of you and you’ll take a picture of me, okay?”
I often think about how my perspective is different from other people’s perspectives. The perspective of photography and the ways of seeing will bring different inspirations to the creation.
Going out on the streets looking for people I don’t even know and talking to them. My super outgoing personality and excellent conversation skills in English helped me with that. From actors to security guards, from call agents with broken legs to well-known writers covered in a bookstore, I am willing to listen to everyone’s stories, pay attention to and exchange each other’s perspectives. Some would ask me to pose, and some would ask me to do strange gestures, but in any case, their instructions and their photos allowed me to get to know different people’s understanding of portrait photography.
Communicate, interact, and connect with the whole world.