Self Consciously Non Conforming
I am a primarily self-taught photographer who migrated to digital photography about fifteen years ago. This transition marked a qualitative shift in both my interest level and satisfaction with the results, due to the advantages of digital over traditional film photography. The ability to take a large volume of images without the expense of film and the ease of edits in the “digital darkroom” has encouraged me to experiment and expand my skills significantly. After retiring from a professional management career, I have taken advantage of my time in retirement to explore the technical and creative sides of this media more fully.
I am interested in sharing images that evoke a story of some kind. Images may be simply documentary, reflect a sense of time and place, or resonate on a more abstract level of color, shape, or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection.
I am a primarily self-taught photographer who migrated from film to digital photography about fifteen years ago. After retiring from a professional management career, I have more actively explored the technical and creative sides of this media.
I am attracted to a wide variety of subjects ranging from natural landscapes, botanicals, and wildlife to images that provide either abstract expression or social commentary. I am interested in sharing images that evoke a story of some kind. Images may be simply documentary, reflect a sense of time and place, or resonate on a more abstract level of color, shape, or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection.
Most often I am drawn back to images created while wandering through the back roads and small towns of the upper Midwest. These images of architecture, commerce, and social life often reflect a mixture of nostalgia and a changing set of forces that shape life in the heartlands.
Self Portrait
Heini Mika is a Finnish artist who works and resides in New York City. Heini has a BA degree in Fine Arts from the University of Worcester (UK) and a Fine Art and Visual Communications degree from the Pekka Halonen Academy of Art (Finland). She has exhibited her paintings worldwide, most notably in The United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and New York. Her paintings have been published in a variety of magazines including the British Vogue and some of her artworks are held by private collectors.
Heini’s contemporary paintings serve the viewer with a palette of vibrant colors and dynamic shapes while she gives you her unique perspective on women, fairytales, and history. They have been an essential source of inspiration for Heini throughout her career as an artist and this can be observed in her rich and intriguing original artworks. Heini Mika is also the co-founder and chief curator at her own online art gallery the HMVC Gallery New York.
History, fairytales, and my travels worldwide inspire my watercolor illustrations. Before I moved on to acrylics and mixed media in 2020 I was painting with watercolors and created several series consisting of original paintings depicting people in historical and modern contexts. In 2018 I turned 30 and decided it was time to paint myself for once. “Self Portrait” depicts me in my dream home, sitting on my vanity and thinking about growing up and how we change as we age. The fashion doll of me in my hand symbolizes my need to permanently capture my youth and beauty before they are gone. In 2015 I had become obsessed with the French Rococo style and Marie Antoinette so I wanted to express my love for them with this painting. For many, reaching the age of 30 marks the beginning of maturity and pending obligations, on the other hand, I just wish to have fun in my palace.
Self Portrait
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 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.
Self Portrait
Victoria Skutina (Moscow, Russia, 1998) is a self-taught photographer of Russian origin. For her age, she has had quite an extensive experience in creative industries, starting as a writer, journalist, and breaking news reporter in her early 20s and then making a career change and becoming a museums & heritage practitioner.
At the age of 23, she decided to leave everything behind and pursue the biggest dream of her life – moving to the UK, where she has been residing there the past three years now. Living in England has instigated her always existing craving for creative self-expression and she has started her professional exhibiting career there. Victoria works predominantly with street and nature landscapes and travel photography.
Victoria’s artistic journey began in 2018 when she was in the third year of her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism back in Russia. As one of the modules was devoted to photography, in workshops she had a chance to use the first model of Zenit-M (Soviet film camera) made in 1952. She calls this moment a turning point in her consciousness when she decided she wanted to turn a hobby into a profession. Since then she has been practising various styles and genres trying to find her place in the world of photography.
Victoria is currently participating in various online and physical exhibitions in different parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, Greece, the US, and Brazil. One of her works won an award at the ‘World’ Gallery Ring Art Contest earlier this year.
People call me a dreamer, a romantic, a believer in a better, more ideal world. That is why my work can often be perceived as lightweight, airy, and gentle. However, not everything is what it seems. When taking pictures, I try to convey an open message that anybody could interpret the way they want. Therefore, my works can acquire a completely different meaning depending on the audience. As I say, I am just a middleman…
Naturally being a very emotional, impulsive, and sensitive person with a dreamy mindset and an intrusive idea of creating a better world, I perceive places and environments through my own definition of beauty and aesthetics in the architecture and people around me. The surroundings affect my mood, thoughts, and my work. As a street and nature landscapes photographer, I take pictures wherever I go, if something strikes or inspires me. One of my biggest passions is film photography and I would like to look more into that direction.
Self Portrait In Studio
Carmen Schaefer holds an MA in Art History and an MFA in Photography and Drawing. She has studied with Allan Kaprow at Stony Brook University, Henry Holmes Smith at Indiana University, and Arnold Gasson at Ohio University.
This schooling, along with a life of early constant travel as the daughter of a career Navy man, is reflected in her work. There was no “hometown.” There were eight different schools before high school. It was a very peripatetic and isolated life.
Carmen has shown photographs at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, taken first place for photography at the Central New York Art Open and second place at the Plymouth Center for the Arts National Photography Exhibit and Competition, and shown photographs internationally at PH21 Gallery in Budapest, Hungary. She has exhibited drawings at over 40 venues and galleries. She has won awards for drawing at the 33rd Bradley Print & Drawing Exhibition and 29th International Drawing & Print Competitive Exhibition at Gormley Gallery Notre Dame of Maryland University, the 53rd Annual Drawing and Small Sculpture show in Corpus Christie, Texas, Connecticut Academy of Fine Art CAFA+ show and for the 2020 American Art Awards competing with artists from 62 countries.
Carmen has been featured in Lake Affect magazine, Along magazine, and Artisstonish Magazine.
She is a signature member of the Rochester Art Club, a member of Rochester Contemporary Art, and an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Art.
Her work is in many private collections.
I draw in black and white and in color on paper. My work is figurative, yet not totally realistic. Shadows are pervasive, people are isolated, and barren landscapes surround them. Memories of times past are evoked by inanimate objects, which have a bittersweet presence. The scene is punctuated with subtle undercurrents of emotions. Sunny imagery and vibrant color may paradoxically envelop a forlorn spirit waiting for life to happen or an object that has seen life already evoking a sense of poignancy and nostalgia.
Self Portrait The Earth In My Body 2
A Design Artist mainly active in Japan.
With doubts about contemporary Japanese society, starting particular art activity for seeking the expression of “freedom”.
Getting many fans at SNS and my own art goods are selected by many people.
Winning prize in the contest of clock design and collaborating with four company.
Trying to create the specific art experiences at Solo and International exhibitions, for spreading enjoyments of free-expression among all people, whether or not they are artists.
My pieces were selected at many international exhibitions including “Seattle Erotic Festival 2021”, “HUMAN FACES AND FIGURES”, “Visions of Self” and so on.
My main style is to paint the desire to touch the beauty of the relationship between nature and humans, using colors that appear in my mind.
I have mainly painted portraits, especially those of women. These portraits are not completely abstract, but appear, for example, with some lack of facial expression or as a fusion of hair and scenery, connected with Nature, the Earth, and the Universe on the one hand, and with Love, the Birth, the Awe and such other mental movements on the other hand. Furthermore, my pieces are connected strongly with my mind, my situations, or someone close to me, so they are self-portraits themselves. Someone could analyze my pieces, but I never paint by analysis. I just do it completely freely, moved by strong passion.
Self Reflection
Nicole DesChamps-Benke integrates 3D digital fabrication & traditional studio techniques at Texas State University and directs the Multidisciplinary Innovation Lab in the School of Art & Design. With a BFA (CCS in Detroit) & MFA (University of Michigan), she has taught all levels of metals & 3D design. In 1999, the Society of North American Goldsmiths featured her for being an early adopter of computer-aided technologies. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Walker Art Museum Shop Gallery (Minneapolis), Aaron Faber Gallery (New York), American Craft Museum (New York), Gallery Okariya (Ginza District of Tokyo), Yamawaki Art College Gallery (Tokyo) and Tsubame Industrial Materials Museum (Nigata). Published showcases include The Metalsmith’s Book of Boxes and Lockets; Mokume Gane: A Comprehensive Study; Metalsmith Magazine; & Four Seasons of Jewelry Japanese quarterly journal. The Museum of Art and Design (New York) and Racine Art Museum (Racine) hold her work in permanent collections.
Wearable life-sized cameo silhouettes
We live on screens in 2-dimensional digital worlds for a significant portion of our lives. Our mediated experience influences who we are. Altered points of view correlate to our identity. Much like shadows of our full physical selves, social media reflects a projected persona and formulates a digital identity. My cameo silhouettes are made by combining traditional studio art practices with the precision of digital technologies. Design templates are created and used as a reference for the hand bending of sterling silver gallery wire, a traditional material used in jewelry for setting stones, into a life-sized contour of the silhouette. These silhouettes directly invoke identity from the superposition of the subject’s life-sized silhouette on the wearer. When the subject of the piece is also the intended wearer, the work commands self-reflection and an acceptance of oneself in any state of being. Alternatively when the subject of the piece differs from the wearer, such as in “Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Beyond the Seat,” the wearer boldly establishes a visceral connection and agreement with one or more attributes of the subject’s identity. Being present and living in the moment matter. You be you. By altering our points of view and self-expression, we can better illuminate our identities.
Self-Care Routine
I have over 9 years of experience in drawing and painting. I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design, majoring in painting and minoring in production design. During my time at SCAD, I was featured in local and international shows as well as getting to curate and participate in a group exhibition. I am now an Orlando-based artist and my wide variety of bright colors help my paintings stand out in a crowd. I have spent this past year as a Scenic painter for a fabrication company, collaborating with theme parks such as Universal Studios.
The phrase “Girl Power” holds so much more meaning to me after recent events. In November of 2023, I was in a car wreck that totaled my car and broke my pelvis in 3 places. I was rushed to hospital for surgery to put screws in my back. Leaving me bedridden for 2 weeks, in a wheelchair for 2 months, and crutches/ physical therapy for 2 additional months. I quickly realized that I would never take advantage of the simplest things in life such as self-care. I couldn’t even reach the sink to brush my teeth, shower, or use the bathroom without assistance. I tried to make the best of the situation by utilizing the things I could change about my appearance such as dyeing my hair red and making my wheels sparkle with tensile. I depicted this memory in a bright color palette to remind myself to never take for granted the ability to walk and independently take care of myself.
Self-Portrait
My work explores the intersections of memory, time, and physical space through the destructive and reconstructive process of photographic weaving and plaiting. By slicing photographs- portraits, landscapes, abstracts- and physically interlacing them, I transform flat, singular moments into multi-dimensional, tactile tapestries. These may focus on portraiture, or more abstract designs. Portraits, in this context, become a source of unstable, changing identity. Landscapes become abstract designs. Abstract photos become interlocked, dense designs.
The structural foundation of my process relies on the plaiting and weaving technique. I treat the photograph not as a precious, static document, but as a flexible medium to be deconstructed. Slicing the images disrupts their original narrative, while the act of weaving them back together introduces a new, complex geometry. The canvas provides a rigid, structural anchor, grounding the fluid, malleable paper or fabric strips into a permanent, physical form. Using paintings or photos on canvas allows for a more textured finish. Working with multiple frames creates larger, more complex patterns. Allowing some pieces to have floating elements provides added dimension.
Conceptually, this technique mirrors the fragmented way human beings experience memory. Our minds do not recall past events as seamless, high-definition videos; instead, we piece together shards of visual data, emotions, and passing time. The overlapping layers and shifting perspectives in my woven canvases force the viewer’s eye to move across the surface, actively assembling the image. Through this physical interlacing of imagery, I invite audiences to question the stability of photography as truth and to embrace the beautifully flawed, layered nature of perception. A new, third image is formed, inviting the viewer to engage with the combination of images and design, with a moving focus and changing meanings for each viewer.
Mission Statement
My work is an examination and ongoing experiment, merging formal and narrative elements into a larger whole. I seek to ask better questions, drawing the process forward into increased levels of creative risk and complexity. The interlacing of alternate elements creates not just tension, but mystery and surprise, both light and time locked into place by creative energy.
Academic
Born May 8, 1958
1976-1977:
New York University, Art History and Fine Arts
The New School for Social Research, Plastics for Fine Arts
Sculpture apprenticeship with Jack Youngerman, New York, N.Y.
1978-1979:
Rochester Institute of Technology, The School for American Craftsmen, Weaving and Textiles
Weaving apprenticeship with Josep Grau Garriga, Barcelona, Spain
1980-1981:
S.U.N.Y. Empire State College, University Without Walls, Fine Arts and Education
Bachelor of Professional Studies, Weaving and Textiles
Student Art Teacher, Grades 9-12, Massapequa High School; Grades K-6, Lee Avenue School
1982-1983:
Nassau Community College, Biological Studies
1984-1987:
Logan College of Chiropractic, Chiropractic Science & Technique
Bachelor of Science, Human Biology
Doctor of Chiropractic
1992-1994:
Member, Rockland Council on the Arts
Member, Rockland Center for the Arts
Shows
1979:
Modern Music Masters, with composer Ken Steen, Hicksville, N.Y.
Multi-media performance
Handcrafters Gallery, Roslyn, N.Y.
Group exhibition
University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music, with composer Ken Steen
Multi-media performance
1980:
S.U.N.Y. Purchase, with composer Ken Steen
Multi-media performance
University of Hartford, Fine Arts School, with composer Ken Steen
Multi-media performance
1981:
S.U.N.Y. Purchase, with composer Ken Steen
Multi-media performance
University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music, with conductor Gunther Schuller and composer Ken Steen
Multi-media performance
Hicksville Public Library, Hicksville, N.Y.
Solo exhibition
1988:
Shenandoah Gallery, St. Louis, Mo.
Solo exhibition
1993:
Rockland Center for the Arts, Nyack, N.Y.
Group exhibition
1994:
Bergen Museum of Art and Science, Newark, N.J.
Plaiting class and slide exhibition
2025:
Arti Gallery
Group exhibition
Publications
Divide Magazine, Issue 15, September, 2025
ArtistCloseup Magazine, Issue 36, November, 2025