NEW NOW VII
JULY 25 – AUGUST 31, 2024
Featured Artists:
AYGZ
Bren Ahearn
James B Abbot
Andrea Caldarise
Jeff Brown
Edith Carolina Zapata
RM Cimini
Kathy Davis
Cynthia Goodman Brantley
Nancy Gordon
Kathleen Greco
Anna Guarneri
Kimberly Montes-Bacon
Kathleen Studebaker
Benjamin B. Olshin
Jessie Renew
Sondra Rosenberg
Peter Sparber
Christine Stoughton
THECOLORG
Michael Williamson
Julia Zahn
Deborah Zuchman
New Now VII
Since 1999, InLiquid has connected artists and audiences in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. In the seventh installment of our new member showcase, New Now VII, 23 artists of diverse mediums, inspirations, and histories, come together in the InLiquid Gallery. Though distinct, they are linked by the local community and a shared interest in the human experience.
BREN AHEARN
Bren Ahearn's work has been exhibited internationally and has appeared in several print and online publications. He returned to Philadelphia in 2021 after having spent 33 years away from the area, and he is looking forward to connecting with the Philadelphia art scene.
School Shootings in the USA: August 28, 2023 – February 25, 2024, 2024
Wool felt, ink
33.5 x 33.5" $2400
Artist Statement
"I use textile crafts to explore masculinity’s conflicting messages, and I typically use the embroidery sampler form to document how I’ve been educated to be a man in US society and to document memories. My more recent active shooter / school shooting pieces (“run, hide, fight”) are my next generation samplers: I worked in educational institutions, in which we were trained on how to respond to active shooter situations, and these pieces document my ongoing education."
School Shootings in the USA: August 28, 2023 – February 25, 2024, 2024
Wool felt, ink 33.5 x 33.5"
$2400
JAMES B ABBOT
(Excerpt) James B Abbott, a photographer, arrived in Philadelphia in 1981 and, from his first loft seventy-five feet from the Ben Franklin Bridge began photographing the bridge and its neglected riverfront neighborhood. The Ben Franklin Bridge is an ever-present icon in these photographs, viewed from an abandoned and decaying riverfront and from the emptied-out blocks that were in the process of becoming the Vine Street Expressway. He went on to other long term urban and landscape projects, Berlin 1988-1992 & 2012 - 2013 and Cape Cod National Seashore 2000-2012, also returning to re interpret the bridge and its surrounds with three additional bodies of work since 1989. He maintained a studio /gallery on North Third Street until 2015. He has exhibited and curated shows on the Ben Franklin Bridge and its urban landscape. And from 2013-2021 while teaching in Italy generated two new bodies of work on the architecture and urban landscape of Florence and Venice. Having recently refocused his image making to Philadelphia and the riverfront. He was an artist in residence at Cherry Street Pier from 2018-2021 and still maintains a studio there with Orchestra 2001.
For the last nine years Abbott has been teaching in the Italy Intensives Program of East Carolina University in Certaldo, Italy. His work references and builds on precedentary works about man made environments as structural embodiments of the cultural, economic and political forces shaping the urban landscape. The goal is a personal interpretation of extraordinary and familiar sites anew. He prints all his own work and has a sizable photographic archive of Philadelphia, Berlin, Cape Cod, Venice, and Florence, Italy.
Artist Statement
"This body of work began with a return to my Berlin: Landscape of Memory 1988-1992 project in 2012 to reinvestigate the city and its transformation after a 20 year absence. With a straight/street approach I began to collect images of sites where photographic scrims, graffiti, and advertising images were used to cover architectural-facades and urban spaces. I continued in Italy from 2013-2024. They vary in style from highly photographic to schematic or even sketched. When the scrim images are photographic with a high degree of textural illusion they can play perceptual tricks on the viewer, creating visual conundrums that require careful decoding. There can be a confusion between real and the simulacra, with a layer of consumer advertising. The images are both an observation and a construct."
Northwest Corner of Duomo Milano, Milan, Italy, 2024
Photograph digital ink jet print
27 x 19"
$1,800
ANDREA CALDARISE
Andrea Bartine Caldarise is a contemporary landscape painter exploring the psychological connection between landscape and people. She received a BFA (Painting/Art History) from Tyler School of Art, Temple University (2009) and Masters in Arts Administration from the University of Pennsylvania (2013). In addition to her painting practice, Caldarise has collaborated with dance company, RealLivePeople (2010-2013) creating artworks centered on first-person accounts to engage audiences through memory exercises and interactive dance. Upon moving to New York, Caldarise became an artistic collaborator with theatre group, Exquisite Corpse Company (2014-2019). She built environments for immersive plays; engaging with a variety of themes from manifesting memories about home and place to climate change. Caldarise also worked at the New Museum of Contemporary Art as the Manager of Public Programs (2017-2022), producing public programs and managing logistics for Education programs. Caldarise received the FST Studio Projects Fund grant (2019), and has participated in residencies at Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2018), Post Contemporary, Troy, NY (2010; 2013) and the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship at Yale University (2008). Andrea Bartine Caldarise has exhibited in New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Rome, Italy.
Persistent Tree at South Rim, 2024 Oil, linen 20 x 16"
$600
Artist Statement
"Andrea Bartine Caldarise is a landscape painter investigating the psychological connection between people and the environment. While wandering about a landscape, Caldarise seeks with the mind’s eye, noting first impressions to in the studio as source material. As she develops the painting themes, Caldarise researches plants, folklore, and geological histories to locate through-lines with her first impressions. With this process, she aspires to weave a lived experience with artist-created source material and research. Her artwork is situated in transitional moments, examining ephemeral qualities of a landscape to craft an experience of discovery for the viewer. Each space seems like something, or someone has just arrived at the scene. Caldarise’s paintings position environments as entry points for open-ended narratives drawing on the collective consciousness. Her paintings evolve over time, possessing a mutable yet distinct character — akin to the changing impressions one gets when revisiting a favorite book. The experience alters with each encounter, enriched by previous engagements. By investigating various viewpoints--historical, personal, and imagined--we can create empathy within our ever-changing world. These paintings are derived from experiences within the social and physical environments around us. Using the language of landscape, her art explores the tension between real and surreal."
$1,000
Lunar Eclipse, Joshua Tree, 2024 Oil on wood panel 18 x 18"
JEFF BROWN
Jeff Brown received his MFA from the Lesley University College of Art and Design in 2012. His current work in digital media has evolved from over three decades of commercial work in computer graphics and a compelling interest in examining the intersections of real and virtual life. Jeff’s work is exhibited nationally and internationally, and his digital self-portrait animations won first prize at the 2011 Laznia IN/OUT Festival in Gdansk, Poland. Much of his recent work uses traditional film photography fused with computer generated images, encompassing a look at climate change as well as an investigation of the increasingly porous borders between real and virtual experience.
Tableau of the Obvious (with apologies to Rose Sélavy) (detail)
Artist Statement
"My current series contains allegories for the situation we find ourselves in: large and small advances in civilization have led to a global crisis of planetary habitability. Humans have proven themselves resourceful, but the challenges we face were not predictable when they were first set in motion. Hubris exacts a steep price. At times, I mourn for future generations."
Unintended Consequences #1, 2024
Photo print (inkjet/pigment)
23 x 26"
$585
EDITH ZAPATA
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, she began working at the age of 14, in print media and advertising, working in local printing presses printing morning newspapers, books of poems and magazines. In 2010 she began studying Graphic Design and Visual Communication at the IDDAR Institute, and in 2015 she graduated.
For 11 years she has dedicated her life to Graphic Design, working for companies such as the Venezuelan Olympic Committee, CANTV, among others.
In 2017, with her immigration to Colombia, where she lived for 4 years between Bogotá and Cartagena, it was where she began to believe in her artistic potential, in the midst of longing, she discovered the importance of capturing each era and experience of everything around her, letting it flourish, thus its high level of sensitivity.
Ellos Nosotros, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
16 x 12" $500
Artist Statement
"In the midst of many surrounding circumstances, I understood the importance of enjoying each one of my emotions, the times, the cycles, capturing them and giving them a color in a specific way, sometimes in an abstract way, sometimes more explicitly, I decided that wherever we are alone our inner being will know how to guide us.
I connect with the space by translating each image of Mother Nature, the strength of women, the fauna and with our ancestors as a guide I create my own language which helps me better understand what surrounds me.
Everything connects."
$1,200
Chill Together, 2022
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 30"
RM CIMINI
RitaMarie Cimini, a fine artist living and working in Delaware, taps into the collective consciousness via common experiences. Trained as a formalist, Cimini’s paintings are physical objects whose surfaces allow the viewer to glimpse her working process. Her radiant paintings, informed by a daily meditation practice, investigate links between sight and interior vision. Featured in multiple group and solo exhibitions, her work was notably included in an exhibit at Belskie Museum in Closter, NJ and the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft, NJ. While maintaining a studio practice, she also served, from August 2016 until June 2019, as President of Studio Montclair, a non-profit visual arts organization. Cimini facilitates meditation groups and writes about art and spirituality for Huffington Post, Sivana Spirit, and her website, rmcimini.com. Cimini, an inducted member of the National Association of Women Artists, holds an MFA in painting and sculpture from Bennington College and her work is held in private collections in the United States and abroad and in the public collections of Atlantic Health Systems, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the MC Hotel.
Blessings of the Sky, 2024
Oil on canvas
48 x 48"
$5,400
Artist Statement
"As a painter with a long standing meditation practice, which has engendered an interest in consciousness and transformation, I derive great pleasure when I observe a person being moved deeply as they stand before one of my paintings. Drawing on beauty surrounding us in water and celestial skies, I use light as a visual metaphor to depict fragility of form and our shared transitory state of being Connecting with viewers through our shared consciousness, the paintings open the door to a spiritual world; offer the viewer a sense of transcendence, a glimpse into an existence apart from everyday activities. Many paintings begin with a primary layer of gray toned hues. I then build through a process of layering semi-transparent color and scraping and layering again. Sometimes I add raw pigment to create a tactile surface. The process of addition and subtraction is visible in the surface of the painting, and invites the viewer's eye to travel around and through the paint, discovering hidden or obscured forms. The radiant paintings depict the reality of a spiritual life embodying a belief in interconnectivity and mystery."
KATHY DAVIS
Contemporary abstract painter, Kathy Davis, has evolved as an artist through several career reinventions. In many ways, Davis’ paintings are the culmination of the years of training, experience, and inspiration she accumulated as a teacher, a designer and writer of greeting cards, and a business owner.
The sale of her art licensing business in 2019 has reinvigorated Davis’ passion for painting.
Currently, Davis’ painting style is non-representational in nature. Acrylic, watercolor and collage are her preferred media. She is exploring new ground with her love of color and calligraphic mark making. Davis’ paintings have been described as fresh, expressive, thought provoking and uplifting. There is both a sophistication and casualness that give her work wide appeal.
As a lifelong resident of Horsham, PA, Davis has exhibited in juried shows at the Wayne Art Center, Coleman Fine Art, Cerulean Arts Gallery, Capitol Hill Arts League, Abington Art Center and American Greetings Corporate Headquarters. She is currently a member of Muse Gallery in Philadelphia.
Davis’ work is held in many private collections in the U.S.
Morning in Morocco (detail)
Artist Statement
"I seek beauty and joy in all things and hope to share that through my work.
For as long as I can remember, I have always felt the urge to create. After many years of working in the commercial design world, I am now immersed in painting in a non-representational way. Abstract painting provides a new language for me, giving me a voice to express emotions and impressions of my inner and outer world. A sense of curiosity and freedom guides me as I paint intuitively and spontaneously with no prior planning. My painting style ranges from impressionistic observation to abstract expressionism.
I find inspiration all around me. Museums, galleries, graffiti, popular culture, and travels all excite me and inspire my own art. But the natural world is my most profound influence, filling my spirit and feeding my creative soul.
Acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media are my preferred media. A love of color is evident in my paintings, and my former training as a calligrapher has influenced the gestural mark making that often appears in my work. Freedom and movement in my brush strokes help to illustrate the sense of creative freedom and excitement I’m experiencing from working in a non-representational style."
Indigo Aura, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30"
$1,275
THECOLORG
(Excerpt) THECOLORG (b. 1991, Central PA) is a millennial feminine queer interdisciplinary artist and professional arts administrator based in Philadelphia, PA. She holds an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and a BFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She has attended artist residencies at the Studios at MASS MoCA, Chautauqua Visual Arts, and the Walkaway House in North Adams, MA. Her work has been exhibited at many museums, galleries, and institutions across the country, including Banana Factory Arts Center, InLiquid Gallery, Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (SmithsonianInstitution), Moravian University, Lycoming College Gallery, Atelier FAS Gallery, PAFA, Cherry Street Pier, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, the Erie Art Museum, and many more. Ash has built a handmade plush brand/entity – THECOLORG - focused on creating unique and custom plush for people of all ages which can be found for adoption at The Fabric Workshop & Museum, Philadelphia, PA. Her current project "MOO-D" has been generously funded by The Puffin Foundation through their 2022 artist grant cycle. Ash serves as the Program Coordinator of Continuing Education at Moore College of Art & Design where she supports arts programming for youth and adults –centering inclusivity and accessibility in her approach to all parts of the role.
The Sad Balloon (detail)
Artist Statement
THECOLORG (b. 1991, Central PA) is a millennial feminine queer interdisciplinary artist and professional arts administrator based in Philadelphia, PA. Growing up surrounded by teddy bears and stuffed animals crafted with love by her family, she found inspiration in these soft works. Through soft sculpture, installation, and painting, her work reflects the bridge between childhood memories and adult experiences, using objects and materials that evoke a sense of familiarity and introspection.
The Sad Balloon, 2024
Latex balloon, glue, adhesive vinyl, paper, yarn, scissors, glitter, foam mats, fan
72 x 16 x 14"
$500
CYNTHIA GOODMAN BRANTLEY
At 21 Cynthia began her life in Philadelphia, moving to the city, from North Carolina to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She has lived in Pennsylvania ever since studying and producing art. She attended the University of Pennsylvania to complete a BFA in conjunction with her Academy certificate, and also earned her MFA from Penn. She values all of the art experiences she has encountered from the Academy to art history courses at Penn, and the wonderful evening sculpture workshops in the basement of Fleisher Art Memorial.
Some people do not find it easy to discover what they want to “do” in life, for Cynthia this was not the case. She knew from the age of 12 that she intended to become an artist. Her life has been shaped around that endeavor.
Finding family, friends and art, the move to Philadelphia offered a richness of history and art for both study and inspiration.
She has exhibited her artwork both locally and nationally throughout her life. She continues to create artwork and is interested in exhibiting and selling her work in the future.
Artist Statement
"For me, all artwork comes from a contemplative place. When drawing, I find the quiet observation of natural objects or geometric forms is inherently calming.
The most important part of this adventure of being an artist is the idea of staying as true to my own visions and conceptions as possible; which means a willingness to accept the images that come to me with the most force at any given time.
The outcome of this philosophy caused a departure from the imagery that sustained me for thirty years: painting women from my imagination. After working directly from nature for several years, I now do images that are non-representational. Nature still inspires my work, but more through the use of color and geometric forms."
THE DISPOSITION OF ORANGE, 2023
Color pencil
32 x 32"
$4,000
NANCY GORDON
A graduate of Moore College of Art, my work life took me astray of traditional artist expression. I created and crafted a successful catering business, known for its artistic food displays. I have returned to my first love, painting, as an award-winning artist and member of In Liquid, DaVinci Art Alliance, Fleisher Art Memorial, Wayne Art Center and the Plastics Club. Mentors include: Giovanni Casadei, Alexander Shanks, Alan and Libby Sofer, Paul DuSold and others. I am one of the artists who painted the portraits of the Israeli Hostages, presently showing at the Weitzman Jewish Museum. Please visit me at www.nancygordonart.com
36 x 36"
$1,500
24 x 30"
$900
My Front Porch Rocking Chair, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
Comfy, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
Artist Statement
"I love color and movement. That is at the core of my work.
Everything stems from the layers of color, the relationship of what came before to what comes after.
The end result is a semi-realistic (or semi-abstract) view of the object (s), people or scene portrayed.
As a lover of life, I am partial to painting objects that move, be they birds, fish, insects, people or trees swaying in the breeze.
I paint quickly and use colors which radiate my passions/mirror my soul.
When the viewer becomes caught up in a complementary manner, I know that I have succeeded."
Can't Decide, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
16 x 20"
$475
KATHLEEN GRECO
Kathleen Greco's artwork has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide including the Museum of Art and Design New York, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., Hayward Gallery, England UK, Woodmere Art Museum, Pennsylvania, Elisabet Ney Museum, Texas, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany, and Schlossmuseum, Linz, Austria. She has been featured in several publications including Artillery, Hyperallergic, Ginger, Artblog, and the Washington Post. Her sculpture was included in the collaborative Coral Reef Pod World's installation in the Central Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2019, Venice, Italy.
Artist Statement
"In the everyday turbulence of our living history Finding the Calm explores inner peace. Soothing forms of color wander without resistance like flowing water in the dreamscape."
(Opposite page):
Finding the Calm: Green Orange, 2023
Wax pastel on paper
16 x 16"
$900
(Above):
Finding the Calm: Blue Violet, 2023
Wax pastel on panel
12 x 12"
$800
ANNA GUARNERI
Anna Guarneri is a Philadelphia-based visual artist working in various media, including drawing, painting, and stained glass. Originally from Oakland, California, Guarneri received a BA in cultural history from the University of Pennsylvania, and after a career in nonprofit administration, returned to study art at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, Washington. Since 2020, she has exhibited work at galleries in Washington, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, including the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, FRIEDA, and Site:Brooklyn. She is the recipient of scholarships from the Pittsburgh Glass Center and the American Glass Guild, and will attend a micro-residency at Bischoff Inn in Tamaqua, PA this summer.
Artist Statement
"Guarneri's work explores the possibilities of suggestive, nonliteral imagery. She uses crude marks and associations to tap into early human experience, pulling from a range of sources - ancient art, architecture, dance history, and her own body. Colors in her work conjure poignant memories, turning drawn forms and glass structures into celebrations, memorials, or premonitions.
Guarneri's latest body of work elevates forms encountered in early motherhood and explores the relationship between light, color, and early memory. Some artworks reference a specific device, accessory, or toy; others are suggestive of the post-partum body in recovery. Colors recall visual worlds from Guarneri’s childhood."
(Opposite page):
Play Thing, 2024
Scraps of stained glass (antique, recycled, rolled), solder
13.5 x 14 x 4.5"
$600 (Right): Cash for Gold, 2024
Stained glass, buttons, solder
14.5 x 12 x 3"
$600
KIMBERY MONTES-BACON
(Excerpt) Kimberly Montes-Bacon is a talented Painter and Designer based in Philadelphia with a diverse range of skills in various paint mediums, including acrylic, oil pastel, and watercolor. When not immersed in painting, she engages in sketching within her journals, creating digital art, and developing designs for her nonprofit organization, Youth Design Philly (YDP). Her work has been showcased in exhibitions across different locations such as Philadelphia, P.A., West Chester, P.A., and Yorklyn, D.E.
Kimberly's journey as a creative individual traces back to her childhood experiences, fostering a passion that eventually led her to pursue a Fine Arts education at West Chester University. Following her graduation, she transitioned into the field of education, becoming a liberal arts educator for students ranging from grades K-8.
Feeling the need to integrate more creativity into her daily life, Kimberly decided to further her education. She enrolled at Drexel University from 2015-2018, where she studied Interior Architecture and Design at the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. Today, Kimberly is not only an alumna but also an instructor at the same institution, teaching Interior Design. Her dedication to education, combined with her passion for the arts and design, has not only shaped her current body of work but has also played a crucial role in influencing the mission of her nonprofit, YDP.
Kimberly's commitment to fostering creativity and education is evident in her multifaceted career, making her a dynamic figure in the artistic and educational communities.
Artist Statement
(Excerpt) "'Connection to Self' is my current body of work and a deeply personal body of work that not only showcases my artistic journey but also serves as an inspiring narrative for others. Overcoming stereotypes and obstacles to staying true to oneself is a universal theme that many can relate to. My intention with my work is to help others connect with their inner child, find confidence within themselves, and connect to nature for a sense of healing and authenticity.
The idea of incorporating abstracted florals in a folk art style adds another layer to my work. Folk art often carries a sense of tradition, cultural identity, and a connection to the past. The abstracted florals can represent the beauty and complexity of life's experiences, each bloom symbolizing a unique aspect of personal growth and transformation. I aim to create an environment that evokes specific emotions and consider the use of color psychology, composition, and scale to enhance the immersive experience for the audience. My intention to provide a space for others to evoke different emotions with their true selves is not only artistically ambitious but also deeply meaningful to what I have experienced in life. My body of work has the potential to inspire and uplift, fostering a sense of unity and understanding among those who engage with it."
KATHLEEN STUDEBAKER
Kathleen Studebaker is a multi-media sculptor focusing on wood, metal, cast plastic and a variety of other materials. She is a fabricator and all-around tinkerer with a great love of detailed fabrication and problemsolving, and makes every element of each of her works by hand. Her work often references the far-flung future, or perhaps alternate realities, and is inspired by astronomy, narrative fantasy, and the intersection of digital technology with mechanical function. She earned her MFA in sculpture from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL in 2013, and is currently working as a studio artist based in Philadelphia, PA.
To learn more about Kathleen and her work, visit her website at www.KathleenStudebaker.com, or follow her Instagram @KathleenStudebaker_art.
AstroObject [2c-o.ii2], 2024
Copper, Bronze, Brass, Steel, Aluminum, Walnut 6.75 x 7 x 8"
$1,100
Artist Statement
"Sometimes the pieces I create tell a story, more often they exist inside the context of one. I make objects that belong somewhere else, and have a story of their own. I consume narrative fantasy voraciously and have always been fascinated by the idea of a post-paradigm shift future, and what it may hold. I am also interested in (amateur) astronomy; our seemingly infinite universe and all its mysteries. Learning about the life-cycle of stars, or looking at the incredible new images produced by orbiting satellites, reminds me of how small I am: how narrow my view, how finite my nature. I know that I can’t hope to ever truly understand my place in the wider scheme of things. This fact might seem frightening or disheartening, but I use it as inspiration. There are infinite possible stories out there, and as much as I am able, I will use my time here to consume and create as many of them as I can.
The AstroObjects are fantastical gadgets aimed at sparking the viewer’s imagination; they are machines of unknown purpose. Aesthetically, they are inspired by antique celestial navigation tools and laboratory equipment; formally, they echo the building blocks of the universe: from atomic structure to solar systems. They are also an exploration of the interplay between fine art, craft, and science. The natural color of each type of metal is utilized with purpose; the sculptures gradating from copper, through bronze or red brass, yellow brass, and finally to aluminum and steel. The title of each piece is dictated by a key I created, and each digit within the brackets refers to physical characteristics: [size, form, arrangement of elements, order of metals used]."
BENJAMIN B. OLSHIN
(Excerpt) Olshin completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (I.H.P.S.T.), at the University of Toronto, in September of 1993. His dissertation involved the history of cartography, examining early maps and sea charts. During these years, he also completed a series of watercolors in Toronto, did design and drafting work for an architecture firm in São Paulo, Brazil, and worked for an architecture atelier in Tokyo, Japan, designing, drafting, building architectural models, and doing restoration work. He also travelled through other parts of Japan during this period, and then journeyed to Hong Kong and Tahiti, doing numerous sketches, watercolors, and oil paintings.
In his position as an Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Design at Ming Chuan University in Taipei, Taiwan, Olshin developed and taught a variety of courses in the area of fine arts and design, including drawing, painting, model-making, and the history of design. During this period, he also worked as a designer for two glass art companies, Liuli Gongfang and Tittot.Upon his return to the U.S., he taught courses in modelmaking, painting and drawing, Renaissance design and engineering, Asian art history, and a number of other areas at various schools in San Francisco and Philadelphia. More recently, Olshin served as a Professor of Philosophy, History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, and Industrial Design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, as well as an instructor at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). Olshin's academic background in the history and philosophy of science has inspired his synthesis of his scholarly and artistic interests: his 2017 book, "Deciphering Reality: Simulations, Tests, and Designs", examines how both artists and scientists model reality.
Artist Statement
"My work follows a number of different paths, drawing from my interests in travel, investigating other cultures, history, philosophy, and science. I worked for many years in drawing and painting, and then small, constructed spaces. Later, I went on to create works in digital media, as well. These three strands have been my main areas of practice now for several years.
Currently, my more traditional drawing and painting works focus on the philosophy of landscape (in which I have developed and taught a graduate seminar), and the rending of particular places in time and space. This led to my creation of miniatures: small, 'captive' works or 'canned art' -- pieces that experiment with the idea of limitations. In the third area of my artistic practice, I engage in digital work that looks at the ontology of objects from other worlds, and a series that explores the nature of the 'long journey'."
(Top): Canned Art: Canned Fish Series, 2023 Metal cans, paper, wood, foil, graphite, ink 6 x 24 x 1" $500
(Right): Canned Art: Canned Locales Series (detail)
JESSIE RENEW
I was born in the ’80s in South Africa. My homeland is diverse - in landscape and people. My childhood was marked by witnessing this vibrance, while being painfully aware of the backdrop of acute racism, poverty, and unrest that marked late-stage Apartheid. It is this dichotomy, this awkward co-existence of beauty and pain, that is the underpinning of my artistic perspective. My biological imperative to build, create and shape the world around me has been central to my existence. I studied art extensively, with a focus on learning lots of techniques in both traditional art media and crafts. My art practice solidified around my interests in both conceptual art and materials based, process oriented execution.
After a decade long career in design and marketing, I returned to art making as my central professional focus in 2021. My current body of work are art objects that I call ‘Retrofits.’ Retro, because they are made of existent things from the past, and fits because the process of creating them is akin to putting an outfit together. Retrofits are complex, woven collages made from everyday objects that I have collected; and feature bright colors, interactive elements, unique methods of construction and a dose of quirky humor.
American
Exceptionalism, 2023
Wood decor sign, sheer material, beads, embroidery, acrylic paint, buttons, colored glue and masking tape
20 x 12 x 2"
$130
Artist Statement
"These pieces are from a body of work that I call ‘Retrofits.’ Retro, because they are made of existent things from the past, and fits because the process of creating them is akin to putting an outfit together. Retrofits are wall hanging sculptures made from everyday objects that I have collected. They feature bright colors, interactive elements, and unique methods of construction and repurposing. The works are complex, woven collages of items including clothing, bags, toys, home decor and craft supplies.
I have always loved stuff, and Retrofits are an exploration of all of the complex emotions involved in collecting, owning, transporting, organizing, and living with lots of stuff. I am fascinated by the wasteful nature of contemporary culture, and my work springs from my desire to rescue the discarded and devalued. My compositions collage items together based on ties of color, theme, or just vibes. I use embroidery, adhesive, paint, and weaving to build the work's complex color relationships and subject matter. My methods fuse my fine art training with all the crafty skills I’ve picked up doing DIYs and house projects over the years. Everything belongs in my artwork - it is an opportunity for unwanted and useless things to change contexts. Retrofits are reliquaries for stuff too quickly passed in and out of a life. They are retired from their original purpose, and elevated to the importance and permanence of art."
Happy Trails (detail)
SONDRA ROSENBERG
Sondra Rosenberg is an artist and art therapist based in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia. She studied visual art at Oberlin College and earned her MA in art therapy at NYU. Working in a range of media and subject matter, she creates art for both personal expression, private commissions, and in support of organizations that promote social justice and community development. Her art practice has been informed by her work as an art therapist for women with eating disorders and related mental health struggles. She is interested in the fixed visual expression of shifting mental and emotional states and the ways in which interiors are revealed through surfaces.
Surfacing, 2024
Acrylic on canvas 24 x 48"
$1,180
Artist Statement
"For the past two decades, I have worked as an art therapist, guiding women through a process of accessing and finding visual language for their inner worlds. My own art practice has been deeply influenced by that approach to creating images. I use whatever mediums best enable me to capture specific timbres of feeling – sometimes paint, sometimes combinations of pencil, pastels, watercolor, text, and objects. I am visually compelled by combinations of monochrome and color, rigidity and messiness, stillness and stirring, tension and release, containment and expression."
Repetitive Behavior IV: Triggered/Torn, 2018
8 x 10"
$500
Pencil on paper with oil pastel
PETER SPARBER
Pete lives, paints, draws and writes about art in Philadelphia. He’s led an eclectic life, living in cities across the U.S., as well as Tokyo and Shanghai. He holds an MFA from Cornell, a martial arts black belt, and recently ended a career as a senior business executive. He and his wife Karen live in Center City, where he publishes The Current, a curated review of Visual Arts in Philadelphia.
Artist Statement
"Visual art should stand by itself and be able to tell its own story. For my work, it’s about listening and then acting. My role is mostly to get out of the way."
(Top): Construction, 2024
Acrylic pen and paint on paper
36 x 47"
$2,200
(Opposite page): Kuwai, 2024
Acrylic paint and pen on paper
36 x 47"
$2,200
CHRISTINE STOUGHTON
Christine Stoughton is a visual artist and art educator living in the greater Philadelphia area.
She is a graduate of Pennsylvania Academy of Art and has a PhD from Boston College. She has taught printmaking in numerous academic institutions and is currently an instructor of art aesthetics at the Barnes Foundation and St Joseph University.
She works both in the two-dimensional and three-dimensional realm. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally in solo and group shows.
Her art, which explores the concept of change and the ephemeral, and references the natural world, is strongly influenced by her careers as a psychologist and a teacher, and her experiences as a mother.
Strung Along #3, 2018
Monotype, collage, ink, on archival paper 22 x 20"
$700
Artist Statement
(Excerpt) "Inherent in the making of art is the transformation of a creative impulse into a creative action. In the visual arts this involves a change from the artistic concept to the art object. My work is strongly motivated by this idea of change, both in the making of the work and in the final image. Eastern philosophy, with its honoring of the simple and its focus on change with mindfulness in the present, is a guiding principle for me. My former profession of practicing psychologist and my experience of being a mother has reinforced the view that living life is about honoring change and recognizing impermanence. Thus, the capturing of the ephemeral is essential to my art.
Simple, easily accessible and often natural objects are my materials of choice. The goal is always to maintain the integrity of the material while transforming it in a manner that allows the artist and the viewer to experience it in a new and often surprising way. The materials used, the lines drawn, the images portrayed, generally have the expressive quality of fragility and vulnerability. The challenge for this artist is to express an emotional sensitivity in the work, while maintaining a substance, an "Itness" that allows it to withstand the passing of time. This challenge refects my view of human development, the need to remain emotionally open while being strong enough to go the distance."
AYGZ (Jesse Weinstein)
A graduate from Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University, under the pseudonym AYGZ (Eg-z), Jesse Weinstein has developed a visual language across a wide range of platforms from painting, printmaking, both analogue and digital illustration, has realized two comic books, and his prints have appeared on limited-edition T-shirts and hoodies. He has been profiled in The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Jewish Exponent. He is a recently welcomed member of Inliquid, a gallery and organization having just celebrated 25 years of its contributions to the Philadelphia art scene.
Painting on canvas
48 x 36"
$900
Cow, 2024
Artist Statement
"Using digital and classical painting techniques and programs I want to communicate a sense of overwhelming stimulation, a feeling I experience constantly, by translating these feelings and digitally made works onto analogue forms of display like paper, wood, or canvas. In a world that is filled with subjects constantly vying for your attention, I want my art to be a viewer's response to their existence, whether that's angry, joyous, fearful or otherwise. There is too much happening all the time and it makes me feel like I’m vibrating on the inside.
Blurring feeling and emotion between the subject's form and background using intuitive mark making, digital or otherwise, creates dynamic and expressive scenes of my perception."
Blow up your TV, 2024
Painting on canvas
48 x 36"
$900
MICHAEL WILLIAMSON
BIO
Merion Station, PA
Educational Background
Bard College, Milton Avery Graduate School of Fine Arts, Annandale-onHudson,New York, M.F.A. in Painting
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, B.A., cum laude
Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fall term abroad in Rome, Italy
Exhibitions
The Cosmopolitan Club, Philadelphia, January-March 2023
Main Street Arts Small Works Show, Clifton Springs, NY, November-December 2022
Main Street Arts Small Works Show, Clifton Springs, NY, November-December 2021
Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ, Group Show, Fall 2019
Imperfect Gallery, Group Show, Fall 2019
High Point Café, One-Person Shows, 2009, 2011, Winter 2017, Winter 2018
Cathedral Village, November- December 2016
Imperfect Gallery, Faculty Show, 2015
Foulkeways, Faculty Show, 2014
The Baldwin School, Faculty Show, 2014
JMS Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA, December 2007, Group Show
JMS Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA, March 2006, Two-Person Show
Rosenfeld Gallery, Small Works Show, December 2005
Grants & Awards
Fallingwater Teacher Residency
Art Fellow Residency, Skidmore College
Milton and Sally Avery Scholarship, Bard College
Yale Summer School of Music and Art, Norfolk, Connecticut
Employment
Senior Instructor in Adult Education, The Barnes Foundation, 2020 - present
Artist Statement
"Speak Memory is the title of an evocative memoir by Vladimir Nabokov. It is a sensualist's recollection of his early childhood through the distilled, self-aware perspective of the adult novelist.
It is through the lens of memory and feeling that these landscapes emerge. These paintings, their light, color, and tactile surfaces are more about feeling, memory, dream, remembrance, and forgetting.
Most recently I’ve been reading The 1619 Project, Nicole Hannah-Jones, The Brutish Museums, Dan Hicks, and Caste, Isabel Wilkerson and this has informed my subconscious about the forced journey my ancestors made to the Americas. In my mind, these currently constructed paintings trace a journey to freedom from West Africa, South Carolina, and Virginia. The land of my ancestors is the land of savage beauty.
'I am the dream and the hope of the slave.' – Maya Angelou"
Intervall II, 2022
Acrylic on board with collage, mixed media
5 x 10"
$300
JULIE ZAHN
Painter and printmaker Julie Zahn was raised in Bethesda, Maryland. Her mother, artist Ann Zahn, operated a professional printmaking studio. After college, Julie spent several years in a countryside town in Japan painting landscapes and still-lifes. After returning to the States, she enrolled in the 4-year Certificate program at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She was awarded a travel scholarship upon graduation and spent a year in Kyoto working with an antique screen restorer. Toward the end of her stay there, she discovered katazome or Japanese stencil dyeing, a paste-resist technique traditionally used for textiles. Attracted by its painterly quality, she adapted it to paper using acrylics and pigments with gojiru, a soybean binder, creating paintings with a printmaking element. She uses katazome, woodcut and painting to create her distinct, recognizable work. Her studio is in East Mt. Airy and she exhibits regularly in Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
Spring Starling, 2023
Mixed mediaA combination of Japanese stencil dyeing, woodcut and collage mounted on BFK Rives 15 x 13"
$700
Artist Statement
"I have been working to create a natural oasis on my urban property for many years. My surroundings permeate my work and I use images from what I see or imagine might be there. I have also painted landscapes for many years. But the garden, which I walk through to get to my studio, is my most constant and immediate source of inspiration: the way the pathways meet the rocks, plants finding their way through the metal gates, the ever-changing light and weather, these impressions all feed my visual compositions. Birds entered my work unexpectedly a few years ago. I needed a wedding gift for my brother whose hobby is birdwatching. With their arresting poses, energy and antics, birds provided everything I want in my work: drama, design, beauty. They immediately became a favorite subject."
Reeds and Garden Gates, 2020
Japanese stencil dyeing and mixed media
42 x 34"
$3,000
DEBORAH ZUCHMAN
Deborah Zuchman is a Philadelphian who was an art demonstration teacher in the Philadelphia Public Schools and a Project Manager for the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. She paints en plein-air and from her imagination exploring the fine line between landscape and abstraction. Her work has been exhibited locally and internationally.
The Coming Storm, 2022 Oil on linen 28 x 24" $800
Artist Statement
"Painting is another language I speak. The landscape and its abstraction tell us many stories as well as reveal our inner feelings if we are open to it. This is what I hope to communicate through my work."
A Way Through, 2022
Oil on stretched paper
26 x 20"
$800
Exhibition view, InLiquid Gallery
InLiquid
InLiquid is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to creating opportunities and exposure for visual artists and works with more than 300 artists and designers. It serves as a free, online public hub for arts information in the Philadelphia area. Find out more at www.inliquid.org.
All rotational artworks are available for purchase. Inquiries for purchases can be directed to Isabella at isabella@inliquid.org.
Following page: Exhibition view, InLiquid Gallery
