CONTEMPORARY ART MAGAZINE
spotlight DISCOVER & COLLECT REMARKABLE ART
Betsy Ashton
Fear, Immigrant from Ghana From the Portraits of Immigrants Series
CIRCLE FO U N DAT I O N FO R T H E A RTS ®
FRANCE • 2026
47 C I R C L E -A R T S .C O M
SPOTLIGHT 46
47
DESIGNED & PUBLISHED IN FRANCE D I S T R I B U T E D I N T E R N A T I O N A L LY
spotlight Telling the story of what art looks like today.
CIRCLE Foundation for the Arts Since 2017, Spotlight Magazine has presented notable contemporary artists, celebrating distinctive voices and diverse perspectives. Published in France by CFA Press and distributed internationally, each issue features a selection of artists working across a variety of styles and media, providing an exciting chapter in the story of what art looks like today.
To inquire about a featured artwork or discuss a collaboration, contact the artist directly through the website listed on their page. For complimentary art advisory assistance, email our team.
CO N TACT
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted without written permission from the publisher and relevant copyright holders. Artwork copyright remains with its respective owner.
info@circle-arts.com circle-arts.com
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CONTENTS
Featured Artists SPOTLIGHT ON
Betsy Ashton Front Cover
Jeannette M. Rein First Artist
Steve Negrón Back Cover Natali Antonovich 15 David Arsenault 16 Betsy Ashton 1, 8–11 Kathryn Bagwell 17 Miguel Betancourt 18–19 Christiaan 20 Sharon Covert 21 Aloel Cristal 22 Susan Devey 23 Mary Di Iorio 24 Cathrine Edlinger-Kunze 26–27 Rita Gaiziunaite-Kapoutsi 25 Alan Gaynor 28 Michael Ian Goulding 30–33 Larry Graeber 29 Hans-Christian Harten 34 John Hemmen 36–37 Dita Jacobovitz 38 Lea Karvala 39 Sandy Kay 40 Piotr Kulikowski 41 Liyuan Liu 42 Dr. Georgina Macken 44–45 Kathy McKnight 43 MIYOKO 46 William T. Moore III 49 Steve Negrón 48–49, 68–69, 72 Dorothea Ney 47 Gudrun Nielsen 50 Dorota Nowak 51
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Oceanna Visions Bridget Provan Cher Pruys Jalal Quinn Jeannette M. Rein Hugo Richardson Blair Robbins Kathy Robins Greg Rutkowski Art Selbach Angelė Šimoliūnienė Bernd Steinert Serena Vivian-Neal Max Werner Marti White Hua Hua Zhang
Index
52 53 54 55 12–13 56 57 58 14 59 35 60–61 62 64–65 63 66–67
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FROM THE EDITOR
Room for the unexpected. Myrina Tunberg Georgiou Curator & Founder, CIRCLE Foundation for the Arts
A piece of wood can suggest a coral reef. A painted face can make a stranger feel familiar. A scene arranged with all the dignity of a classical painting can turn out to have a wicked sense of humour. Artists have a way of making the world less predictable. Even when their subjects are familiar, something in the encounter changes: scale, atmosphere, context, or simply the importance given to a detail we might otherwise overlook.
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From the Editor
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A MESSAGE TO THE READER
Throughout the 47th issue of Spotlight, that capacity for surprise takes many forms. Betsy Ashton brings the curiosity of a journalist to portraiture, attending to the gestures and expressions through which personality becomes visible. Jeannette M. Rein follows the possibilities within timber, creating sculptures whose delicate structures suggest other forms of life. Steve Negrón stages improbable encounters between myth, history, and human behaviour, with characters who appear entirely at ease in circumstances that should concern them considerably.
Bringing such different practices together allows connections to emerge that no single artist could have planned. We might notice a shared rhythm between a sculpture and a photograph, or find that two very different portraits leave us with a similar feeling. These small discoveries give a magazine a life beyond its individual pages.
Elsewhere, landscapes hover between observation and memory, bodies emerge from darkness, and colour takes familiar surroundings in unexpected directions. Moving between these works is part of the pleasure. The eye adjusts; the mood changes. An image of great restraint can feel especially striking after an exuberant one.
This issue offers many such encounters. I hope a few take you happily by surprise.
For me, this is one of the enduring pleasures of contemporary art: there is always someone approaching the world from an angle I could never have invented.
ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM TO IMAGINE . COLLECT ART. MAKE THE FEELING L AST.
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COVER ARTIST
B E T S Y A S H T O N · A M E R I C A N PA I N T E R
The Person Behind the Portrait
P
eople have always been at the heart
Encouraged by celebrated portraitist Everett
of Betsy Ashton’s remarkable career.
Raymond Kinstler, she returned to painting
An accomplished portrait painter,
in 2006, pursuing further studies with
former television journalist, and lifelong
distinguished artists. Her accomplished portraits
observer of human character, Ashton brings
are represented in important collections,
an unusual depth of experience to her art. Her
including the U.S. Embassy in London.
fascination extends beyond appearances to the personalities, motivations, and private histories that make every individual unique. For Ashton, portraiture begins with curiosity, but its greatest achievement is understanding.
These two careers come together with particular significance in “Portraits of Immigrants,” an ambitious project born from Ashton’s concern over the increasingly hostile rhetoric surrounding immigration in America. Living
Her artistic journey has been anything but
among the extraordinary cultural diversity
conventional. Originally trained as a painter
of New York, she recognized a painful
and art teacher, she spent nearly two decades
contradiction between public stereotypes and
reporting and anchoring television news,
the people she encountered in everyday life.
including at WCBS-TV and CBS News. Even in
Rather than respond with arguments alone,
the courtroom, she combined journalism with
Ashton chose to do what she knows best: listen,
drawing, producing sketches while covering
understand, and paint.
trials.
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Cover Artist • Betsy Ashton
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Betsy Ashton Portraits of Immigrants Series
“The painting should capture the essence – the strength or joy of the character, nothing more.” - BETSY ASHTON
Fear, Immigrant from Ghana Oil on canvas · 40 x 30 in. · Featured on the cover
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www.betsyashton.com
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BETSY ASHTON · PORTRAITS OF IMMIGRANTS
When We Listen, Fear Gives Way to Understanding Each portrait begins with a personal encounter.
Ashton’s considerable artistic skill gives this
Ashton interviews her subjects, learning about the
conviction its emotional force. Her portraits possess
circumstances that brought them to America, the
a rare combination of psychological sensitivity,
challenges they have faced, and the lives they are
warmth, and individuality. She understands that
building. Their stories reveal courage, ambition,
character emerges through the smallest expressions,
hardship, humor, and hope. By bringing these
and her gift lies in recognizing what makes each
experiences into the public eye, she restores
person unmistakably themselves. In “Fear,” featured
individuality to people too often discussed as
on this issue’s cover, she confronts the emotional
an anonymous group. The project becomes a
consequences of prejudice and uncertainty without
compelling reminder that behind every political
sacrificing the dignity or humanity of her subject.
argument are human lives of immeasurable
Across the series, her accomplished realism becomes
complexity.
an instrument of empathy rather than mere representation.
Abdul Immigrant from Afghanistan
Beata Immigrant from Poland Angel Immigrant from Mexico
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Portraits of Immigrants • Betsy Ashton
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Myo Immigrant from Myanmar Rekha Immigrant from India Porez Immigrant from Haiti
Mustefa Immigrant from Somalia
Diego Immigrant from Colombia
Maria Salomé Immigrant from Guatemala
What makes “Portraits of Immigrants” especially
act of compassion. Through her remarkable union
significant is its belief that understanding begins
of artistic sensitivity and journalistic curiosity,
with recognition. Ashton refuses to reduce her
she gives visibility to lives too often defined by
subjects to symbols of a political debate, allowing
others, affirming the dignity and humanity of every
their individual personalities, achievements,
individual.
vulnerabilities, and aspirations to speak for themselves. Her portraits remind us that familiarity can challenge prejudice and that listening is itself an
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www.betsyashton.com
All Portraits in this series are Oil on canvas · 40 x 30 in.
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FIRST ARTIST • JEANNETTE M. REIN
The Poetry of Wood and Nature
N
ature is both inspiration and creative
Using timbers such as jacaranda, myrtle burl, and
partner for Jeannette M. Rein, whose
woody pear, Rein creates intricate sculptures that
elegant wooden sculptures reveal
evoke coral, leaves, and other living structures.
an exceptional sensitivity to natural materials.
Her ability to transform wood while preserving its
Working with indigenous timbers, she allows
natural identity reflects a profound respect for the
each piece to develop gradually, sometimes over
material. Beautifully crafted and rich in organic
several months, responding intuitively to the
vitality, her sculptures celebrate the enduring spirit
wood’s grain, texture, and unique character. Her
of nature through a distinctive balance of technical
practice combines remarkable craftsmanship with
refinement, patience, and artistic imagination.
an imaginative desire to discover new expressive possibilities within organic forms.
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Spinal Whorl Woody pear with Swan Valley woollybush 24 × 22 × 16 cm
J E A N N E T T E M . R E I N · S CU L PTU R E
“Stretch the known, imagine, and create new possibilities for wood.” JEANNETTE M. REIN
Gorgorian Coral Coastal myrtle burl, leaf vein, varnish finish 38 x 41 x 9 cm
Gorgorian Coral II Swan Valley woollybush and American white oak 35 × 20 × 13 cm
Revealing the Living Spirit Within Wood Isididae Jacaranda and fine steel mesh 25 × 27 × 20 cm
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www.jeannettemrein-sculptor.com.au
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G R E G R U T KOW S K I
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Greg Rutkowski www.greg-rutkowski.com | Instagram@greg_rutkowski
Legend Oil on linen 100 × 70 cm
Polish artist Greg Rutkowski combines traditional painting with digital art, drawing inspiration from history, mythology, and the imaginative worlds of fantasy. His work is distinguished by a cinematic sense of storytelling, accomplished draftsmanship, and a strong command of atmosphere. In ‘Legend’, an oil painting on linen, a gathering of medieval figures unfolds beneath an expansive, cloud-filled sky. The carefully orchestrated scene evokes the grandeur of historical painting while retaining the mystery of an untold story. Rutkowski’s ability to unite classical painting techniques with contemporary fantasy imagery gives his work a distinctive and compelling character.
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Greg Rutkowski
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N ATA L I A N T O N OV I C H
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Natali Antonovich www.nataliantonovich.com
Day of the Sages, 2025 Pastel on cardboard 81 × 51 cm
Belgian artist Natali Antonovich explores the mysteries of human existence through imaginative paintings rich in spiritual symbolism. Her work reflects a fascination with the soul, cosmic consciousness, and the connections between humanity, Earth, and the heavens. In ‘Day of the Sages’, enigmatic faces, a winding serpent, and ethereal winged figures form a dreamlike composition dominated by luminous shades of blue. Drawing on a personal symbolic language, Antonovich creates a fascinating visual world that encourages contemplation of wisdom, spirituality, and realities beyond ordinary perception. Her art speaks to those who seek deeper meaning in the mysteries of existence.
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Natali Antonovich
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D AV I D A R S E N A U LT
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
David Arsenault www.artofdavid.com | Instagram@artofdavidarsenault
Winter Stillness Oil on canvas 24 × 36 in.
David Arsenault finds poetry in the quiet presence of ordinary places. His realist oil paintings transform familiar interiors and landscapes through luminous color, strong composition, and a remarkable sensitivity to atmosphere. In “Winter Stillness,” sunlight enters an unoccupied room, revealing a delicate tension between warmth and the cold world beyond. Arsenault captures more than the appearance of a place; he evokes the memories, emotions, and fleeting sensations it holds. His paintings invite us to discover the extraordinary within the everyday, where even silence seems filled with life.
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David Arsenault
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KAT H R Y N B A G W E L L
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Kathryn Bagwell www.kbagwellart.com | Instagram@kathrynbagwellart
Etheria Oil on canvas 48 × 36 in.
A former professional musician, American artist Kathryn Bagwell brings a strong sense of rhythm, emotion, and creative freedom to her figurative paintings. Inspired by music and ancient art, she combines elements of Cubism, Expressionism, and realism to explore identity, introspection, and human connection. Working with oil paint and collage, Bagwell creates expressive compositions distinguished by rich color, energetic gestures, and imaginative interpretations of the human figure. Her work embraces the contradictions of human experience, revealing strength alongside vulnerability and celebrating the emotional complexity that makes each individual unique.
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Kathryn Bagwell
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M I G U E L B E TA N C O U R T
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Miguel Betancourt www.miguelbetancourt.com | Instagram@miguelartb
España y lo Precolombino (Spain and the Pre-Columbian World) Watercolor on paper 102 × 153 cm
Ancient traditions find new expression in the imaginative paintings of Miguel Betancourt. The Ecuadorian artist draws on pre-Columbian heritage, architecture, and the natural world to explore cultural identity and the enduring presence of history. His expressive use of color, symbolic imagery, and unconventional materials reflects an artistic practice rooted in memory yet open to experimentation. Working with watercolor and mixed media, Betancourt creates compelling connections between ancestral knowledge and contemporary experience.
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Miguel Betancourt
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M I G U E L B E TA N C O U R T
T H E P O E T R Y O F C U LT U R A L M E M O R Y
Árbol de Guabas (Guaba Tree) Mixed media on canvas and hemp 140 × 190 cm
His curiosity extends beyond conventional painting techniques, incorporating canvas, hemp, and even used paint tubes into his creative practice. Architectural structures, trees, and urban landscapes become expressions of memory and belonging. Through this distinctive combination of materials and imagery, Betancourt reveals how cultural histories remain alive in the spaces we inhabit. His work demonstrates a thoughtful balance between artistic experimentation and a deep appreciation for the traditions that shape our understanding of the world.
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Miguel Betancourt
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CHRISTIAAN
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Christiaan www.christiaanvanruyven.com
C 12 Acrylic on canvas 120 × 100 cm
Christiaan draws inspiration from nature, translating its forms, colors, and atmosphere into expressive abstract paintings. Working with acrylics, palette knives, brushes, and other tools, he explores the possibilities of texture, contrast, and spontaneous mark-making. His compositions balance areas of quiet, subtle color with concentrated passages of greater intensity, creating a sense of depth and movement. Guided by imagination and the enjoyment of painting, Christiaan develops a personal abstract language that leaves considerable freedom for individual interpretation.
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Christiaan
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S H A R O N C OV E R T
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Sharon Covert www.sharoncovert.com | Instagram@sharoncovertphotography
She Held the Silence Digital photograph 16 x 16 in
Romantic, mystical, and deeply feminine, the photographs of American artist Sharon Covert possess extraordinary beauty and emotional power. Inspired by fairy tales, folklore, and the subconscious, her exquisite self-portraits explore grief, longing, healing, and transformation. By concealing her face, Covert transforms deeply personal experiences into universal expressions of human emotion, celebrating both feminine strength and vulnerability. Her distinctive artistic vision has earned international recognition, including features in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, The Sun Magazine, and SHOTS Magazine, and a finalist distinction in the 2025 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize.
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Sharon Covert
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A L O E L C R I S TA L
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Aloel Cristal www.artbyaloel.ca | Instagram@aloelcristal
The Blue Forest Oil on canvas 47 × 54 cm
Aloel Cristal approaches painting as an intuitive expression of inner harmony, drawing on spirituality and a deep connection with nature. Working in oil and mixed media, she creates atmospheric compositions that reflect her inner state of peace, contemplation, and emotional balance. Forests, reflections, and tranquil landscapes become expressions of an inner world rather than straightforward representations of nature. Aloel believes that her art brings a harmonious, restorative energy into the spaces we inhabit, creating paintings intended to inspire introspection, stillness, and a sense of connection.
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Aloel Cristal
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SUSAN DEVEY
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Susan Devey www.suzydevey.com | Instagram@suzy_devey
Elemental Flow No. 2 Encaustic and mixed media 20 × 20 cm
A self-directed stay on the Scottish island of Eigg informed Susan Devey’s ‘Elemental Flow No. 2’. Encaustic and mixed media layers translate an experience of the west coast into expressive marks and color. Her response concentrates on the movement and atmosphere of being surrounded by that environment. The painting holds a sense of place through accumulated impressions, allowing physical layers to register an encounter whose character was felt as much as observed.
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Susan Devey
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MARY DI IORIO
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Mary Di Iorio www.marydiiorio.com.br | Instagram@marydiiorio2026
Cathedra (Série 121) (Chair, Series 121) Mixed media 4K 3840 × 2160 Cathedra_03_05_2026
Mary Di Iorio challenges conventional ideas of ceramics through an inventive combination of traditional materials and contemporary technology. Her experimental practice brings clay into dialogue with glass, metal, cameras, projection, and digital software, creating ambitious works that move between sculpture and multimedia installation. Her distinctive artistic language, ‘Cathedra’, explores the relationship between physical objects and projected imagery, expanding the possibilities of ceramic expression. Presented at the Carrousel du Louvre and the Venice Biennale in 2026, her work reflects an adventurous approach to contemporary art and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of her chosen medium.
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Mary Di Iorio
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R I TA G A I Z I U N A I T E - KA P O U T S I
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Rita Gaiziunaite-Kapoutsi www.ritelart.com | Instagram@ritelartstudio
Eternity Horizon Alcohol ink, texture paste, glass beads and gilding on synthetic paper 29.5 × 42 cm
For Rita Gaiziunaite-Kapoutsi, painting is a way of expressing feelings that cannot easily be put into words. Inspired by water, sky, earth, and the changing qualities of natural light, she creates contemplative abstract compositions that explore inner peace and emotional renewal. Her inventive mixed-media technique incorporates alcohol ink, texture paste, glass beads, and gilding, bringing depth and movement to her surfaces. Rather than reproducing landscapes, Gaiziunaite-Kapoutsi seeks to capture their emotional presence, creating paintings that reflect her belief in art’s capacity to offer moments of calm, reflection, and healing.
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Rita Gaiziunaite-Kapoutsi
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C AT H R I N E E D L I N G E R - K U N Z E
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Cathrine Edlinger-Kunze www.edlinger-kunze.com | Instagram@artist_cathrineedlingerkunze
Spitting off the Edge of the World Oil on linen 70 × 58 in.
The paintings of Cathrine Edlinger-Kunze are charged with extraordinary energy, passion, and psychological intensity. Her dramatic figurative compositions capture the human experience at its most vulnerable and turbulent, exploring the powerful emotions that shape our lives. Born in Germany and based in the United States since 1994, Edlinger-Kunze has developed an impressive international career, exhibiting across America and Europe. Working primarily in oil and acrylic, she combines accomplished figurative painting with an expressive freedom that gives her work a striking contemporary identity.
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Cathrine Edlinger-Kunze
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C AT H R I N E E D L I N G E R - K U N Z E
A P OW E R F U L S Y M P H O N Y O F E M O T I O N S
I Take My Pride, I’ll Take Tonight Oil on linen 48 × 50 in.
Her figures seem caught in moments of emotional upheaval, their bodies twisting, embracing, and dissolving into restless passages of paint. There is something almost theatrical about these compositions, yet their emotional impact feels immediate and deeply human. Edlinger-Kunze’s remarkable command of movement, gesture, and atmosphere allows her to explore the tension between strength and vulnerability with exceptional sensitivity. These are bold, passionate paintings that confront the complexities of human relationships and leave a lasting impression.
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Cathrine Edlinger-Kunze
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A L A N G AY N O R
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Alan Gaynor www.alangaynor.photo | Instagram@alan.gaynor
Untitled Archival pigment inkjet print 24 × 24 in.
Alan Gaynor made this flower series while his wife, who loved flowers, was dying. That circumstance gives the photographs a deeply personal setting, while the subjects retain their own presence as part of the living world. The work can be encountered as an act of attention during a painful passage of time. Its emotional force comes from the proximity of beauty and loss, and from images that continue to hold significance for their maker.
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Alan Gaynor
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LARRY GRAEBER
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Larry Graeber www.larrygraeber.org | Instagram@graeberl
Alice, 2026 Oil on canvas 52 × 39 × 1.2 in.
For Larry Graeber, the studio is a place of discovery, where painting, sculpture, and drawing remain part of an ongoing creative conversation. His approach is guided by curiosity and a genuine pleasure in working with materials, allowing ideas to develop through experimentation rather than rigid planning. Graeber describes his artworks almost as companions, each offering new possibilities whenever he returns to it. His oil paintings reflect this open-minded spirit, revealing an artist whose dedication to making art is sustained by the excitement of discovering what comes next.
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Larry Graeber
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MICHAEL IAN GOULDING
S P O T L I G H T 47
Michael Ian Goulding www.gouldingphotography.com
Alice XII Digital photograph 11 × 14 in.
For more than twenty years, Michael Ian Goulding has devoted his photographic practice to exploring the beauty and expressive possibilities of the female form. His lifelong engagement with visual art, across several media, has shaped a distinctive approach to black-and-white photography. His images combine an exceptional sensitivity to light with a refined understanding of composition, creating intimate portraits of the body that are both sensual and contemplative.
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Michael Ian Goulding
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MICHAEL IAN GOULDING
T H E T I M E L E S S E L E G A N C E O F T H E F E M A L E B O DY
CK I Digital photograph 11 × 14 in.
Goulding’s masterful use of shadow is central to his artistic language. Bodies emerge from darkness through delicate highlights, revealing graceful contours while preserving an intriguing sense of mystery. His photographs celebrate the human figure without relying on elaborate settings or theatrical gestures. Their beauty comes from an assured simplicity and a remarkable ability to make light itself feel expressive.
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Michael Ian Goulding
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MICHAEL IAN GOULDING
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
CK XI Digital photograph 11 × 14 in.
Across his photographic series, Goulding demonstrates the creative possibilities of returning to a subject with sustained curiosity. Each composition reveals a different relationship between form, atmosphere, and emotion. His consistent aesthetic gives the work an unmistakable identity, while subtle variations in pose and illumination lend each photograph its own character.
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Michael Ian Goulding
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MICHAEL IAN GOULDING
T H E T I M E L E S S E L E G A N C E O F T H E F E M A L E B O DY
Inna CIX Digital photograph 11 × 14 in.
There is a quiet confidence in Goulding’s photography, born of experience and an enduring fascination with his subject. His carefully considered images bring together technical accomplishment, artistic restraint, and a deeply personal appreciation of the human form. The result is a body of work distinguished by elegance, intimacy, and lasting visual appeal.
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Michael Ian Goulding
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HANS-CHRISTIAN HARTEN
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Hans-Christian Harten www.hc-harten.net
The Robin: A Study on Olivier Messiaen’s Bird Songs Oil painting 40 × 60 cm
Musical composition supplies a structural model for Hans-Christian Harten’s painting. Rooted in Constructivism, his method of serial variation produces asymmetrical frameworks through which emotion, history, and imagined worlds can take form. Realist and surrealist elements complicate their geometric order. Returning to painting in 2025 after an academic career that included research on National Socialism, Harten approaches the studio as a place where disciplined thought and imaginative freedom can coexist.
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Hans-Christian Harten
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ANGELĖ ŠIMOLIŪNIENĖ
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Angelė Šimoliūnienė www.angelesimoliuniene.com | Instagram@angelesimoliuniene
Intervention of Natural Forces Acrylic on paper 44 × 64 cm
With sixty-five solo exhibitions in Lithuania, Angelė Šimoliūnienė has developed a substantial exhibition history at home and internationally. Her acrylic works on paper carry subjects suggested by animal life, natural forces, dreams, and cosmic beings. These titles open a range of associations between earthly experience and imagined worlds. Across the selection, the viewer encounters an artist whose sustained public practice makes room for both the scale of existence and its more personal emotional pressures.
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Angelė Šimoliūnienė
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JOHN HEMMEN
S P O T L I G H T 47
John Hemmen www.johnhemmenart.com
Miami Gators Oil on canvas 36 × 54 in.
John Hemmen finds inspiration in the remarkable variety of everyday life, approaching landscapes, animals, and human subjects with equal curiosity and enthusiasm. His representational paintings combine careful observation with an imaginative use of bold color, giving familiar scenes a distinctive personality. Working in oil and acrylic, Hemmen follows his interests freely, allowing the subject itself to suggest new creative possibilities.
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John Hemmen
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JOHN HEMMEN
T H E S U R R E A L WO R L D S O F J O H N H E M M E N
The Marriage Bed Acrylic on canvas 50 × 50 in.
From intimate human experiences to coastal landscapes and the natural world, his paintings reveal an artist who takes genuine pleasure in observing his surroundings. Hemmen’s versatility and confident color choices bring warmth and individuality to his work, reflecting a lively imagination and an enduring appreciation for the richness of ordinary experience.
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John Hemmen
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D I TA J A C O B OV I T Z
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Dita Jacobovitz www.ditasart.com | Instagram@Ditasartdotcom
Just Beauty Mixed media 70 x 100 cm
Beauty is both the inspiration and the purpose of Dita Jacobovitz’s artistic practice. Through mixed-media painting, she explores the subtle relationships between color, harmony, atmosphere, and emotion. Each composition represents a fresh attempt to capture a moment of visual balance and create something that rewards thoughtful attention. Her approach reflects a sincere belief in beauty as an important part of human experience. Rather than pursuing complexity for its own sake, Jacobovitz creates paintings that celebrate the pleasure of looking and the emotional satisfaction of encountering something beautiful.
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Dita Jacobovitz
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L E A KA R VA L A
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Lea Karvala www.artkarvala.com | Instagram@lea karvala
Are These Flowers Acrylic 80 × 60 cm
Finnish artist Lea Karvala balances expressive energy with intervals of stillness in her abstract paintings. Intuition and color guide an inquiry into presence, memory, and human connection. Her acrylic works carry titles that shift between familiar objects and less definite states of feeling. Exhibited in Europe, the Americas, and Japan, Karvala offers an approach to abstraction in which viewers can bring their own associations to the relationship between suggestion and emotional response.
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Lea Karvala
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S A N DY KAY
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Sandy Kay www.sandykayart.com | Instagram@sandykayart
Soave 11 (Gentle 11) Oil and cold wax 16 × 16 in.
Sandy Kay approaches painting as a process of exploration, building richly textured compositions through oil and cold wax. Her works can involve as many as thirty layers, developed through repeated applications, scraping, removal, and expressive mark-making. Inspired by natural landscapes, movement, and changing light, Kay is less concerned with reproducing a recognizable scene than with capturing its emotional atmosphere. Her patient, experimental technique gives the paintings a remarkable sense of depth, allowing color and texture to communicate the feelings and memories associated with an encounter with nature.
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Sandy Kay
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P I O T R K U L I KOW S K I
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Piotr Kulikowski www.kulikowskiarts.com | Instagram@kulikowski_art
Landscape of Garden Triptych
Color acts as a source of rhythm and feeling in Piotr Kulikowski’s painting. Born in Kraków, the Polish painter draws on Bonnard and Van Gogh while combining realistic subjects with impressionistic handling and compositional experimentation. Landscape and still life can approach abstraction through chromatic intensity. His submitted garden triptych extends this interest in familiar surroundings, offering a setting through which the viewer can consider the relationship between observed nature and an imagined pictorial world.
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Piotr Kulikowski
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LIYUAN LIU
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Liyuan Liu www.liyuanliu.com
Connection Oil on canvas 130 × 130 cm
Based in Vancouver and trained at Beijing’s Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, Liyuan Liu specializes in figure and portrait painting. Her practice also encompasses watercolor and teaching through the Vancouver Visual Art Studio, which she founded in 2012. In the selected oil paintings, seasonal and floral titles sit alongside subjects of connection and perception. This selection suggests a broad interest in the relationship between human experience and the changing life of the natural world.
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Liyuan Liu
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KAT H Y M C K N I G H T
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Kathy McKnight www.kathymcknightart.com | Instagram@kathymcknightart_
Maple Chords Oil and cold wax 122 × 91 cm
Landscape photography led Kathy McKnight toward the slower experience of painting. Oil and cold wax allow her to develop abstract studio work from photographs and direct encounters with nature. Emotional and spiritual responses to the environment continue to guide this transition between media. Her practice gives an observed landscape time to change through reflection, making the finished image an expression of connection with a place as well as a response to its visible character.
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Kathy McKnight
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DR. GEORGINA MACKEN
S P O T L I G H T 47
Dr. Georgina Macken www.drgeorginamacken.com | Instagram@drgeorginamacken
Concerned Resident Watercolor on paper 110 × 76 cm
The expressive power of the human face is a continuing source of fascination for Dr. Georgina Macken. Her luminous watercolor portraits reveal a particular sensitivity to the eyes, gestures, and subtle emotions that make every individual unique. Often portraying children and older people, she explores the richness of human experience across different stages of life. Her distinctive approach combines careful observation with an expressive freedom that gives her subjects warmth and individuality.
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Dr. Georgina Macken
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DR. GEORGINA MACKEN
T H E P S YC H O L O G Y O F A G A Z E
When I Grow Up I Want to Be Elegant and Wise Watercolor on paper 76 × 45 cm
Macken is especially interested in the emotional connections created through eye contact and facial expression. Whether portraying concern, innocence, hope, or quiet reflection, she brings remarkable empathy to her subjects. Her paintings celebrate the complexity of human character, capturing moments of vulnerability and personality with sensitivity and a genuine appreciation for the people she portrays.
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Dr. Georgina Macken
45
M I YO KO
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
MIYOKO www.meldesign.jp/meldesign | Instagram@meldesign171
Rose-Passion Mixed media 88 × 132 cm
Japanese artist MIYOKO approaches art through a deeply personal philosophy that questions conventional ideas of existence, consciousness, and perception. Fascinated by the intricate patterns of nature, she interprets their rhythms and structures as expressions of space and time. Her intuitive practice seeks to reveal the emotions and spiritual presence she perceives within her subjects, moving beyond their visible appearance. Through this thoughtful exploration of the natural and metaphysical worlds, MIYOKO develops an artistic language that reflects her independent vision and sensitivity to the mysteries of existence.
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MIYOKO
46
DOROTHEA NEY
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Dorothea Ney www.dorotheaneystudio.net | Instagram@agapetata
Shifting 3 Oil color and cold wax on wood panel, Framed 13 x 13 x 2 in.
Soft pastel color carries much of the emotional weight in Dorothea Ney’s abstract painting. Educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bremen and now living in New Mexico, she approaches texture and form through intuition and play. Nature supplies both inspiration and a sense of underlying energy. Her acrylic, oil, and cold wax works seek a harmonious atmosphere while retaining the exploratory quality of a surface gradually finding its composition.
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Dorothea Ney
47
STEVE NEGRÓN
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Steve Negrón www.stevenegron.com | Instagram@stevenegronartist
Cataclysm Acrylic on wood panel 50 × 50 cm
Steve Negrón has developed a wonderfully inventive approach to figurative painting, combining mythology, historical references, and contemporary culture with a sharp sense of humor. His theatrical compositions explore human desires, fears, and contradictions through imaginative characters and unexpected encounters. Moving freely between Surrealism, satire, and narrative painting, Negrón creates scenes in which familiar situations take on absurd or unsettling dimensions. His work reveals a fascination with the complexities of human behavior, using wit and visual storytelling to examine the curious relationship between tragedy, comedy, and everyday life.
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Steve Negrón
48
W I L L I A M T. M O O R E I I I
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
William T. Moore III wtmsculpture.wixsite.com/sculp | Instagram@wtmsculptor
Unbalanced Tempo Wood, epoxy, stain, clear lacquer 21 × 9.5 × 7.5 in.
Ancient totems and stelae provide points of reference for William T. Moore III’s hand-carved, laminated wood sculptures. Abstraction allows him to reinterpret those associations through contemporary forms, with epoxy, stain, paint, and gilding extending the wood’s material possibilities. Spiritual and historical concerns remain central to the practice. The sculptures approach the past through a new physical language, asking how an object made today might carry a sense of continuity with earlier human experience.
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William T. Moore III
49
GUDRUN NIELSEN
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Gudrun Nielsen www.gudrunnielsen.co.uk | Instagram@nielsen_gudrun
Borrowed View 231 Mixed media 113 × 731 × 19 cm
A refined sense of structure and an appreciation for the expressive qualities of materials distinguish Gudrun Nielsen’s sculptural practice. Her work draws on Modernism, Minimalism, and Constructivism, while also reflecting an affinity with Japanese aesthetics. For Nielsen, the concept, material, and title of a sculpture are equally important, each contributing to its meaning and identity. Through carefully considered forms and an economical visual language, she explores the relationship between physical presence and artistic intention, creating works that reward attention to their subtle details and underlying ideas.
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Gudrun Nielsen
50
D O R O TA N OWA K
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Dorota Nowak Instagram@dorotanowak.kolor
Return Acrylic and oil on canvas 115 × 75 cm, Private Collection
A pale, angular form rises above a deep blue waterscape, its ambiguous identity transforming an otherwise recognizable setting into something almost surreal. Working in oil and acrylic, Dorota Nowak combines representational elements with imaginative forms, creating an atmosphere of mystery and quiet tension. The contrast between the familiar landscape and its unexpected central presence encourages curiosity, revealing an artistic approach that allows reality and imagination to coexist within the same composition.
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Dorota Nowak
51
OCEANNA VISIONS
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Oceanna Visions www.oceannavisions.com | Instagram@oceanna_visions
Gaia’s Dreamcoat Watercolor on paper 20 × 40 in. Illustration
For Oceanna, painting begins with a receptive state in which the changing character of oil color can guide the work. Rhythm and intense hues support an ambition to heighten the viewer’s sensory experience. Oils on canvas and Belgian linen sit alongside watercolor and pastel within the practice. The paintings’ titles suggest awakening, freedom, and ecstasy, extending an interest in art as an encounter capable of affecting both attention and feeling.
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OCEANNA VISIONS
52
B R I D G E T P R OVA N
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Bridget Provan www.bridgetprovan.com | Instagram@blackfeathers22
Little Snail Borosilicate glass approx. 3 × 4 × 4 in.
Bridget Provan explores the expressive possibilities of materials through a multidisciplinary practice encompassing glass, textiles, and sculpture. Drawing on personal experience, she examines the body, memory, and resilience, creating tactile works that reflect the complexities of human life. Her approach combines traditional craftsmanship with experimental techniques, allowing materials and processes to become part of the artistic narrative. For Provan, making art is both an act of discovery and a means of understanding personal transformation. Her multidisciplinary practice brings together material curiosity, emotional honesty, and a desire to connect through shared human experiences.
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Bridget Provan
53
CHER PRUYS
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Cher Pruys www.artbycher.ca | Instagram@cherpruys
S...weet! Acrylic 8 × 7 in.
Cher Pruys possesses an extraordinary gift for realism, perfected through years of dedication and artistic discipline. Drawing inspiration from family, friends, and everyday life, she captures the emotional richness of seemingly ordinary moments with remarkable sensitivity. Her exceptional technical mastery is matched by an instinctive ability to recognize compelling subjects and reveal the feelings concealed in subtle gestures and expressions. Pruys elevates realism beyond faithful representation, creating deeply personal, beautifully accomplished paintings that celebrate the tenderness and complexity of human experience.
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Cher Pruys
54
JALAL QUINN
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Jalal Quinn www.jalaliyyihquinn.org
Oxygen Wins Watercolor 12 × 12 in.
Jalal Quinn understands painting as a meeting of heart and mind, bringing spiritual and scientific ideas into a personal visual practice. The watercolor ‘Oxygen Wins’ carries an explicit association with the struggle to live. For the artist, a painting can become a prayer for healing. Its significance rests within that stated aspiration, offering the viewer a way to consider art as an expression of hope during circumstances that resist an easy answer.
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Jalal Quinn
55
HUGO RICHARDSON
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Hugo Richardson www.image-memory.com | Instagram@hugorichardson7110
Mists of Time Digital photograph 33 × 23 cm
Rain, mist, reflected light, and the spray of passing traffic become photographic tools for Hugo Richardson. Drawing on Turner and the Impressionists, he uses optical shifts and long exposures to soften digital sharpness, favoring effects achieved in the camera over extensive post-processing. His images turn familiar surroundings into fluid textures. The viewer may recognize a landscape while also experiencing it as an atmospheric impression, suspended between observation and remembered sensation.
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Hugo Richardson
56
BLAIR ROBBINS
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Blair Robbins www.blairrobbins.com | Instagram@blairrobbinsart
Blushing Sky, Blooming Yucca Watercolor (brushless) on cradled wood panel, graphite markings 18 × 24 × ⅞ in.
Blair Robbins combines contemporary watercolor painting with delicate wire sculpture to explore movement, transformation, and the passage of time. Inspired by the landscapes and wildlife of the American West, she employs distinctive brushless techniques, often extending her compositions beyond the painted surface through sculptural forms. Horses, dragonflies, and natural elements become expressions of vitality and change, while occasional antique Venetian beads introduce an unexpected decorative dimension. Robbins’s inventive approach brings together the fluidity of watercolor and the linear elegance of wire, creating a personal artistic language that celebrates nature’s constant movement.
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Blair Robbins
57
KAT H Y R O B I N S
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Kathy Robins www.kathyrobins.com | Instagram@kathy.robins
Transitory Homes, 2021 Wood branches, bronze 220 × 280 × 40 cm
Home and displacement are inseparable from ecological questions in Kathy Robins’s practice. More than three decades of work in community development, design, art, and activism inform this approach. Natural materials connect human experience with the wider living world, understood as a relationship of equals. In Transitory Homes, wood branches and bronze give a physical vocabulary to these concerns, suggesting that belonging depends on connections extending beyond the boundaries people construct.
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Kathy Robins
58
ART SELBACH
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Art Selbach www.harbourlights.one | Instagram@harbourlights.one
Relax by the Pool (Mallorca Lights Series) Printed on aluminum 180 × 120 cm Unique piece
With a professional photography career beginning in 1986, Art Selbach brings decades of experience in fashion, lifestyle, and commercial imagery to his fine art practice. Since 2010, he has developed a distinctive photographic layering technique, combining images captured at different moments into complex compositions that condense time and experience. His subjects range from maritime scenes and urban architecture to international landscapes. The Art Selbach Collection now encompasses nearly 500 works, reflecting sustained experimentation and a fascination with how photography can transform familiar places into richly layered visual narratives.
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Art Selbach
59
BERND STEINERT
S P O T L I G H T 47
Bernd Steinert www.bbk-sachsenanhalt.de/author/steinert-bernd | Instagram@bernd_steinert
Androgynous Drawing 70 × 50 cm
For Bernd Steinert, portraiture is an exploration of personality and human connection rather than a pursuit of physical resemblance alone. His drawings focus on the subtle gestures, expressions, and fleeting moments that reveal something of an individual’s character. Through a sensitive use of color and form, Steinert seeks to capture the distinctive presence of each subject, bringing warmth and psychological depth to his figurative work.
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Bernd Steinert
60
BERND STEINERT
B E YO N D T H E P O R T R A I T
Woman II Drawing 70 × 50 cm
His artistic approach balances intimacy with respectful observation, acknowledging that every person carries a private history beyond what a portrait can reveal. This sensitivity gives his drawings an engaging emotional quality, allowing viewers to recognize familiar human feelings while remaining curious about the individual behind each face. Steinert’s work celebrates the richness of human individuality and the expressive possibilities of contemporary portraiture.
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Bernd Steinert
61
SERENA VIVIAN-NEAL
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Serena Vivian-Neal www.serenartist.com | Instagram@serena_artist
Starlit Zambezi Oil on canvas 100 x 150 cm
The extraordinary landscapes of Zambia have become a lasting source of inspiration for Serena Vivian-Neal. Trained as a painter, gilder, and restorer, she brings an accomplished understanding of materials and traditional techniques to her artistic practice. Her first encounter with the Lower Zambezi left a profound impression, particularly its brilliant light, dramatic skies, and rich natural colors. Working in oil and charcoal, Vivian-Neal seeks to capture the majesty and atmosphere of this environment, revealing a deep appreciation for its landscapes, wildlife, and the emotional experience of being immersed in nature.
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Serena Vivian-Neal
62
MARTI WHITE
C I R C L E F O U N D AT I O N ®
Marti White www.circle-arts.com/marti-white
Portal to Peace Mixed media collage 10 × 10 in.
What happens if a different tool, color, or material takes the lead? This question drives Marti White’s experimental mixed media practice. Self-taught through workshops and artist mentors, she moves between abstraction and representation using watercolor, acrylic, and collage. Her process allows decisions to emerge through making. That openness gives the work a sense of discovery, with each composition developing from the possibilities of its materials rather than a fully settled plan.
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Marti White
63
M AX W E R N E R
S P O T L I G H T 47
Max Werner www.maxwernerart.com
The Open Gate Acrylic on canvas 18.5 × 21.5 in.
Max Werner brings a refined artistic sensibility to landscape painting, combining careful observation with a poetic appreciation of nature’s scale and atmosphere. Born in Belgium and trained at London’s Byam Shaw School of Art and Slade School of Fine Art, he has developed a practice encompassing painting and printmaking. His compositions often place modest signs of life within expansive natural settings, creating a thoughtful relationship between human experience and the wider landscape.
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Max Werner
64
M AX W E R N E R
S M A L L F I G U R E S I N A VA S T WO R L D
Glacier Pass Acrylic on canvas
In ‘The Open Gate’, a vast sky stretches above grazing cattle and a distant flock of birds, transforming an ordinary rural scene into a meditation on space and tranquility. ‘Glacier Pass’ presents a more austere landscape, where mountains, mist, and small figures emphasize the immensity of the natural world. Both paintings reveal Werner’s sensitive handling of atmosphere and his ability to discover quiet beauty in the relationship between living beings and their surroundings.
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Max Werner
65
HUA HUA ZHANG
S P O T L I G H T 47
Hua Hua Zhang www.visualexpressions.org
Three Faires Mixed media 63 × 45 × 32 in.
For Hua Hua Zhang, puppetry is a powerful artistic language capable of expressing the full range of human emotions. Her multidisciplinary practice brings together sculpture, character design, and performance, exploring the extraordinary expressive possibilities of constructed figures. Zhang believes that contemporary puppetry extends far beyond storytelling, with the design and physical presence of each puppet offering its own imaginative potential.
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Hua Hua Zhang
66
HUA HUA ZHANG
B R I N G I N G I M A G I N AT I O N T O L I F E
Three Faires Mixed media 63 × 45 × 32 in.
Her works demonstrate this inventive approach, transforming sculptural forms into characters that suggest identity, vulnerability, and psychological complexity. Through a sensitive understanding of gesture and visual expression, Zhang creates figures that communicate even without words or elaborate narratives. Her work celebrates puppetry as an art form for all ages, revealing its capacity to connect people through imagination, emotion, and shared experience.
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Hua Hua Zhang
67
STEVE NEGRÓN
The Curious Theatre of Human Nature A
merican painter Steve Negrón has a remarkable talent for making the absurd feel perfectly natural. Trained at Parsons School of Design in New York and now living in Italy, he has developed a wonderfully eccentric visual language, drawing from mythology, classical antiquity, popular culture, and the peculiarities of human behavior. His paintings are theatrical little worlds, populated by elongated figures whose gestures suggest elaborate stories we have arrived just in time to witness. There is something deliciously strange about Negrón’s imagination. A man rides a rocking horse while brandishing a crown, elegant figures lounge beneath monumental arches, and everyday activities acquire the gravity of ancient rituals. His compositions recall the enigmatic spaces of metaphysical painting, with a touch of Renaissance theatricality and the mischievous logic of surrealism. Yet the humor is entirely his own. The characters seem caught between vanity, desire, ambition, and impending disaster, often unaware of how ridiculous their circumstances have become.
Architectural symmetry lends order to scenes that otherwise defy reason. Light appears almost supernatural, illuminating figures like actors on a stage, while unusual proportions and improbable spatial relationships keep everything slightly off balance. Look closely and the jokes multiply. But so do the questions. Behind the playful absurdity lies an astute observer of human weakness, social performance, and the fragile distinction between tragedy and comedy. An award-winning painter and art educator, Negrón has exhibited extensively in the United States and Italy, including solo exhibitions at She-Bear Gallery in Portland and fiuto Art Space in Ripatransone. His distinctions include first prizes at Salem Art Gallery and Salem Art Association, as well as recognition as a 2026 Circle Foundation for the Arts Artist of the Year finalist. What makes his work especially compelling is its unmistakable personality. Negrón has created a world with its own rules, visual vocabulary, and wicked sense of humor. It is sophisticated, beautifully strange, and quite impossible to mistake for anyone else’s.
Technically, the paintings are equally fascinating. Working primarily in acrylic on wood panels, Negrón builds intricate surfaces with finely worked textures, muted blues, dusty pinks, and warm, earthy tones.
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Steve Negrón Myth, Memory, and Mischief
The Discontent of Princes II Acrylic on wood panel 50 × 50 cm
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www.stevenegron.com
spotlight C O N T E M P O R A R Y A R T M A G A Z I N E · I S S U E 47
Steve Negrón Poolside
Acrylic on wood panel 35 × 40 cm
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