Editors: Laura Abrams, Mary Shisler, Tanya Wilkinson
Logo Design: Elizabeth Addison with Christine Cianci
Copyright 2025 by Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art. The artists retain sole copyright to the contents of this catalog. No part of it may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without prior permission in writing.
ISBN: 9798280952744
About NCWCA
The Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art is a networking organization for women in the arts. NCWCA offers a broad range of events and programs: member forums, exhibitions, mentoring, professional development, art-making, art activism and community. Formed in 1973, NCWCA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a chapter of the National Women’s Caucus for Art.
Our Mission is to create community through art, education and social activism.
We are committed to:
• Recognizing the contributions of women in the arts
• Providing women with leadership opportunities and professional development
• Expanding networking and exhibition opportunities for women
• Supporting local, national, and global art activism
• Advocating for equity in the arts for all
www.ncwca.org
About Arc Gallery & Studios
Arc supports the making of quality art in all media, provides a supportive environment for artists to create their work, nurtures a community of artists, and promotes public awareness and appreciation of the visual arts in the City of San Francisco. Arc Gallery & Studios is a mixed-use art center in San Francisco’s South of Market district consisting of three galleries, ten artist studios, the Kearny Street Workshop office, and Café Suspiro.
We are located at 1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco, California and open from 1-6 pm on Wednesdays & Thursdays and 12-3 pm on Saturdays.
Congratulations to the artists participating in the NCWCA members exhibition, Mendings & Marvels. This inclusive exhibition explores the theme of reuse–whether it be recycling used or found objects or revisiting a previously created piece of art. In each and every work, I saw a transformation of ordinary objects or images into works of beauty. I am delighted by the diversity of expression, perspective, and media of works in Mendings & Marvels. The artists perfectly represent who we are as an organization—a diverse group in age and background—all with a desire to create community through artistic expression. And despite the wide variety of interpretations of the theme, most of the artist quotes clearly reflect the unifying theme of art activism, whether it be the artist’s passion in the environment, feminism, or responding to the current political situation.
Curators’ Statement
— ELIZABETH ADDISON WITH CHRISTINE CIANCI
Mendings & Marvels bookends my six-year tenure as Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art’s Exhibitions Chair. My first NCWCA curatorial projects focused on our member’s talents, storytelling, and hopes as the Covid-19 Pandemic shut down the nation and the globe. Mendings & Marvels echoes that by asking our membership to once again dive into difficult times.
I invited Christine Cianci, sculptor and Exhibition Committee colleague, to be my co-pilot on this project. The exhibition committee put forth the ideas of “reuse” and “reimaginings” to encompass the expanse of our membership’s art practices.
Since the 2024 US presidential election, we find ourselves confronted with social upheaval, political polarization, and pervasive uncertainty. So Christine and I expanded our theme and decided upon a title that allowed our artists to respond to the present moment and express personal and collective agency.
Christine and I are honored to have had the opportunity to work with Jurors Laura Abrams, Marguerite Elliot, and Anne Giancola—NCWCA colleagues to whom we extend our deepest gratitude.
Additionally, we thank our host, Arc Gallery, and the NCWCA Exhibitions Committee for their time, expertise, and dedication. The coming together of the Exhibitions Committee is an exciting new chapter for NCWCA. Over the past six years, NCWCA has expanded exhibition opportunities and visibility for our members, the region, and on a national level. The committee is energized to usher that forward.
Last but not least, we thank the artists of Mendings & Marvels: An NCWCA Member Exhibition. Every one of their artworks not only enchants the viewer but demands a response! Our hope is that Mendings & Marvels will continue to spark meaningful discussions and help us find inspiration in the present moment. Art has the power to do that.
Elizabeth Addison is a Visual Artist and NCWCA Exhibitions Chair
Christine Cianci is a Sculptor and NCWCA Exhibitions Committee Lead
A Reflection on Mending & Marvels
KAREN M. GUTFREUND
Art has always been a place of transformation. The act of destruction and reconstruction births creation, where the past is reimagined and materials find new meaning. Artists, united in theme, use visual language to explore themes of restoring, reclaiming, rebirth, metamorphosis, healing, and hope.
Mending & Marvels brings together an extraordinary group of women artists who embody this alchemical process of reuse, repurposing, and reinvention. The works offer fresh perspectives on how discarded materials, forgotten histories, and even older artworks can be reborn through new artistic vision. The results are a compelling exploration into the importance of agency. Historically, feminist artists have embraced these concepts as artistic techniques and symbolic gestures of resistance, healing, and transformation. Through art, we translate lived experiences into powerful statements, challenging societal norms and reclamation of our narratives. This exhibition embodies the unwavering commitment to artistic practices, showcasing how perseverance shapes both the creative process and its visibility. In feminist art, fortitude is not just found in the act of creation—it is also in the
ongoing fight for recognition amid the persistent underrepresentation of women in the arts.
Bushra Gill’s Black Structure Green and Silent Fog by Janey Fritsche are examples of the required resilience to overcome setbacks in the studio. Both artists highlight the transformative power of persistence and finding growth and evolution through continuous experimentation. Fritsche discovered success by “listening to the subtle whisper of the muse.” Embracing intuition—a quality often dismissed in patriarchal frameworks— is a powerful force in the creative journey, shaping feminist practice through instinct and conviction.
Feminist artists embrace storytelling as a form of resistance and to envision a higher consciousness. This approach challenges traditional patriarchal notions to the “value” of art while also bringing to light issues such as identity, gender, labor, and equity. Masterful storytelling is displayed in Tennessee #1 by Sawyer Rose, Christine Cianci’s Detritus and El Recuerdo, Un Barrio by Marcela Florez.
A common thread running through Mending & Marvels is the act of repair—not as a passive restoration but as an active form of creation. Artists employ stitching and mixed media, breathing new life into old works, combined with fragmented memories. This is manifested in The Dolomites Cortina Study by Perry Meigs, while Bev Barnett rethinks assumptions and expectations with Floating Tower. These works celebrate the promise inherent in repair, revealing that beauty often arises from imperfection.
Mending & Marvels demonstrates that what
society discards often has hidden potential. Artists transform both physical objects and conceptual ideologies into revamped works that embrace renewal. Wendy Lowengrub speaks to this with Bound No. 2. along with Rachel Tirosh’s Nightfall My work in this exhibition had been stagnating for six years. Recently at a Stupa in Sedona I had an intense, spiritually enlightening experience where the final iteration finally came to me in Remember the Love.
Healing, growth, and transformation manifest in the works such as Victoria Veedel’s Golden Grasses, Salma Arastu’s Fall Around the Bay, and Nimisha Doongarwal with Ride the Melt. These transformations are not merely aesthetic but also spiritual—they invite the viewer to reconsider their relationship to personal stories, reflecting on evolving notions of time, memory, spirituality and legacy.
Focusing on conceptual reinvention with found object/assemblage art, artists recast old narratives in a contemporary light. They assert personified identity into traditionally male-dominated spaces to subvert and critique current events, societal norms and gender roles. This is evident in the works by Priscilla Otani’s Cry Me A River, Lynn Aisawa’s Cherry Blossoms, Tanya Wilkinson’s Rules for Girls: Nice, and Kelly Hammargren with Childhood Interrupted.
Feminist collage, mixed media, and assemblage art also challenge prevailing dominant histories and perspectives by weaving together fragmented narratives, transforming personal experiences and history into empowering visual stories. This
is shown in the work of Na Omi Judy Shintani’s Resilience, Barbara Pollak-Lewis’s Reimagined Gender Mask #1, Julia LaChica’s Tiger in the Box, and in Chemical Courtship by Marie Cameron.
Textile and fiber arts highlight themes of domesticity, identity, the body and collective memory. This is revealed in Ally Kraus’s TS-024, Leslie Lambert’s Resting Was Possible Once We Arrived and Sondra Schwetman with Pink Ribbons Fiber art, once dismissed as “women’s work,” is now recognized and highly regarded as a form of artistic and political expression.
Ecofeminist art, such as Day and Night Shall Not Cease, from the Smith River Series by Elizabeth Addison, Renée Owen’s Border Knots and Susan Bercu’s The Boiling Sea, address ecological concerns, and the exploitation of both women and our fragile environment.
This important exhibition is a powerful meditation on resilience, creativity, and collective empowerment. These artists did not merely “make” artworks—rather they reclaim, rebuild, and revolutionize! By transforming what has been left behind, literally and metaphorically, new spaces for dialogue and discovery are carved. Mending & Marvels is a testament to the power of mending and reinvention—from what may be broken, discarded, or overlooked, something entirely new and deeply marvelous can emerge.
Karen M. Gutfreund is an NCWCA Member, Artist/Activist, and Curator with a focus on Art as Activism
Mending & Marvels: Expanding Feminist Art
VICKIE SIMMS
Mending & Marvels brings together works of art that expand beyond feminist approaches to create a visual language that presses for equal rights for women and an end to all discrimination as well as expanding into concerns for the environment and other pressing social concerns. Feminism surfaced in 1791 in France when activist Olympe de Gouges wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Women in response to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man. De Gouges’ activism led to her early death by guillotine in 1793. First-wave feminism emerged in America during the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention where Elizabeth Cady Stanton read her Declaration of Sentiments, a treatise demanding women’s equality with men. The women’s suffrage movement solidified feminist political influence with the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. However, women of color were excluded until the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, even though the fight began in first-wave feminism. During first-wave feminism, women artists surreptitiously created works focused on women’s inequality, as well as the plight of children. Mary Cassatt’s 1881 painting, A Women and a Child Driving, and Ethel Léontine Gabain’s
1944 painting, A Child Bomb-Victim Receiving Penicillin Treatment, are profound examples.
This exhibition echoes themes of feminist art since its beginnings. Tanya Wilkinson’s innocent young girl’s dress is inscribed with the simple words “Be Nice To Everyone,” which suggests compassion towards all. However, the words refer to “rules for girls” as expectations assigned to young girls. Kelly Hammargren’s shadowbox, Childhood Interrupted, speaks to hardships a child endures when life is interrupted by circumstances such as homelessness, hunger, isolation, and a single mother’s quest to survive. These currents continue the legacy of first-wave feminism with a new urgency to overturn established inferior gender roles for women, leading to second-wave feminism.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the women’s liberation movement emerged as women demanded an end to sexual discrimination. Artists in the movement shook the art world with new perspectives on materials and mediums to challenge traditional views on art, its messaging, and its visual language. Feminist art of the time spotlighted gender roles with humor, poking fun at domestic homemaking skills and the female body as presented in Judy Chicago’s 1972 art installation, Womanhouse and Betye Saar’s 1972 work, Liberation Of Aunt Jemima.
In our current era, cuts in medical research and women’s health, such as breast cancer treatment, are at risk. Sondra Schwetman acknowledges this with simple hand-stitched squares in Pink
Ribbons, an emblem of breast cancer as well as the color assigned to girls. Artworks throughout the exhibition present women’s insights on political, social, and environmental issues.
In the 1990s, third-wave feminist artists garnered increasing recognition for creativity in craft and installations. Niki de Saint Phalle’s Nanas Every(wo)men sculptures, as well as her installation Tarot Garden, are whimsical, yet powerful examples. Mending & Marvels features crafted work constructions, such as Renée Owen’s Border Knots, an entanglement of immigration policies. The piece by Na Omi Judy Shintani, Resilience, has stitched together the journey taken by women activists to achieve equity.
Mending & Marvels continues to voice women’s issues of inequality, equity, and freedom from sexual harassment, simultaneously focusing attention on the universally harmful effects of climate change. The exhibition showcases a variety of abstract and representational works committed to the role of human involvement in environmental hazards. Nimisha Doongarwal’s abstract representational collage, Ride the Melt and Ria Sharma’s Reconstructing The Future, preview the onslaught of climate change on icebergdependent habitats. Starr Davis’ Crop Duster, suggests attempts to compartmentalize the harmful effects of pesticides developed to eliminate pestilence, yet destroy agriculture and cause harm to people too. These works of art, among many more, offer creative perspectives on the shifts in our living world and bold statements of truth.
Mending & Marvels is a collection of artworks aligned with the diverse expressions and intersectionality of the women of NCWCA. In recent years intersectionality has been the primary focus of third and fourth-wave feminism primarily because it was absent from the goals of its predecessors. This concept describes how race, gender, class, and sexuality interconnect with identity, social inequality, and individual experiences. The works presented in this membership exhibition include race and gender in its representations, narratives, expressions, and identities. Our artists reflect individual cultures, social history, and political currents. The NCWCA team of artists brings a widened understanding of the intricacies and subtleties of artistic representations in Mending & Marvels, expanding on practices of Feminist Art.
Vickie Simms is an art history student at San Jose State University specializing in found objects and an NCWCA Board Director
Exhibition Statement
ELIZABETH ADDISON WITH CHRISTINE CIANCI
Mendings & Marvels focuses on the reuse and repurposing of materials of any kind, even the reimagining of an older artwork. There is a profound and layered sensibility to artwork that reuses, repurposes, salvages, and reimagines materials, found objects, or previous projects.
Artists often channel their ability to mend and their desire to remake their emotions, experiences, and our world into the artworks they create. Mending or remaking ideas or objects also imbues them with new life. It’s a mystical, alchemical, and sometimes prescient process that can have far-reaching, marvelous results.
NCWCA is proud to present our members’ artwork that interprets the idea of mending, reusing, reimagining, and responding to the present moment. Artworks range from the repurposing of found objects, including artworks about the environment or recycling, to conceptual works exploring the remaking of ideas and emotions, mendings of the mind and planet, and the marvels of revelation.
Jurors’ Statements
— LAURA ABRAMS, MARGUERITE ELLIOT, ANNE GIANCOLA
I had so much fun viewing the artworks submitted for Mendings & Marvels. A member exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to address topics that resonate with NCWCA artists, as well to witness their unique creative and skilled responses. Thanks to our artists, we jurors had the privilege of choosing from an extraordinary body of work to create a cohesive, meaningful exhibition.
—Laura Abrams
Mixed-media and Stained Glass Artist, NCWCA Professional Development Chair
It was an honor to jury Mendings & Marvels. I was impressed by the broad range of artistic skills demonstrated across our membership. Within the confines of the 24 inch maximum size constraint, artists addressed multifaceted issues using a vast array of media. Our diverse NCWCA membership continues to be a strong cohort of dynamic, activist artists.
—Marguerite Elliot Sculptor, NCWCA Vice President
Serving as a juror for Mendings & Marvels was a meaningful opportunity to witness how art reflects and shapes the world we live in. Each piece revealed the cleverness, insight, and bold spirit of its creator, reminding us of the vital role artists play in illuminating our shared humanity. It was both an honor and an inspiration to engage with such resonant, imaginative work.
Anne Giancola
Painter and Visual Arts and Education Manager at Livermore Valley Arts
NCWCA Exhibitions Committee
ELIZABETH ADDISON, NCWCA
EXHIBITIONS CHAIR
I’m excited and proud to announce the newly created NCWCA Exhibitions Committee. This amazing collection of artists, curators, art historians, graphic designers, and writers will continue to expand NCWCA exhibition and artist opportunities. Many committee members have worked with me on previous exhibition projects, and we make a great team. The core group includes: Laura Abrams, Christine Cianci, Marguerite Elliot, Anne Giancola, Karen M. Gutfreund, Priscilla Otani, Remedios Rappaport, Sawyer Rose, Durba Sen, Na Omi Judy Shintani, Mary Shisler, Vicki Simms, Tanya Wilkinson, Renate Woodbury, and myself.
Mendings & Marvels Exhibition Acknowledgements
Laura Abrams - Lead Catalog Editor/Proofreader, Exhibition Installation, Exhibition Juror
Elizabeth Addison - Exhibition Director and Curator, Theme Development, Exhibition Installation, Logo
Ken Bercu - Exhibition Installation
Christine Cianci - Exhibition Co-director and Curator, Catalog Production Management, Exhibition Installation
Marguerite Elliot - Exhibition Juror
Anne Giancola - Exhibition Juror, Volunteer at Large
Karen M. Gutfreund - Catalog Introduction
Chandrika Marla - Social Media
Priscilla Otani - Online Gallery, Webmaster, All-around Support
Glass on glass mosaic with marbles and gold glitter, 10.5 x 9 x 1 inches framed, 2025
www.laura-abrams.com
“My work follows a playful design aesthetic of piecing and placing shapes and colors together like multi-level puzzle pieces, even as I tackle serious real-life issues and stories.”
Elizabeth Addison
Day and Night Shall Not Cease
Antique bird cage, repurposed artwork, original digital imagery printed on 100% cotton rag paper, acrylics, 15 x 8.5 x 8.5 inches, 2025
www.elizabethaddison.com
“The world of dreams, a passion for the natural world, and scientific curiosity are woven together in my creative practice.”
Lynn Aisawa
Cherry Blossoms
Paper and acrylic, 14 x 18 inches (16 x 20 inches framed), 2025
www.lynnaisawa.com
“I make art to explore and to question the nature of power and the power of its symbols.”
Salma Arastu
Fall Around the Bay
Natural twigs and dry grasses and rust on wood panel, 22 x 17 inches, 2024
www.salmaarastu.com
“In my studio mysteries are revealed each day. I feel awed and inspired to delve further into the unknown fearlessly and look out for new visions emerging on my canvas.”
Floating Tower
Handmade paper from cotton, tissue and edamame pods, bass guitar string end-beads, wet cyanotype, 20 x 16 x 3 inches, 2024
www.bevbarnett.com
“In every piece I create, texture is the conduit for storytelling, evoking a tactile and visceral experience for those who engage with my work.”
Andrea Bass
She Sells Seashells
Oil paint, 16 x 20 inches, 2025
www.andreabassart.com
“In my artwork I explore themes of connection between earth and sky, past and present, inner and outer.”
Pamela Benham
Lost in the Atlantic
Acrylic on paper, mounted, 10 x 10 inches, 2024
www.pamelabenham.com
“While my art piece is taking form, an inner unrest, an ineffable emotional pressure pushes out into paint continuously until the dynamics of the forces are seen in interplay.”
Susan Bercu
The Boiling Sea
Paint on paper, 24 x 17 inches, 2025
www.susanbercu.art
“I am compelled to sound the alarm about our universal threats and disasters… to implore all of us to act with conscience.”
Priscilla Birge
Simulated Sea
Original digital imagery and oil pastels on BFK paper, 20 x 24 inches framed (image 9 5/8 x 12 inches), 2005
www.priscillabirge.com
“My goal is to discover either perfectly poised images requiring no interventions on my part or to uncover somewhat chaotic images and work with them in a way that will transform them into statements of active stability.”
“My
Marie Cameron
Chemical Courtship
Viagra and Dasetta pills, silk remnants and thread on antique hand-painted silk and wooden fan, 18 x 28 x 1 inches (28 x 26 x 3 inches in case), 2025
www.mariecameronstudio.com
“I like integrating the unexpected, or unremembered into my work to hint at connections that we might make with our hearts rather than reasoned thoughts.”
Christine Cianci
Detritus
Ceramic with applied pigment, 12 x 12 x 2.5 inches, 2024
www.ccianciart.com
“My work is inspired by dreams, lived experience, feminism and world events, by my romance with history, symbolism and mythology, and sometimes a bit of dark whimsy.”
“I create visual narratives that reimagine nature through diverse media, exploring the interplay between the manmade and natural worlds to evoke unity and balance.”
Memories of Boisbuchet
Handmade paper, plants, leaves, roots, earth, twine, 10 x 24 x .5 inches, 2023
www.margueriteelliot.com
“Concerned with the current environmental destruction, loss of species, and irrevocable environmental changes taking place all over the world, my work functions as both a reliquary and a shrine, to what is lost or soon may be lost.”
Miriam Fabbri
Byzantine Flight School
Markers on black paper, 9 x12 inches, 2025
marianna5870@gmail.com
“I enjoy depicting whimsy and humor in my work using bold color and shape.”
Marcela Florez
El Recuerdo, Un Barrio
Pencil, ink, acrylic, printed map fragments, on paper, 17 x 24 inches, 2023
www.marcelaflorez.com
“I aspire to develop a cartography of memory through which to explore an intimate definition of place.”
“My art is realized through a passion for experimenting with media and creating beauty in response to the natural world.”
Janey Fritsche
Silent Fog
Ink and oil on canvas, 24 x 24 x 1.5 inches, 2025
www.janeyfritsche.com
“Perhaps art is about presenting different mental maps that can help shape the subconscious, and hence, our future.”
Bushra Gill
Black Structure Green
Vitreograph print with multiple laser etched and sandblasted plates, hand painting, 15 x 22 inches, 2024
www.bushragill.com
“In my work, I think about connection, especially an underlying structure of everything around us that unites us to each other and to nature, time and space.”
Marc Ellen Hamel
Red and Black Folio
Monotype pieces printed on Rives BFK using Charbonnel inks, 17 x 15 inches, 2020
www.marcellenhamel.com
“I must feel expressive with the materials, to have no limiting plan; that is freedom for me.”
Kelly Hammargren
Childhood Interrupted
Mixed media: found objects, wood letters, mounted on cardboard in found wood box, 22 x 22 x 5.25 inches, reworked 2025
Facebook @kellyartist
“My art expresses my activism, provoking attention to political, social and environmental injustices.”
“My artwork focuses on feminist, political, and personal issues, including gratitude for the women in my life.”
“I
www.allykraus.com
Julia LaChica
Tiger in the Box
Mixed media, found objects, 10 x 7 x 3.5 inches, 2024
www.jlachica.art
“In my art, I often consciously work to create a sense of an intimate archive that reaches across time by integrating found objects, distressing elements and aging materials in order to reveal how corrosion, rust and wear accumulate on bodies and surfaces over time.”
Resting Was Possible Once We Arrived
Watercolor paper, ink, repurposed papers, and embroidery floss, 14 x 13 inches, 2024
www.leslielambert.com
“My solid grounding in the static detail of the human figure is transformed through a sense of motion and ambiguous intent.”
Wendy Lowengrub
Bound No. 2
Mixed media, 28 x 27 inches, 2024
www.wendylowengrub.com
“As an artist, it may take me many detours and missteps to get there, but the final layer, piece of string, or line is the one that ultimately completes the work.”
Leigh McLellan
Sequoia
Paper, digital print of original collage, 24 x 10 inches, 2023
“It is a thrill to watch myself regain old skills and develop new ones. It’s still magic!”
Instagram @leighandemma
Perry Meigs
The Dolomites - Cortina Study
Collage and thread on paper, 20 x 24 inches, 2024
www.perrymeigs.com
“Through drawing, painting, and digital tracking, I explore how our environments shape us and how personal experience, memory, and technology influence the way we navigate the world.”
Juliet Mevi
Van Gogh Revisited
Hardcover book, acrylics, printmaking inks, original hand-pulled paper, 10 x 12 inches, 2021
Facebook @mevi-art
“I will never run out of subjects or the excitement that comes with creating art from life.”
Wildlings
Mixed media on wood panel, 8 x 8 inches, 2024
www.deemostofi.com
“Ultimately, my goal as an artist is to encourage conversation and to inspire others to see the world through an empathetic lens that connects our human experience.”
www.rajiartstudio.com
“I invite the viewer to enter the city and make their inner connection with where they live, people they know and life in a community that brings us all together.”
Priscilla Otani
Cry Me A River
Headless doll, tea ceremony whisk, torn fan, yarn, chiyogami, acrylic paint, wood box, 12 x 11 x 2 inches, 2025
www.mrpotani.com
“My mixed media works explore the myths, taboos and histories of my Japanese birthplace and my naturalized American culture.”
Renée Owen
Border Knots
Found rusty metal and barbed wire, waxed linen thread, abaca pulp, and sea salt, 17 x 18 x 6.5 inches, 2022
www.reneeowenartandpoetry.com
“Using embroidery, natural dyes, ecoprinting and fiber techniques, my work elevates the detritus of everyday life to a newfound purpose and meaning.”
Jessica Phrogus
Dublin Museum Hat
Canvas, acrylic, marker, painted on back also, 15 x 18 inches, 2025
www.phrogus.com
“Art is always recycled–at best a fun play of the common–commentary too.”
Barbara Pollak-Lewis
Reimagined Gender Mask #1
Mixed media, 9 x 7 x 5 inches, 2023
www.barbarapollakart.com
“In the last several years, my work has been informed by cultural trends including censorship, global violence, fascism, racism, and widespread misogyny.”
Debra Reabock
Ecomorphosis
Metal, 24 x 16 inches, 2022
www.debrareabock.com
“As an abstract photographer, my passion is transforming imagery of modern urban architecture into unusual geometric shapes, forms, and stunning designs.”
“In this series, I collaborate with researcher and poet Angela Williams Bickham to memorialize the lives of Free Women of Color in the U.S. Antebellum South through large-scale fiber sculpture and historical fiction as poetry.”
Eleanor Ruckman
Water Is Life
Shells, shadow box, fabric, wire, patch, jewelry, ribbon, glitter, love and respect, 14 3/4 x 11 10/16 x 1.5 inches, 2022 and mended in 2025
www.artgiveshope.com
“Creativity and beauty are transformative, empowering and healing. As an artist and an art therapist, I experience and witness the benefits of making and looking at art.”
Clara Saprasa
Resurrection
Oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches, 2024
“My inspirations are the feminist art movement and magical realism.”
Sondra Schwetman
Pink satin ribbon, 18 x 18 inches, 2025
www.sondraschwetmanart.com
“My work is created to generate dialogue about women’s issues and cultural changes.”
Pink Ribbons
Durba Sen
Dancing In Circles
Acrylics and gesso on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, 2024
www.durbasen.com
“I love the color and the fragrance of spices and flowers, the celebration of life in music and festivals, indigenous art and architecture of cultural heritages, and the hospitality of people I have met during my travels in India and around the world; and this is embodied in my paintings.”
Reconstructing the Future
Wool, metal rings, and acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, 2025
www.riaksharma.com
“I paint dynamic geometric figures in vibrant colors of acrylic. I paint dance, music and meditation.”
Na Omi Judy Shintani
Resilience
Repurposed monoprint, acrylic thread, 18 x 12 inches, 2024
www.naomishintani.com
“I love transforming my contemporary art and integrating traditions of my heritage, like sashiko stitching, used for mending work clothes, and monogami, a Japanese method of manipulating paper to make it stronger and more textile-like.”
www.marykshisler.com
“I create medicine shields to protect against the evil forces against us such as climate change.”
“My work combines digital and analog print techniques to confront political causes such as climate and the tech broligarchy.”
Victoria Veedell
Golden Grasses
Oil on paper mounted on wood, 10 x 10 inches, 2025
www.veedell.com
“The images created are grounded in a perspective associated with landscape; but rather than mirror the outside world I look inward reflecting on my experiences to find new meaning and relationships between form, light and perspective.”
Angela White
Reap What You Sew
Cigar box, found objects, 10 x 13 x 2.5 inches, 2025
www.angelawhiteart.com
“Through movement, rhythm, and a grounded sense of place, my work seeks to communicate an underlying energy—things that are felt rather than explained.”
Tanya Wilkinson
Rules for Girls: Nice
Found objects, thread, paint, paper mounted on stretched canvas, 20 x 16 x 5 inches, 2024
www.tanyawilkinson.com
“I like to tell a story, but sometimes I produce work that revels in texture, color and imagery, simply for the joy of making something.”
Ordinary Language and the Window of Opportunity
Acrylic, ink and graphic tape on panel, 8 x 8 inches, 2022
www.emilywiseman.com
“I am inspired by how our lives are full of overlapping layers: art, community, local businesses, politics, fun, and just looking out for each other.”
Donna Wocher
Venus Awaits
Acrylic paint, burlap, twine, ribbon, rice paper, assorted papers, 28 x 18 x 2 inches, 2024
www.donnawocher.com
“I create dynamic landscapes, real and imagined, that come alive with vibrant color, intricate layers, bold lines and striking compositions–each one singing you awake with its energy.”
Sandra Wolfson
Where There Is A Past… (1
of 6)
Wooden frame with silk screen canvas, water-based oils, and airbrush, 18 x 20 inches, 2025
www.sandrawolfsonartist.com
“For me, abstraction goes far beyond what I see in front of me; it is a way for me to study the mystery of life.”
Renate Woodbury
Mending My Mind
Tempera on paper, 18 x 24 inches, 2025
Instagram @renatewooodburypainting
“My creative process of painting contributes to the constant upkeep and health of my mind.”
“I am a quilter with a primary focus on color, improvisation, and recycled/repurposed fabrics and I am passionate about creating quilts as political and social commentary.”
Gouache and ink on paper, 9 x 12 inches, 2023
www.sandrayagi.com
“With a viewpoint rooted in logic and science, and a curiosity for the macabre, I also contemplate humanity’s impact on the natural world.”
