Melanie Serkes
Tapestry
2021
coated steel
66" x 31" x 1"

About the Work
Tapestry is a balance of the feminine and the masculine. The material is offset by a feeling of intricacy, like that of lace. The vibrant color exudes a playfulness, lightening this heavy material. For this sculpture, Serkes cut the forms from steel pipes and individually welded each circle to create this elaborate composition. While it is currently displayed hanging on a wall indoors, Tapestry can also be mounted to a custom-fabricated frame to enhance an outdoor space. Tapestry is the first in a series by Melanie Serkes exploring these concepts.

Darla Jackson
This will hurt me more than it hurts you...
2021
Flocked Polyurethane Resin
4" x 6" x 3-1/2"
Pink Flocked Edition

Courtesy of Arch Enemy Arts, Paradigm Gallery

About the Work
A four bird "knuckle duster" is where Snow White meets GhostFace Killah in my head. Cute but intimidating at the same time, it's meant to offer ideas of protection and self defense that are so often needed yet usually suspiciously absent in portrayals of women in popular culture (I'm looking at you Disney movies!). The title, "This will hurt me more than it hurts you", is a reference to the fact that women are often criticized for standing up for themselves.

Bio
Darla Jackson is a sculptor living in Philadelphia. She received a BFA in Sculpture from Moore College of Art in 2003, and after receiving a John S. and James L. Knight Arts Challenge Grant in both 2011 and 2013, founded the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, a membership based community sculpture studio.

Her work has been shown in numerous exhibitions locally, including galleries and museums such as the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Seraphin Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Woodmere Art Museum, and a Wind Challenge exhibition at the Fleisher Art Memorial, and across the country at galleries such as Thinkspace Gallery in Culver City, California, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts in Wilmington, and Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park, New Jersey. She has shown internationally in Belgium and Germany and has lectured about her work at venues including The Barnes Foundation.

Jackson currently teaches Figure Modeling at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Buyer assumes all S&H costs.

Kathleen Spicer
Round Midnight
Laser cut rusted wood over oil on plexiglas
24" x 24"

About the Work
This piece combines earthy rust tones with sharply contrasting blues that look "lit" from behind. It was inspired music, in this case Thelonious Monk, and my intention was to create a rhythmic, living piece that is uplifting and mysterious.

Bio
I attended Philadelphia College of Art, (now the University of the Arts), and received my BFA from Parsons School of Design in New York. After more than 30 years living in New York, I returned to the Philadelphia area and continue to actively create artwork. I have been fortunate to receive several art awards and 8 public art commissions, one of which was just completed fro New Market West, in Philadelphia. I am in collections nationally and internationally, and am a member of ARTsisters, Artists Equity and MCGOPA and INLIQUID.

I have been showing professionally in galleries, museums and collections since 1982.

Charles Emlem
Planetary Incursion
2019
Welded steel and painted wood
30" x 13" x 13''

About the Work
The universe is a vast array of infinite variation. While much of that variation already exists, most of it does not nor ever will exist. Or rather, most of it exists only as having the potential to exist. As humans, we have the unique ability to knowingly create things that were not here before and in doing so are privy to the notion that there is an immense reservoir of things that have not yet nor ever will be seen.

Bio
Charles Emlen was born and raised in Paoli, Pennsylvania. He received his BFA in sculpture from Pennsylvania State University in 1981, and his MFA in sculpture from Arizona State University in 1984. After leaving ASU he worked for several years as a sculptor's assistant with Arizona artist Michael Anderson. In 1987 he returned to Pennsylvania where he built a sculpture studio and for the next twelve years worked on sculpture commissions and custom metal work. During this time he also worked as an electrician and CNC programmer. In 1999 Emlen took a position at a local avionics company and spent the next 18 years as a software engineer, designing and programing aircraft flight display graphics. In 2017 he retired from the avionics industry and has since been devoting most of his time to sculpture, machine art, and site specific installation.

G Farrel Kellum
A Street's Poet's Scream
2020
Acrylic on canvas with rope
33'' x 21''

About the Work
G. Kellum challenges the rear view perspective of artistic expression and dives into the world of urban aesthetics, as we know it. It also explores the possibilities present in spiritual and psychological practices. Look then, look again. As we move toward the future the images grow more familiar with each truth they unveil. This then becomes a series that grows with time.

What first appears as a contemporary signpost for modern urban life is actually an archeological dig into our perceptions about these polychromatic structures that are presented by Glen's work. Do we see the African designs interwoven into the fabric of this series? Therein lies the complexity of this work. Those who have experienced this journey into cultural perception will recognize these references while others will experience something more visual. These concepts are applied through the use of bold colors and marks in these three-dimensional and two- dimensional forms. His use of mixed media and materials plays into more ideas of passage and a broken heritage in the work.

Bio
Glenn was drawn to architecture and illustration for its discipline and structure. Eventually, Glenn was confronted with the fact that architecture was 10 percent drawing and 80 percent mathematics. Abandoning architecture, illustration became Glenn's focal point, giving him a clear perspective on the direction he wanted to steer his art practice. Very early on, Glenn discovered the importance of black and white visual elements as a personal guide when approaching polychromic structure. During this period, he became more liberated when he encountered the works of Sam Gilliam and Isamu Noguchi. These and other like-minded artist have influenced his work but the biggest influence came from his experience with Buddhism and Taoism. These have had a profound effect on the way Glenn sees things.

Glenn was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1947 and was the youngest of eleven brothers and sisters. After serving in the military for 2 years, he attended the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), which is now The University of the Arts, and graduated with a BFA in Illustration in 1977. Glenn had his first exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania upon graduating from the university. He has been represented by the Sandy Webster Gallery and Art Jazz Gallery. Glen has also been part of several prominent group exhibitions including those at the Delaware Contemporary and the Woodmere Museum. In 2018 his work was showcased in an exhibition curated by Design Philadelphia in the Bok building. He currently has an artist studio in the Bok Building in South Philadelphia where he works.

Jacqueline Yvonne
I Can Fix Anything
2021
found wood, beads, string, nails, epoxy
4.5" x 14" x 3.5"

About the Work
This piece was part of a series of works created during the pandemic shut downs. During my nature walks, I would collect driftwood from local Philadelphia area rivers that, to me, resembled the human body either in shape or gesture. Once in the studio, I combined the wood in this series with my own disassembled jewelry, garments, and domestic fabrics into assemblages that represent subconscious memories, moods, and parts of my identity.

Bio
Jacqueline Yvonne Tull grew up in Greenbelt, Maryland, and attended Maryland Institute College of Art Bachelor of Fine Arts program in Baltimore. She later completed her degree at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she had the opportunity to spend summers studying plein air painting and drawing at the Mount Gretna School of Art in Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania, and the Rome Art Program in Rome, Italy. She completed her Master of Fine Art at the University of Delaware, where she specialized in sculpture and material culture studies. She has taught sculpture and other fine art courses as an instructor at multiple universities in the Philadelphia region, and is currently the Makerspace Manager at Swarthmore College. Jacqueline is currently practicing art in her home-studio in Philadelphia, is a member of Automat Collective, and has exhibited works in the Philadelphia region, New York, and Berlin, Germany.

Zachary Steinheiser
Idle
2022
Steel, wood
14" x 7" x 3"

About the Work
Structures fascinate me, natural and human made alike. Urban architecture is of particular interest. Buildings and infrastructure are taken for granted, but their forms and compositions have a deep history. Raw materials are collected, refined and installed for purposes of habitation and industry. After completion, buildings experience a cycle of life, death and re-birth as the fortunes of cities wax and wane. In my sculpture, I work from the premise that a structure acquires a kind of inanimate soul as it is built, experienced and abandoned. The materials I use to accomplish this are primarily steel, wood, and concrete as they are familiar to a post-industrial urban landscape. In contrast to these heavy, structural materials, I include an element or idea that doesn't quite fit. This is usually something vibrant in color or unrecognizable in form and serves to create a scene imbued with an unknown and undiscoverable history. The intersection between what is structural, familiar, understandable and that which is strange and unknown is where I intend my work to inhabit.

Bio
Zachary Steinheiser is a sculptor & blacksmith from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned a BFA at Rhode Island School of Design in 2012. Zachary has worked professionally in monument conservation for the City of New York. He then further developed his metal working practice at Holzman Iron Studio where he served as a fabricator and assistant blacksmith. In 2019, Zachary founded Carriage Creative Company, a design & fabrication studio in the Callowhill neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Buyer assumes all S&H costs.

Marguerita Hagan
Rongorongo
2017
pit-fired ceramic
7.25" x 12" x 10.75"

About the Work

Rongorongo is Rapanui (Easter Island) meaning: Incised for Chanting Out

The ancient Easter Island glyphs carved on tablets share a mystical language. With only about a dozen incised wood planks known today, Rongorongo is one of a few independent languages in human history and is yet to be deciphered.

The unique system of characters are incised in shallow horizontal channels. The text is read from the bottom row, left to right. Each line is reversed so one must turn the tablet 180º to chant to the next line. Although the literal translation is unknown, the spirited nature of the "chants" infuse the sculptures. Inheriting the ancestral Rongorongo mobility, the sculptures invert freely into various poses as they step from 2 to 3 dimension.

The mysterious carved organic tablets liken time capsules capturing a once diverse and abundant exchange between man and nature on this remote Pacific Island. The thriving Rapanui culture and its lush landscape fell to deforestation and devastation leaving a profound message and crucial restoration at work today.

The pit-fired ceramic sculpture are unpredictably and uniquely painted 100% by the fumes and flame of their primitive outdoor firing.

Bio

Marguerita Hagan is a ceramic sculptor based in Philadelphia. She is an advocate for the thriving of all life in mutually sustainable communities and environments. The concept of interdependence plays throughout her sculpture, teaching and community arts.

Throughout her career, Hagan brings to light the beauty and engineering of our planet's diverse ecosystems and our powerful role as stewards. Her intricate ceramic shines light on the wonder and respect for the fragile, diverse life with which our lives are intrinsically linked.

She received her MFA from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and her BFA in Ceramics at James Madison University. Her projects include collaborations with artists, scientists and community, environmental art-science residencies, lectures and is in private and public collections and exhibits nationally and internationally.

Eva Shelley
Floral with wood
2022
Lampworked glass
12" x 12" x 10"

About the Work
A lot of my work is floral design, but based upon my imagination mostly. I was told a long time ago that we make things we have seen before, sometimes not even realizing it until after a piece is made. So most of my work is in reference to something I've seen or experienced in my past.

Bio
Once you find something that truly moves you, it can enhance your personal life, encourage you to grow, and leave you wanting more. That's what glass does for me. It's my first love. It's given me life and joy. And I know that comes through in my work.

My name is Eva Shelley and I've been working with glass since 2000. I started by taking private lessons at the Crefeld School, a private high school in Philadelphia. I then took individual glass classes at Salem Community College in New Jersey. From there, I attended Temple University's Tyler School of Art, majoring in glass, and graduating in 2005 with a bachelor of fine arts (BFA). My focus at Tyler was furnace work, and also learned both hot and cold casting, as well as fused and slumped glass.

Since graduating, I have been a freelance glass artist, creating glass art and glass jewelry. I've worked on a variety of different projects including pieces of jewelry for loved ones, glass sculptures for events, and company gifts for employees.

Christina P. Day
Rotary Lattice
2014
Found rotary telephone, house paint, extracted wallpaper, polyurethane
4.5" x 17" x 8"

Charles Emlem
Square Wave
2020
Wood, aluminum, LED lights, electronics
45" x 45" x 13''

About the Work
The universe is a vast array of infinite variation. While much of that variation already exists, most of it does not nor ever will exist. Or rather, most of it exists only as having the potential to exist. As humans, we have the unique ability to knowingly create things that were not here before and in doing so are privy to the notion that there is an immense reservoir of things that have not yet nor ever will be seen.

Bio
Charles Emlen was born and raised in Paoli, Pennsylvania. He received his BFA in sculpture from Pennsylvania State University in 1981, and his MFA in sculpture from Arizona State University in 1984. After leaving ASU he worked for several years as a sculptor's assistant with Arizona artist Michael Anderson. In 1987 he returned to Pennsylvania where he built a sculpture studio and for the next twelve years worked on sculpture commissions and custom metal work. During this time he also worked as an electrician and CNC programmer. In 1999 Emlen took a position at a local avionics company and spent the next 18 years as a software engineer, designing and programing aircraft flight display graphics. In 2017 he retired from the avionics industry and has since been devoting most of his time to sculpture, machine art, and site specific installation.

Samara Weaver
Tide
2022
Trace paper, watercolor, wood
8" x 8"

About the Work
This pieces is a small moment, exploring one facet of color and motion of the ocean.

Bio
Samara graduated with her Masters in Architecture in 2013 from Tyler School of Art and Architecture. After graduating Samara worked in Architecture and Construction while continuing to develop her unique artistic voice using multiple mediums. In 2017 she took the leap to working for herself and started Design Hues, focusing on artisan floral and specializing in large floral installations. In 2018 Samara applied to the Juried Craft Show at The Delaware Art Museum, and was accepted with a host of other talented artists. Showing her work at the museum was a pivotal turning point in her artistic career, supporting shifting her focus to her art full time. She was accepted in Spring 2020 for an art studio at the Delaware Contemporary art museum and has been working full time creating and selling her artwork, functional ceramics and porcelain jewelry.

Buyer assumes all S&H costs.

Elisabeth Nickles
Deer Vessel
2003
Cast glass
63" x 13" x 13"

Courtesy of Schmidt Dean Gallery

About the Work
My work exists in the edge between the physical study of organic form and psychological metaphor. Issues of the human psyche are seen in relationship to nature and as a fragment of nature. The mind and body are moving parts of the larger system of biological cycle and subconscious knowledge. My depiction of natural form is my mental projection and physical association with the non-human world. With humor and fascination I bring my obsessions, memories and identity to a place where the inner and outer world are melded together.

Bio
Elisabeth Nickles is a mixed media sculptor living in Philadelphia. She has produced bodies of work in bronze, glass and paper. She attended the Boston Museum School and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and in 2007 received an MFA from Alfred University. Her work has recently been shown at the Philadelphia Airport, Schmidt Dean Gallery and Exit Art. She is currently a Muralab artist in Residence at NextFab through the Breadboard Science Center and Mural Arts where she is using new technologies to make small scale models that will be exhibited at the Esther Klein Science Center as possible projects for public spaces. During the past year, she completed a large scale commission for the SEPTA Arts in Transit program as well as a large wall sculpture for the offices of The Reinvestment Fund in Philadelphia.

Melissa Maddonni Haims
IED #9
2016
Upholstery textiles, various threads, yarns, cassette tape, leather, suede, postindustrial, pre consumer waste. Stuffed with the shredded fabric of humanity.
10" x 8" x 5"

About the Work

IEDs are soft sculptures based on the behavioral diagnosis "Intermittent Explosive Disorder," a disorder characterized by sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts that are disproportionate to the situation. IED is usually associated with additional mood disorders, such as Bipolar Disorder and Manic Depression.

Using divergent materials such as the shredded fabric of humanity and machine knit poly cotton yarns, I bind and coil, cinch, sew, and truss my work into awkward shapes to symbolize the physical embodiment of internal rage and discomfort. Each organ-like sculpture personifies an individual expression of the daily stresses and frustrations we accumulate and push down into a tightly bound knot of smoldering fury. These soft sculptures represent the knotted stomachs of the 5.7 million people in America (18+) who are living with Bipolar Disorder.

Bio

After attending a long list of East Coast art schools studying sculpture, painting, and printmaking, her career began in New York City in the 1990s. Eventually, life led her back to Philadelphia, where she now lives with her husband and daughter.

Melissa's work has been held and displayed in galleries, museums, and in private collections throughout the United States. In 2014 she was featured on an A&E network television program about artists who make work out of unusual materials. She has been yarn-bombing internationally since 2010.

Since 2012, Haims has focused on creating work about death, dying, and mental illness. She draws viewers in with color, texture, and the promise of a tactile experience (every piece of work is meant to be touched, loved, and handled). They then deliver a "one, two punch" with a challenge to think and talk about difficult subjects. More specifically, her work has largely focused on America's endemic gun violence and its impact on our communities.

Her latest large-scale installation was with March for our Lives in 2020. She crocheted a 25' flag for a voter registration event on the iconic Philadelphia Museum of Art's staircase.

Brent Crothers
Two Into One
2009
Wood
18" high x 10" diameter

Bio
Brent Crothers passed away February 2020.

Sculptor Brent Crothers had been working professionally for over 30 years from Stoney Forest in Harford County, Maryland where he built his own home and studio. He earned his MFA and BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

Brent Crothers' sculptures are featured in many permanent collections including: The Corcoran Museum of Art, The Hechinger Collection, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and The Delaware Art Museum. He was selected as a semi-finalist for The Sondheim Prize in 2010 and 2012. Crothers received six Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards, most recently in 2017. He was awarded a Baker Artist Award b-grant in 2012 and the Mary Sawyer Baker Prize in 2014. In 2016, Crothers received a Franz and Virginia Bader grant to help finish a piece he has been working on for several years.

Solo exhibitions include venues such as: Urban Outfitters Corp. Head Quarters in Philadelphia, PA; Anthropologie's Gallery at Rockefeller Center, NY, NY; Hillyer Art Space in Washington, DC; Haven Arts in the Bronx, NY; and Duke University in Durham, NC.

Group exhibitions include: Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore, MD; The Portsmouth Museum in Portsmouth, VA; The Historical Society of Washington in DC; Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro in NJ; and The Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC.