NUDE ARCHITECTURE
Eva Zasloff is a painter, a family doctor and the founder of Tova Health, a home-based fourth trimester and newborn model of care that was created in 2016. Tova Health recently celebrated their 500th baby born. She is also one of the sisters of Sisters Body.
She received her BA in visual arts from Barnard college and her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Her paintings often focus on issues surrounding her career as a doctor caring for newborn and postpartum families. She loves to play with color and form.
She lives in Arlington, MA with her husband Aaron and their three kids- Rafi, Felix and Hugo.
JACQUELINE HALL
Jacqueline Hall works in textiles and holds a masters in Architecture from Yale School of Architecture + Master of Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, class Of 2018. They live and work in Providence, RI.
HARPER KEEHN
Harper Ann Combellick Keehn is an artist living in Providence, RI.
Harper's paintings are mostly about things that have happened to her, or they're about how she feels or would like to feel. In this show, her painting Birds Watching Me Being Sexy on a Bed shows a sexy dog/human figure sprawling on a sunlit bed. Falling over the figure's body, we see the shadows of the window mullions and of three sharp-featured birds who are watching and pointing. It's about how being sexy feels exciting and fun but also dangerous. Her drawing, Reaching for Myself, shows a dark and mottled hand reaching towards a funny pink figure running away into the woods. It's about the mix of hope, frustration, and embarrassment that comes with trying new things and trying to figure herself out. Her influences are her art teachers—especially Anna Hepler and Kent O'Connor—as well as friends—especially Hirsh Sawhney, Jacq Hall, and Aaron Carico. Other inspiration comes from her dog, Lola, and recently, from face painting. You can often find her and Nico Ribadeneira at the Thursday farmers' market in Dexter Park doing face painting.
Harper also has a knife sharpening business called Sharper Harper, with drop-off locations at Urban Greens and Stock Culinary Goods. Besides regular kitchen knives, she also sharpens serrated knives, scissors, pocket knives, and specialty Japanese knives. Her partner, Jacq, is also in this show. Do you think the rent is too high? Come to meetings every Tuesday from 6-7:30 at the DARE building (340 Lockwood) to help pass rent-control legislation. There's free dinner, and, twice a month, free legal counsel!
RACHEL RIZZO
Rachel Rizzo is a painter, printmaker and educator who was raised in Providence, Rhode Island and the southern coast of Massachusetts. As an educator, Rizzo has worked in many settings including the ICA, Boston Public Schools, and most recently at Wentworth Institute of Technology and MassArt. She has been a resident artist at Rural Contemporary Residency in Cividate Camuno, Italy, The Bottega Projects in Montebuono, Italy, and Gate44 in Milan, Italy.
MIMI PINHEIRO
Mimi Pinheiro (New Bedford, MA 1993) Mimi is an Azorean-American artist born in New Bedford, MA, working in painting, performance and sculpture. Her studies in dance and geography led her to a two year apprenticeship with Mexican painter, Jose 'Pepe' Barbosa, from the Collective Grupo Suma in Mexico City. She became part of the collective El Quinto Piso in Mexico City and studied with many of its members. After a deeply influential five years in Mexico, she relocated to New Bedford and continues her practice of figure drawing and painting still life out of her studio in the Kilburn Mill, as well as developing experiments with sculptures: edible, wearable and more. She has directed and performed live arts at many independent galleries throughout Mexico City and New England. She is motivated by absurdism, the grotesque and elaborate parties. Her unusual family history of whalers, volcanic eruption refugees and growing up in the Azorean-American diaspora underlies her work.
Mimi: “My paintings and drawings add to the growing collection of figurative work from a non male-centric perspective, aiding the cultural shift towards artifacts, information and opinion from those historically less heard from and archived. Expressionism allows me to playfully and brazenly manipulate the representation of the human figure; laughing and screaming at the multiple errors of judgment, the clown show of sexual tensions and the billion masks worn, shredded and licked up off the floor to grapple with the names we were given. Through still life, I explore obsessions and intuition through the objects I choose to paint, while processing my cultural position and subconscious tendencies by translating three-dimensional objects into personal cult images, a form of idolization.
Many of my pigments are handmade with materials such as eggs, honey and naturally occurring pigments. My most prevalent hand mixed paint is the deep red, pigmented with Grana Cochinilla: the beetle that lives on the Nopal cactus, responsible for a crimson pigment highly coveted since the 2nd Century BC.By working with plaster and paper to create frames and functional objects such as stands and columns- I feed my curiosity with architecture and decorative arts; as well as keeping alive the idiosyncratic details of the built world in a sea of standardized design.
Jello Palaces are designed to inspire play in adult humans. Each one-of-a-kind papier mâché household good is a delicate, rambunctious and nostalgic addition to any domestic life. Their figurative depictions are reminiscent of cave paintings, a symbol that the human need for arts is as ancient as our own species. Intended for use as sculptural decor and as a useful hat: wear to kindle inspiration, bust blockages and/or enter a personal sanctuary. Each hat has a custom wall stand with a silk pillow, for idiosyncratic display."
KATE NIELSEN
Kate Nielsen is an artist / designer / illustrator who recently relocated to Providence, RI. She lived in Brooklyn for the last 15 years and regularly shows her work in NYC. Kate Nielsen's work can be described as being rooted in abstract environmentalism. The physical structure and subject matter are organic, but cuts, rips, and scrapes result in the creation of new forms. Inspired by desert landscapes and the buildup of rock and sediment strata, Kate develops her own topographies. Each piece can feel like a specific yet obscure place at the same time. She was born and raised in Reno, NV and received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Kate Nielsen: “Is it a lake or is it a cell? My work can be viewed on a macro or micro level. My day to day studio practice is a meditation, beginning with a process that involves building up layers of acrylic paint that are then peeled, cut, and reincorporated into a new forms. While I oscillate between figurative and abstracted subject matter, what connects all of my work is technique, layering and collaging mats of peeled acrylic paint. My descent into abstraction is inspired by recent trips to the desert, the rock formations, the lakes, and the landscape of the Western United States, where I was born and raised. My work has been described as being rooted in an abstract environmentalism, the physical structure and subject matter is organic. The underlying thread is a vibration of energy, an agitation. Cuts, rips, and scrapes that result in the creation of new forms. The slow build up of seemingly disparate layers of paint, come together to form autonomous structures, that don’t require a foundation or canvas backdrop to adhere to.”
AHMEE CERAMICS
Ahmee Ceramics is a creative collaboration between Amee Hussey and Magaly Del Castillo. Our story goes back to our roots. Amee was born in South Korea and Magaly is originally from Peru. We formed a long-standing friendship in the seaside town of Stonington CT, where our studio is currently located. Our diverse cultural backgrounds are ever-present in our artistic process.
We specialize in making dinnerware, lighting, and other tactile objects for the home and commercial spaces.
Amee is self-taught and continues to learn with every pound of clay that is touched. All of the ceramic pieces are either formed by hand or on the potter’s wheel. We aim to find balance in the overall form and its functionality while maintaining a minimal and harmonious design aesthetic.
Magaly is passionate about design. She collaborates with other local artists and businesses to grow Ahmee Ceramics while cultivating a brand that celebrates diversity and supports the community.
