ABOUT THE ARTISTS

NUDE ARCHITECTURE

Eva Zasloff

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.

[Summer 2024]

ATLANTIS

BRETT DAY WINDHAM

Brett Day Windham is a multidisciplinary artist, born in Cambridge, England, and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. Windham received a BFA from Hampshire College and an MFA in sculpture from RISD. She has researched and studied in both Florence and Turin in Italy, Penland N.C., and Paris. Her work has been included in shows throughout the US, including The Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia), Smack Mellon (New York), and the RISD Museum (Providence), and has been discussed in The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Art New England, Whitewall, and V Magazine.

Windham’s artwork is based on the idea of collections. Over time, she accumulates materials from such varied sources as sidewalks, the floors of other artist’s studios, or nature: these time-based collections are then used as components for assembled sculptures or works on paper. Using both color and composition, she organizes these groups of natural, commercial, and industrial remnants, creating an intuitive personal taxonomy rooted in ritual. The work confers a sense of place, mysticism, and ritual.

Eva Goodman

Eva Goodman is a glassblower based in Providence, RI with a master’s degree in glass from the Rhode Island School of Design. She worked in fashion design in NYC after graduating with a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.

Eva teaches Aesthetics and Intermedia at Roger Williams University. She also teaches a summer intensive called Fashion Design: Focus NYC Style and Culture at Columbia University in NYC. Eva has taught glassblowing for many years in NYC, Seattle, Washington, and Rindge, New Hampshire. This fall Eva is participating in glassblowing demonstrations at the 2023 Cheongju Craft Biennale in Cheongju South Korea.

Eva began her career as a fashion designer in the East Village. Her designs were featured by several publications including Time Magazine, the New York Times and purchased by Andy Warhol. However, when she discovered working with hot glass, she was totally hooked. Eva’s glass is as much about the process as the finished object. Her work is informed by nature, style, and cultural history. 

Meg Heriot-Krahl [Salt Slip Pottery]

Meg is a lifelong creative making functional pottery in Tiverton, one of Rhode Island’s quaint seaside towns. When she’s not in the ceramics studio, she’s photographing events and elegant occasions.

"I started my pottery journey in 2020 with the simple idea of bringing you the best pieces of hand thrown pottery I could. I put lots of love and careful thought into all I do and I hope you enjoy all that I have to offer, and share the experience with others.” - Meg

CAERULEA

[SPRING 2024]

Catherine Druken is a multidisciplinary artist living on the unceded lands of the Narragansett and Wampanoag nations - Rhode Island. Her work is influenced by folk art, abundance, and the interconnectedness between humans and more-than-humans.

Zoë Wyner is a ceramicist whose 20+ year practice takes the form of a visual anchor. She currently resides in Providence, RI, but has lived in transience, moving from one address to another, for most of her life. In response to this condition, Wyner’s vessels are intended to evoke the intimacy of home. Wyner has studied various mediums that inform her practice at institutions including the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, the Art Institute of Boston, and Mudflat Studio. She has shown her work at World’s Fair Gallery, Aviary Gallery, and the Providence Art Club, among other locations. Wyner has taught at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the South County Art Association (SCAA), Anyhow Studio, and the Mosesian Center for the Arts.

Truth and Resistance

Francesca Colonia + Giulia Nicolai

For the past 10 years, Francesca Colonia and Giulia Nicolai have invited international artists to collaborate with them at BetterPress Lab, a unique letterpress studio located in Rome, Italy. Truth and Resistance will feature these collaborations.

THE BUTCHER [March 2024]

Visual Poetry, CERAMICS & KNIVES

KYLIE GELLATLY

Kylie Gellatly is a poet, visual artist, editor, critic, and the author of The Fever Poems (Finishing Line Press, 2021). Her poetry has appeared in Fence, Ninth Letter, Northwest Review, DIAGRAM, Poetry Daily, Tupelo Quarterly, and has been anthologized in After: A Collection of Contemporary Ekphrastic Writing & Art (forthcoming from GASHER Press, May 2024) and Roads Taken: Contemporary Vermont Poetry (Green Writers Press, 2023). Her book reviews have appeared in The Rumpus, Adroit Journal, Pleiades, Gulf Coast and Green Mountains Review. Her second full-length collection, BUTCHER, is currently out on submission.

Kylie earned her BA in English from Mount Holyoke College and has received support from the Vermont Studio Center and the Juniper Writing Institute. She has been twice shortlisted for the Disquiet Prize, longlisted for Frontier Poetry’s New Voices Contest, and received Honorable Mention for the Gertrude Claytor Award of the Academy of American Poets. She currently serves as Managing Editor of Plant-Human Quarterly and Book Reviews Editor for Pleiades.

Silene DeCiucies, Dirt Floor Studios

“I see my work as a potter as an expression of my love for physical work and movement. Splitting wood, building structures, digging clay, stacking slabs of softwood and stoking the woodstove in the studio are all as integral to my process as making and firing the pots. Woodfiring provides a beautiful structure and rhythm for creating work, and I feel like my job as a potter is to let the components of the process (chiefly clay, wood, flame, and time) express themselves as a beautiful object for everyday use.

I make simple, functional forms and minimally decorate with a small variety of slips and glazes, letting the firing and reduction cooling process create subtle and stony surfaces that hopefully will make your everyday eating and drinking experience more pleasurable.”

Silene’s Background: Silene has been making pots for about 15 years and was lucky enough to work for 3 incredible female potters in central New York making production gas fired pots, salt fired pots, and reduction cooled pots. Silene then took those years of experience and moved back to her home town in Vermont and built her own small wood kiln that she has been firing ever since. Silene’s formal education is in soil and crop science and she has a deep love for dairy, so her time is shared between making pots, stacking wood, milking cows, growing grass, making cheese, and business consulting for dairy farms.

Chelsea Miller

Chelsea Miller is an artist and entrepreneur. She’s the owner of and creative force behind Chelsea Miller Knives, her lauded eponymous brand of bespoke hand-made culinary knives and her newest venture, The Knife Factory, an event space, production studio and showroom located in Brooklyn, New York. In a field dominated by men, she brings a distinct feminine sensibility to her craft and wields her hammer to a rhythm all her own.

Miller’s one of a kind rustic and elegant knives are made using recycled materials sourced from her family’s farm in rural Vermont; the blades forged from repurposed horse hoof rasps, the handles constructed from reclaimed wood including  maple, cherry, apple, and oak. 

Her unique designs and style have captured the attention of both home cooks and world renowned chefs and restaurateurs including Daniel Humm, Jean Georges Vongeritchten, Massimo Botura, Rachael Ray and Nancy Silverton, among others. The current waiting list for her knives is 12 months; her work has been featured in The New York Times, Bloomberg Business, Robb Report, Fast Company, Popular Mechanics, and Food & Wine among others.

Miller’s greatest joy is to foster community through food, design and learning; The Knife Factory is the manifestation of that joy and the next chapter of Chelsea Miller Knives. Located in a former factory building in Brooklyn’s East Williamsburg, the multi-purpose space, designed and built out by Miller herself, functions as a collaborative gathering place for public and private events, a production studio for photography and culinary content,  a classroom for learning and demonstrations, and  a pop-up space for chef dinners. It’s also the showroom for her knives and her new line of housewares, designed by Miller and hand-crafted by artisans in Morocco. 

Miller’s road to becoming a knife artisan and culinary entrepreneur was not a direct path. She moved to New York in 2001  with the intention of being an actor and was active in theater, film, music, and dance for several years. However,when her father became ill, she returned to Vermont to assist in his care during the last few years of his life.

A blacksmith and a carpenter, her father built houses and used horses to log the land. A critical part of the keeping of horses is being a farrier–one who tends their hooves and refreshes the iron horseshoes. A farrier’s rasp is an imposing tool, and it was while working with discarded rasps in her father’s workshop that Miller started making knives. “The materials I use have personal significance for me; sharing the significance with others is part of my story,” she explains. The serrated rasp surface is now considered one of the signature trademarks of a Chelsea Miller knife.

Miller returned to New York in 2012, set up a knife workshop and started selling her knives at the Brooklyn Flea, Brooklyn's largest flea market that features artisans, collectors, secondhand furniture purveyors, and a tightly curated group of culinary offerings.  “The Flea draws an incredible audience of chefs, writers, and restaurateurs,” explains Miller. “Once established at the Flea, my work got noticed, reviewed, and talked about.” And the rest, as they say, is history.

“I hope my knives will arouse curiosity while retaining

their simplicity, cutting one object into two, multiplying nutrients. The materials I use have personal significance for me, sharing the significance with others is part of my story. I hope my knives enrich relationships between family and friends and the food we prepare and share together.”

- Chelsea Miller

THE ARTIST ARCHIVE

OLIVE THE GIANT

NICK MCKNIGHT

OLIVE THE GIANT

Olive the Giant [Quinn Bryan] was born in Brooklyn and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. Quinn has a BA in Studio Art and Painting from Rhode Island College and works between her home studio in Pawtucket, RI and Boston, MA. 

 OLIVE THE GIANT on HEIRLOOM: 

 “HEIRLOOMS, LEGACY, FAMILY FIRST. This exhibition is especially close to me as I’ve been looking for inspiration everywhere– except right at home. My Uncle Glenn’s passing in 2020 was the end of an era. The era of mysterious men, the green berets and, “call me from a pay phone” promises of ‘no questions asked’ protection. Endless photo album unveilings and, “Who’s that’s” over old boxes of lost memories… I see my family but have I SEEN my family? Where have THEY been, what have THEY done? All of their dreams, beauty and secrets… It has taken me no time at all to get tangled, and I don’t want to be undone. I have a forever catalog of inspiration, I just had to look at my family first.” 

My series, DO NOT LITTER, is really a deconstructed cityscape. There’s something important about seeing and experiencing the *true view* of city life…The beauty, the cracks, the trash… I see beauty in everything, so I spotlight what lies beneath… What’s in my path. Each piece was inspired by a literal piece of trash that I’ve found during my walks. Each item brings on nostalgic memories from my childhood and family; a sense of identity… Each piece holds a feeling, or a time in space. II proudly present these articles as heirlooms, sacred and savored- lasting here and now in true still life.  

NICK MCKNIGHT

Nick grew up in New England and received a BFA in Fine Art from the University of Rhode Island. He has exhibited work throughout the U.S. and has work in collections around the world. Nick’s work has been published in print and online for both poetry and neon. He currently lives in Providence, RI with his wife and son and is the owner of Night Light Neon Studio. 

Nick McKnight on his craft:

“My neon work is rooted in my background in poetry and printmaking. Neon blends these practices in a concise and meditative process that allows me to question and express my lived experiences. Working in multiple mediums, I bend neon as an art form and an outlet, the process just as strong as the [conceptual] end product.”

FRITZ GLASS

Fritz Lauenstein started blowing glass in 1974 at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. He then attended Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont and the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. In 1984 Fritz and his partner June moved to the Cape, where his family is from, and opened Fritz Glass in 1991. The Fritz Glass studio is in Dennisport, MA.

WILLA VAN NOSTRAND is an interdisciplinary artist, curator & mixologist based in Providence, Rhode Island. She works across painting, sculpture, performance and taste to engage the associative realm of the viewer’s mind. Willa has a BA in Theatre and Visual art from Sarah Lawrence College and studied intaglio printmaking at il Bisonte in Florence, Italy. Her most recent fine art & culinary residency was in Sicily this fall where she had the opportunity to make a new body of work for AMORE AMARO. [March - April 2023]

ATHENA WITSCHER

ATHENA WITSCHER is an artist, youth educator and mother living and working in Providence, RI. With a BFA in ceramics from RISD, Athena works with clay to make functional objects for everyday use. Athena’s simple, expressive aesthetic reflects her Japanese heritage as taught to her by crafting with her mother and grandmother. [AMORE AMARO, March - April 2023]

Neal Drobnis

Glass artist Neal Drobnis started making glasses with faces in order to take a creative break and use glass remnants from around his studio. In 2018 he teamed up with DEGEN to create FACEVESSEL- a collection of face emblazoned glassware. The collaborative nature of the process, paired with the unpredictable outcomes, celebrates humanity and honors individuality.

FACEVESSELS are made with joy in Providence, RI.

[AMORE AMARO, March - April 2023]

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