"I travel the back roads across the country to discover how people interact with their environment through symbolic jester."

"My artwork is about the natural world and the ways in which we can feel our way out of the multiple crises we find ourselves in. I believe in not only pointing out problems, but in illuminating ways in which we can solve them. Many people are doing exciting work right now finding solutions to our country’s destructive practices. Art can help lead the way. But during times of stress, it’s important to have a little fun, to try something new and be less serious for a while. I find ArtsWorcester’s One exhibitions a place to show the experiments I make to relieve stress, and to maybe even break new creative ground. Breathe a sigh of relief, then we can return to our work making the world a better place."

photography, 8" x 10", 2020, $125

"My memere’s handmade needlepoint Christmas ornaments have served as a springboard for my exploration into the versatility of this classic medium. Childhood memories of fiber arts have inspired me to expand the boundaries of needlepoint in both design and construction. This miniature drawer adorned with tassels evokes both nostalgia and intrigue, while providing a functional vessel for trinkets and keepsakes."

"About 4 years ago I made a big life change that launched me into what I would consider my butterfly phase. I pushed my way out of a tight cocoon and spread a pair of wings I didn't know I had. I was bright and bold, I met lots of new people and tried a bunch of new things. I social butterflied my way into anything that was out of my comfort zone, and it felt really good. I never felt more awake or more alive. Then Covid hit, triggering this moth phase I am currently in. I have more delicate feathery wings, so my attempts at enriching my life more closely resembles a clumsy bump into a porch light, rather than a graceful landing on a pretty flower."

"In the Before Times, when the world was open, safe and friendly, finding 'something of beauty' was important to me, Now I do the same thing closer to home, but it gives me pleasure to share intimate scenes of far away places when I can."

"Raccoons have the always fascinated me, and I love their "look". They are visually interesting and betray who they really are."

"Sometimes we inherit the struggles of our families. My grandmother would say: "In this life, you'll always have a mountain to climb." She carried the wisdom of a black woman who lived on the underside of history. This piece represents the inherited and created mountains each one of us has to overcome."

"My Name is Iphigenia Gossios Burg, born in Greece, lived in Europe until my mid-twenties came to USA to study Art. My medium is oil-pastel, charcoal, oil paint and acrylics and I am open to all kind of material as a mixed media like collage and other materials such as leaves, feathers, or artificial material. I have two types of styles, the visual way by capturing the beauty around me that I see. The other is the spiritual approach where I feel inspired by a spiritual significance and then I work on it until I feel it’s done. Mixed media is one of my favorite developments, watching my ideas becoming unique art pieces."

"I was looking for a new subject to paint, and I was done with flowers. After a few days of complaints that I was “suffering from lack of inspiration,” my spouse asked me if I would let him set up my next still-life (and hopefully stop grumbling!). Obviously, I was a bit worried. I couldn’t resist giving him a few recommendations, but let him handle it. He chose a french press, a coffee mug, and a speaker, and after a few changes to the composition, I was excited to start painting. It was really interesting to see how a different person, even one that shares a daily life with me, can see the world so differently. With a different look at a few mundane objects, he helped me kickstart my inspiration again."

"Nature has always inspired me, and recently I discovered how much I enjoy painting the sky. I love to play with color, shapes, and textures for the clouds."

"This experimental piece was part of a series of artworks situated in material culture and associations we have as a society with certain objects."

"This woodcut was composed with three separate blocks and a stencil printed sequentially: graded background first, foreground (reeds) second, sun stencil third, and birds fourth. I hoped to convey birds rising into the sky at sunset."

"For those of us who grew up seen but not heard."

"This work shows a human being submerged in a lived experience that revolves around the technological labyrinth of modern society. Technological advances can transform a person and créate dependence on them. I represent this through the use , mechanisms ,gears, pulleys, screws, transmission movement chains. They form a complex machine connected To the human brain man and machine fused in trance."

"Falling and Rising was created after walking through the debris of a recent storm. It speaks to our complicated yet ever changing relationship to ourselves, each other and nature."

"I am curious about creating with fire and heat. I love to explore texture and gesture. Encaustic painting generously offers opportunity to study these interests."

"Every year on Valentine's Day I create a piece of art for my wife that is based on the heart shape. This was the 2020 creation."

"This piece was created in response to the Pandemic. Everyone has had a different response and way of processing this moment in time. I wanted to use this mask to process these responses. The need to protect ourselves and shelter has been in our thoughts and that came into play in Protected Too. The writing represents all the terms and words we have been bombarded with during the pandemic. The stoneware mask is surrounded by foam pieces that were sewn around them."

"Small painting of a head."

"Since I enjoy making both miniature environments and miniature food, making a bakery just made sense. Inspiration was drawn from Helen’s Bakery Shop in Worcester."

"These works were inspired by Anthony Burgess’ 1961 novel, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. A lot of the language in the book is based on Russian words. The language that the teenage gang members speak is called Nadsat (based on the Russian word for teenager). After each collage is completed I draw one of Burgess’ Russian based Anglicized words in actual Russian using the Cyrilic alphabet as the drawing elements that cover and activate the underlying collage. The color choices for the drawings of the letters are influenced by the underlying collaged element".

"Visiting New York City in the summer."

"I attend many long academic meetings and find myself doodling to help me keep focused while listening."

"A Little House On Burdette Avenue" is an example of a typical house built in Massachusetts in the 1920s. It should look familiar and might remind you of your own house or one you used to live in. This house was in a friendly, Italian neighborhood and my children ran next door to our neighbor's back door everyday to collect candy."

gel monoprint, 9.5" x 9.5" (image 2" x 2"), 2021, $100

"An experiment in acrylic pour technique. As an abstract artist, this method of creating a painting appealed to my inner child. It harkens back to the spinning and splatter paintings made at fairs in my youth. Creating this made me smile."

needle felted roving wool, 5.5" x 10.5" x 3", 2020, $120

"We say her name, in sunshine and rain, through joy and pain, so not lost in vain."

"The Knot Fly is part of my Standing Rope series where I attempt 3D line drawings of standing figures. Originally I planned larger pieces in the 1 to 2 foot tall range, but had to scale down to ensure objects remained free standing. The waxed cord works well at the scale of this exhibition."

"I See Growth In You" was born in June 2020, with lush summer flora and bright summer energy in mind. It's comprised of cobalt blue, fluorescent pink and different shades of greens, which make up it's bold swashes of thick acrylic paint."

"This painting is an example of my continuing fascination with light and shadow. Sunlight moves across the windows of the house, creating in its path unexpected transitory shadows. I was caught off-guard by the image of my hand reflected on a white porcelain sink and grabbed my phone to capture it before it disappeared."

"Abstract, minimalist, process oriented, inventive. Materials science art."

"Working in small scale brings me a unique sense of joy and focus. Inspired by painter Wayne Thiebaud, I create miniature desserts from polymer clay, using mostly household objects to mimic the textures, colors, and patterns of their real-life counterparts."

"This composition is inspired by the improbable balancing act of rocks within an old New England stone wall. I imagine a handful of young pixies quietly giggling as they practice their levitation skills on unsuspecting rocks, with pixie dust flying about as they hover and dance above a bed of soft pine needles blanketing the floor."

"My paintings of rocks and other natural objects, collected on local trips and vacations abroad, become spaces for meditation and self-reflection. Highlighting a devotion to careful looking, they are made by layering abstract marks over emotive color fields and meditative patterns. Gathered over time, I often represent the same objects again and again, transforming them into intricate and expansive viewing experiences."

"Even imperfection itself may have its ideal or perfect state.” - Thomas de Quincey The pearl, a material prized for perfection, yet that is so rarely perfect, serves as the inspiration for this body of work. At its origin, a pearl is nothing more than an agitation to the shell it grows in. In Manufactured Autonomy, I examine and catalog the physical intricacies such as size, shape, color, texture, and other defining characteristics of pearls and the shells that they grow in. Through repetition of intimately sized photographs the pearls are cataloged and come together to create an archive, resembling an antiquated family photo album. The use of a chemical reaction to rust the metal structure references the coating process of daguerreotypes and tintypes and points toward the impact of time on material. Time stands as a dichotomy as it represents both death and life, as it naturally slowly and steadily destroys steel and also gives life to pearls. No part of life is untouched by times impact. And these minute details in the world are what draw my attention."

glass jar, sand, sea debris, resin, 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 3 1/2", 2021, $150

"I want my art to inspire the same feeling I have when I see a whale or an owl. Goosebumps and a quiet joy. I hope it at least interests you. Who can't identify with the mighty Sirin? A creature that can tell the future and lures men to their death."

"Bessie Coleman, a talented pilot, spent her career publicizing the hardships women, African Americans, and Native Americans had becoming pilots in the US. Unable to obtain a pilot's license in the US herself, she raised money, and went to Paris for it instead. In June 1921 she was the first African American, Native American and woman, to obtain an international license. This is ahead of Amelia Earhart who got hers in 1923. Usually borrowing planes, Bessie finally bought her own plane, a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” in 1926. Tragically that same year she fell to her death from the plane during a rehearsal for an air show. This piece keeps her in the air, flying a plane in whatever iteration that is, on her own terms, and as free as ever. This piece is made from laser cut wood pieces created from shapes and digitized photographs of her and her plane."

"Interrogations: What happened to you? Where did your spark go? You used to be so fun. In what has become the most tumultuous upheaval I've yet to experience in this life, scraps of past and current works have been fragmented and reconstructed. The result provides new perspectives, determination, and reflection, as well as the dark cracks and crevices that remain."

"Working with clay is a visceral process- tearing and pulling with your hands and sharp implements, the feeling of fleshy softness giving way under your nails, being hunched over splattered paint and glues in the late hours of the night. This piece reflects my experience with creation, not only with clay, but with myself as well. Through this medium I explored taking something already existing and tenderly molding it into what I desire. I am a transgender man who is medically transitioning. I have taken the body I was born with and molded it into what I want it to be, and what it was meant to be. This art piece depicts myself taking control of my body in a way that is both grotesque and Romantic, but ultimately beautiful. "

"Carving stone is a challenging and often times frustrating process but when it comes out right it is one of the most rewarding materials to work with. When I work with stone I spend time with the raw stone, studying the color, form and size and sometimes laminating multiple small pieces together before I begin to develop an idea for the final sculpture. Often I start with a basic idea that is developed as I get deeper into the carving. This allows for flexibility and surprises along the way."

copper foil and soldered stained glass and beads, 8" x 8" x 15", 2020, $285 (sold)

"Beauty is fleeting and my desire to capture the beauty of life (be it human, flora or fauna) is irresistible. As an introvert, I connect more with people's body language and less with their words. Through paintings I attempt to immortalize the beauty of my subjects in their entirety; not just their face/body but also their character. Floral still lifes are a delight to paint because I am able to project emotions onto unsuspecting flowers through the play of light and strategically placed brushstrokes."

"I photograph slices of the world as they speak to me; people, events, nature, cityscapes, small towns, my imagination. During the past year plus, I have been trying to stretch my vision to see things differently and this photo is one of my results."

"My artwork is my way of expressing my thoughts on a variety of subjects through simple shapes acting as conveyors, crudely drawn landscapes and whatever colors apply to the subject(s) and message(s) of that particular painting."

scrap metal artwork, 10 3/8", 2021, $350

"My work primarily reflects on the connection of the human experience with nature. Working in watercolor, my paintings inspire a reverent reflection on the land and the way in which it touches the spirit, from expansive landscapes to small moss-covered rocks. Inspired by daily meanders through the forest, the paintings encompass the serenity and clarity nature provides in times of both calm and chaos."

acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10", 2021, $200

"Over the past few years my work has evolved into several different series, each with their own main idea, but all with one unifying theme – reality. Too often we forget what is real. I choose to embrace the chaos, the mundane, and the less-than-picturesque. I attempt to capture struggles of being a mother and a human being, as well as the quiet moments that often go unappreciated. Every piece tells a story. My work is never glamorized. Also, my work is not always meant to be pretty as reality is not always pretty. Some may say much of my work appears dark, but to those I must respond that, just as with life, a sense of humor is often required."

pen and paper, 10" x 10", 2021, $222.22

"During my 32 years as a professor of media studies at Framingham State University, I was primarily concerned with theoretical principles and digital production/reproduction methods. In purposeful contrast, my art has always involved wood and other common tangible materials, employs tools and processes which are decidedly low tech, and results in unique and very physical objects. That makes me feel connected artists and artisans–across cultures and throughout the world–who have since prehistory routinely made things which were more carefully crafted and beautiful than they really needed to be. And as a thumbnail statement of my personal aesthetics, I have always been interested in classical forms, the ancient, the so-called primitive, and the strange."

"I am drawn to the primal universal power of faces transformed with color and line. I express this by using silkscreen and photoshop to explore adventures into the not yet known."

"My work is about wood, shape, color, and how they interact and are enhanced by each other. I enjoy the process of fabricating and veneering the shapes I design to support color as well as the craftsmanship required in such work."

"Here is a totem of inspiration. An angelic muse. A load of dripping wax lends to notes of 'semence du salute.' A one-man salvation army."

"Some time ago I began a series of photos attempting to capture the life in my neighborhood visible from my house and yard. This was a Godsend during the pandemic. What was often missing was the sense of movement and change that occurred as I watched. The photos were interesting as a documentary of the positive events in my area but did not rise to my definition of art. I began using them as a basis for further exploration, attempting to capture the nuances of these events."

acrylic on canvas, 6" x 8", 2021, Not For Sale

"Without the sun, the world would be shrouded in darkness and cold. It is that reason as to why every once a year the guardian must go on an odyssey to replenish the sun’s life and keep it alive for another year. She travels over the tallest and most treacherous mountains to reach the gateway where the sun shines the brightest. Once there, she holds up her staff where the energy shines up through the gateway and to the sun, replenishing it’s life force for another year until the day come where she must go on the journey again. In this world the sun represents light and hope and it is the guardian’s job to keep that hope alive even when circumstances seem grim and obstacles get in the way. Just like the guardian keeping the sun alive, we must keep the light in our lives alive and never give up hope no matter how bad things may seem."