Artists

Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja

Syd Buffman

Kate Carvellas

see statement

Robert Costanza

see statement

Rachel Deehan

Kailey Fry

featured artist

Cathy Immordino

Susan Lizotte

Leora Lutz

featured artist

Yemisi Oyeniyi

featured artist

Melissa Reischman

Samuelle Richardson

featured artist

Janet Stafford

Sarah Stone

featured artist

Monte Thrasher

Peter Warren

Rachid Bouhamidi will be displaying his artwork in Keystone B1 studio alongside our Tarot Reader from the Tarot Society. His work will be available for viewing for the duration of this show.

Featured Artist: Sarah Stone

I’ve been in the art world for a long time now. I’ve seen many names, many talents come and go. The steadfast artists have a couple things in common. They are passionate about what they do and they’re smart. Smart, you say? Yes…smart. That is, when times get rough they use their creative smarts to continue. They use their smarts keep their ideas flowering. They use their smarts to outwit the commonplace and to rise above naysayers. Sarah Stone is one of the smartest artists I’ve ever met. She is a voracious reader and a wonderful writer. This serves her art well. Although she is well versed in art history, her artwork doesn’t fit neatly in sync with it because it is so unique and it is Sarah’s voice alone. She’s smart in business, too. I have often consulted her on how to get things done in the art world; framing, social marketing, and archiving art, to name a few.

I was culling through images for this show and it dawned on me that Sarah had covered this subject pretty thoroughly. But, as it is in life, I had to experience a few things before I could really appreciate the references in her paintings. That happens in art. Sometimes a painting is a window that has or has not yet opened. I ended up choosing five of her paintings. Three large paintings are from her “Fables” series. Sarah says, “Many of my paintings explore the interior world of psyche. Deep See is about looking into the depths of our subconscious, Night Vision is about dreaming, and Axis of Future Ancestors is about each of us acting as a fulcrum between our ancestors and our descendants. It’s up to us to decide what we pass on.” If that interests you, as it does me, you can find more paintings on her website. The other two I chose are small paintings of beautifully rendered hands from her “Hand of Mystery” series. One is pictured here: “Transform”, 8” x 8”, acrylic on cradled wood, 2023. It is the alchemical hand. I've seen her art online, but they are so much richer to experience live, so stop by Saturday evening to catch a glimpse of them.

See more of Sarah on https://sarahstoneart.com/

And IG: https://www.instagram.com/sarahstoneart/

Featured Artist: Samuelle Richardson

I like to tiptoe past Samuelle’s art studio sometimes to see if I can peek in and see what she is up to. She’s a hard working artist who works both intellectually and passionately with her medium. Her knowledge of materials runs deep. She began professionally when she was a young woman working with knit design, pattern making for fabrics and textile painting in the New York fashion industry. But as time went on, her interests led her closer and closer to fine art which she is devoted to full time now. Her work is primarily hand-built armature, although recently I have seen some of her mysterious and quick-witted portraits she painted while at an artist residency at the American Academy in Rome.

I was searching for an element of augury for our Divination show and Samuelle’s crows came to mind immediately. One characteristic I especially admire about Samuelle’s art is her ability to express the more fragile and imperfect sides of nature. She likes Paul Klee, specifically his extraordinary puppets. She says he is one of many sources of influences that strike her as vulnerable and off guard. Her lions, pieced together lovingly with fabric and stitches, in a show titled MENAGERIE at Vita Art Center in Ventura were presented teeth bared and poised in a colonnade of pedestals and yet they are so fuzzy you want to cuddle them at the same time.

Samuelle’s statement for her “Bird Series” will be on display beside her work. Her thoughts are carefully constructed, like her art. In this series she considers the divine guidance of augury, the decoding of omens in flight patterns and the cries of birds. She writes, “This practice was taken seriously by ancient Romans where readings could be spontaneous or the result of formal consultation and are, in some form or another, practiced globally among a variety of pre-industrial peoples. This also includes the belief that the bird is the highest point in reincarnation.” Check out her IG here @ studiosamuelle

Works above: Esu-Elegbara, watercolor, watercolor paper, 9 x 12”, 2023 and Ìgbìn Batà 2, watercolor, handmade paper 8 ½” x 11 ¾”. 2024

Featured Artist: Yemisi Oyeniyi

I met Yemisi Oyeniyi many years ago standing in line at the Hammer Museum waiting to see a film. Both events, the meeting and the film, changed my life. Yemisi is a creative force, who builds bridges in our art community. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist, public art surveyor and storyteller, with a BA in economics and MSc in international history. Beyond art surveying, Yemisi’s artistic practice expresses itself through the culinary arts, photography,painting and writing, rooted in her Nigerian, Afro-Caribbean and African American heritage. Yemisi has a deep love for language and how language influences the perception of art. She has much respect for oral language, and oral storytelling. Her world travels go to shape further perceptions in this realm.

I first saw Yemisi’s artwork in a show curated by Kristine Schomaker in Ventura, CA at 643 Project Space in October, 2021. This wall installation in grid formcombined her talents in culinary art and photography. The photographs told stories and carried memories. The forms and colors played out an abstract language of its own. When I asked Yemisi to be part of this show, she replied, “No such thing as coincidence! Part of my painting is a means of excavating and retrieving parts of myself, in search of and reclaiming my ancestral mother tongues and intrinsic languages. I’ll share more but for now my process is guided by spirit and feeling.”

She began painting on handmade paper using pencil, watercolor and metallic watercolor, catching the light and invoking the Ifá divination ritual of theYorùbá. Similar to I ching, Ifá is a system of signs that are interpreted by a diviner, the Ifá priest or Babalawo. Ifá divination relies on these signs, compiled in a literary corpus, to guide personal or collective decisions. In her words: “There’s a spirit guiding this excavation, retrieval and reclamation of my ancestral spiritual connections to Yoruba. In the end it’s a journey to unearth a language.” I sensed an evolving process and a commitment to spiritual practice each time she shared an artwork with me.

I decided to ask Yemisi to share her writing for some additional text on the wall because she says it so much better than I. Her writing has been published in artists’ catalogues,”It’s all L.A. to me...ruminations on the Odyssey”, “RE: Making A Documentation of Work by Angela Lorenz”, independent LA artpublications, such as "Full Blede" published by Sacha Halona Baumann and Art and Cake. Currently, Yemisi is working on “An Accessibility Guide to Art Spaces in Los Angeles" with Tatiana Vahan and Rumpelstiltskin Morgan. We are honored to be exhibiting six new artworks in the show—a must see in person!

Featured Artist: Kailey Fry

Divination has become somewhat popularized since the 1960’s, according to Stephan Hoeller. In ancient times divination was essentially consulting the divinities for advice. There are powers, let’s say, deep within ourselves who are eager to give us guidance through perplexities of life. If we avail ourselves of such guidance our life is therefore enriched. Kailey Fry has delved into this realm, drawing from personal trials and practice in both her daily life and through photography. She says “My work explores the transformative journey of self-discovery and healing, illustrated through a series of images that delve into introspection and personal growth. Each photograph is meticulously crafted, combining various elements to create a cohesive narrative that guides the viewer through a profound experience. Elements of the compositions are photographed separately, including high desert landscapes, speckled lights through aluminum foil, portraits of a woman, butterflies on wire, and hands in various poses. Each photograph is taken with a long exposure of about one minute, using a flashlight to illuminate the subjects and create a seamless, otherworldly environment. The resulting images are unique platinum palladium prints on Legion - Revere Platinum paper, each one a testament to the alchemy of light, time, and transformation.”

The image above titled Inquiry is the first of three evolving images that will be on view in our gallery. Through scrying the figure asks, “What is the purpose of this pain, and why does it keep happening to me?" This beginning quest will guide viewers through to the following two artworks drawing personal connections and possibly coming to a realization of their own potential.

Kailey Fry combines her artistic talents with her practice as a Certified Health and Well-being coach. She earned a BA in Industrial Scientific Photography from Brooks Institute and an MFA in Collaborative Design from Pacific Northwest College of Art. She has had her work featured at the Annenberg Community Beach House Gallery and has received many commission works.

See more of Kailey’s work here Home (kailey.lol) (or scan the QR.)

Featured Artist: Kailey Fry

Divination has become somewhat popularized since the 1960’s, according to Stephan Hoeller. In ancient times divination was essentially consulting the divinities for advice. There are powers, let’s say, deep within ourselves who are eager to give us guidance through perplexities of life. If we avail ourselves of such guidance our life is therefore enriched. Kailey Fry has delved into this realm, drawing from personal trials and practice in both her daily life and through photography. She says “My work explores the transformative journey of self-discovery and healing, illustrated through a series of images that delve into introspection and personal growth. Each photograph is meticulously crafted, combining various elements to create a cohesive narrative that guides the viewer through a profound experience. Elements of the compositions are photographed separately, including high desert landscapes, speckled lights through aluminum foil, portraits of a woman, butterflies on wire, and hands in various poses. Each photograph is taken with a long exposure of about one minute, using a flashlight to illuminate the subjects and create a seamless, otherworldly environment. The resulting images are unique platinum palladium prints on Legion - Revere Platinum paper, each one a testament to the alchemy of light, time, and transformation.”

The image above titled Inquiry is the first of three evolving images that will be on view in our gallery. Through scrying the figure asks, “What is the purpose of this pain, and why does it keep happening to me?" This beginning quest will guide viewers through to the following two artworks drawing personal connections and possibly coming to a realization of their own potential.

Kailey Fry combines her artistic talents with her practice as a Certified Health and Well-being coach. She earned a BA in Industrial Scientific Photography from Brooks Institute and an MFA in Collaborative Design from Pacific Northwest College of Art. She has had her work featured at the Annenberg Community Beach House Gallery and has received many commission works.

See more of Kailey’s work here Home (kailey.lol) (or scan the QR.)

Featured Artist: Leora Lutz

All of the artists in this show have boosted my good energy, and like a finely tuned instrument, contributed to a larger and more encompassing aesthetic. Leora Lutz is a figure in the art world I have followed a long time. I like to see where her mind and heart will carry her. She grew up in the north-eastern parts of Los Angeles, and later worked with many greater-LA area art institutions in addition to running her own alternative art space. She now lives and creates art in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a perceptive art writer and critic for several national and global publications and she has also curated over forty exhibitions. Riverside Art Museum has purchased one of her paintings for their Permanent Collection.

Divination is an idea familiar to much of Leora’s art process. We both follow events from the Philosophical Research Society and her philosophical interests run deep. For this show she has generously contributed five exquisite textile works based on the classical alchemical elements with the inclusion of “spirit” which is one of the three primes, according to Paracelsus, and is the principle of fusibility. You might enjoy following her work and art practice on her IG https://www.instagram.com/leora.lutz , which often gives the viewer further insight and a deeper understanding of her mind as a conceptual artist with a love for materiality. On one post she discusses her use of denim: “I’m revisiting some favorite material treatment - bleached denim. Conceptually I think of erasure, and what’s left behind. Some of my research background includes the history of denim as a material for work and labor, in both American and Japanese textile history.

Leora’s efforts extend into community based artwork as well. One of my favorite works of hers is titled “if by sea: sound-poetic walk for angel island”. These are site-generated field recordings that act as interpreters of the landscape. She calls them “fragmented echoes of the charged atmosphere that surrounds Angel Island.” I was so inspired by the way it was performed and recorded. You can hear these on her website: http://www.leoralutz.com

Leora will be coming to L.A. for the opening, so stop by to greet her!

Leora Lutz, Alchemy of Thread: Earth, 8" x 8" x 1", bleach, cotton embroidery on black denim stretched over canvas, 2024

Leora Lutz, Alchemy of Thread: Fire, 8" x 8" x 1", bleach, cotton embroidery on black denim stretched over canvas, 2024