The Artists

Ari is a mixed media artist living in The Bronx. Their inspirations are Jean Michele Basquiat and Keith Haring.

Ari also designs jewelry and makes soap.

They are represented by Fountain House Gallery. 

Reflections. Delving into the uncertainties of life. Facing the fears of the self and the rest of the world. For a majority of my life I'd struggled to find the courage to grasp at these realities-- even when I did, the prickly sensation of wanting to disappear, to avoid, to barely graze by, quickly settled into my self. 

Life became the equivalent of a Phoenix falling--then rising from the ashes. There were the gaps between my creative deaths that lit my mind and heart aflame. Things that moved me in inexplicable ways, like music, the way people express themselves, or maybe how a particular tree swayed underneath a sunset tinted sky.

I wanted to move myself the way these experiences--  complex or simple-- managed to instill a force in me. 

The way the bird effortlessly drops down from the tallest tree, wings instinctively arching and folding open to capture the wind with their featherweight bodies-- that's what the past two months have felt like. 

I am a ruler and an extractor of emotions. 

Lillian Bustle is an internationally acclaimed Burlesque performer, podcaster, and public speaker on body liberation. She’s a gleeful defender of free speech, and when she’s not running her mouth, sometimes she paints with her boobs. Her abstract creations are dimensional and tactile, incorporating elements of flow art, and are a cathartic expression of life in a fat femme body.

Frank J. Fonseca is a Two Spirit Astrologist, healer, writer, poet, singer, songwriter, painter, protest artist and activist from Atlantic County and Camden County NJ. He’s inspired by his deep connection to self and ancestral guidance through his complex Two Spirit journey. His activism shines through his work by bringing awareness to both historic and current indigenous struggles. There is a glaringly political, rebellious and raw nature to his work. 100% of his paintings are made by his bare hands. He is an adamant supporter of the Land Back and MMIW (Missing & Murderered Indigenous Women) movements. Currently in the early stages of independently designing his own fashion brand, he hopes to bring even more awareness to these causes by creating this brand specifically for generationally displaced indigenous people and Two Spirit individuals everywhere. 

Samantha Benvissuto is a multi-disciplinary artist who explores mental health, racism, sexuality, and disability through poetry, music, visual and graphic art. Having lupus nephritis and mental illness, she has worked through her struggles by using art in whatever medium works for her at the time. The restrictions of her health and disabilities, as well as the influence of her immigrant mother, informs her work and gives voice to her struggles.