Tabla de contenidos para Issue 45 en Create! Magazine

connect on Instagram @createmagazine Art is Essential Dear Reader, My heart flutters each time I receive the freshly designed magazine issue to review from Shelby, our lead designer. Forty-five issues later, we are going strong despite the inevitable ups and downs of running an indie art magazine. One thing I can say with complete certainty is that it's worth it to keep showing up, building our community, and highlighting artists. Art may seem like a luxury, but more and more, I find it a necessity for both my own practice and the enjoyment of experiencing others’ art. Art is a language beyond words; it provides the catharsis, empathy, and connection we crave in a chaotic world. For this edition, we invited Sergio Gomez to select a group of artists from…

ARTIST INTERVIEWS Wales-based painter Lucia Jones’ practice explores memory and perception of self through the constructs of paint and film. Primarily utilizing cinematic source imagery from obscure 1950s-90s B-movies, she addresses the intangible nature of memory and the shifting impressions of lived moments. Since graduating from Falmouth University in 2014, she has exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions. She has also been longlisted for several art prizes including John Moores in 2020, and the Jacksons Art Prize in 2022 and 2023. In this interview, Jones describes her fascination with film, the exploration of identity and perceptions of femininity in her work, and the creative pursuits she's set her sights on next in her career. Can you tell us more about the cinematic references in your work? What is it…

“THE MOST IMPORTANT thing I've learned is to keep my eyes open to ALL possibilities, follow my instincts, and be true to myself. Deborah W. Perlman pg. 72 Our curated section for Issue #45 is selected by the remarkable artist, curator, and educator Sergio Gómez. With a prolific career spanning over 100 curated exhibitions since 2010, Sergio serves as the Curator and Director of Exhibitions at the Zhou B Art Center and is the Director/ Founder of 33 Contemporary Gallery. His impressive portfolio includes special projects for the Chicago Park District, Chicago Garfield Park Conservatory, ArtSpot Miami International Art Fair, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali of Turin, National Museum of Mexican Art, and Expo Chicago Art Fair, among others. Explore his diverse and exciting picks for this issue, showcasing contemporary…

Katherine Van Drie is a multi-media artist whose sculptural works encompass, among other things, textiles, and ceramics. Originally from the United Kingdom, as a child, Katherine spent several years in Mexico City, and as an adult, she travelled extensively before moving to the United States. Those experiences have illuminated her current explorations about identity, consumption, and culture. Katherine's work is informed by the glaring and nuanced complex social codes embedded in our culture. Katherine completed her BFA at Indiana University Northwest and has two pieces in Indiana University's permanent art collection. Katherine received her MFA in Visual Art, with a concentration in Sculpture, from Clemson University. She currently teaches at the South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University in South Carolina and is a member of Tiger Strikes…

CURATED SECTION “I explore the texture of life, the realm where strength and vulnerability intertwine” - Karin Jolly Jolly's work is an invitation to explore the intersections of the familiar and the unexpected, of traditional craft and contemporary form, of strength and vulnerability. At the core of Jolly's artistic philosophy lies a deep appreciation for what she refers to as ‘The texture of life’. She believes that there is a richness of the human experience that is reflected in the simplest of materials like human hair, limescale, bacteria and her most recent work in safety pins “The Nature of Love”. Through her artistic prowess, Jolly invites us to contemplate the narratives that we attach to these simple materials whilst unveiling unexpected beauty and the profound impact of reimagining the ordinary. In…

Hillary Johnson is a multidisciplinary artist who works in photography, video, handmade books, and immersive multimedia installations. She's interested in the tension between heartache and beauty; grief and joy; and longing and belonging that underpin the human condition. Her work and research have their roots in twin threads of anxiety: a global cultural anxiety which developed in during the industrial age in the mid-1800's, expanding exponentially in the Anthropocene era as our complicity in climate change was revealed, as well as her own quite personal existential concerns. Her work engages the body in the process of coming to know a place through slow walking and mindful observation. Johnson's photographs of the landscape and portraiture examine drastic upheavals that transform or destroy delicate beauty in both the environment and in humankind.…

CURATED SECTION Julia Holtmann is a German visual artist, currently based in Spain, whose practice is rooted in drawing. She studied Visual Arts at the University of South Africa in Cape Town, before she continued with Illustration at the Design Department of the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, Germany. Here she focussed on drawing and graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts. In 2022 she received a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from the University of Málaga, Spain. Grants include the “add art” stipend awarded in Hamburg in 2014 and a project funding from the foundation “Stiftung Kulturwerk” in 2020. Apart from various exhibition catalogs she was published in a special edition of her book “Fremde” with MamiVerlag in 2012 and most recently in 2023 with a…

Marybeth Rothman is a contemporary American artist known for her reclaimed and reimagined fictional visual biographies and abstract narratives. Her portraits were featured in “Modigliani and the Modern Portrait” at the Nassau County Museum of Art. This historic exhibition, curated by Dr. Kenneth Wayne, Director of the Modigliani Project, showcased the portraiture of Amedeo Modigliani along with works of his renowned contemporaries Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Gaston Lachaise, and others. Additionally, the exhibition showcased the work of contemporary artists including Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe, Eric Fischl, and more. Rothman was a Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery Semifinalist in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2022. She exhibited at the Heckscher Museum of Art, Delaware Contemporary Museum, New Jersey State Museum, Bristol Art Museum, Cape Cod Museum of Art, and…

CURATED SECTION Raised in the working-class suburb of Chicago Heights (Beacon Hill), Jonathan is a digital collage artist with an analog soul whose artwork stimulates conversation surrounding our relationship to humankind. He enjoys balancing the beauty, resilience and humanity of his subjects while quietly suffocating the stereotypes which, ironically, often motivate his source material. Jonathan's artwork is focused on oft-overlooked cultures and peoples, mixed with a strong appreciation for the natural world that surrounds and sustains us all. He is politically neutral, as a spiritual choice. While this shapes his world view, it also removes barriers that often stifle open dialog and human-focused collaboration. Jonathan currently creates artwork for a number of varied clients from his home studio in Atlanta, GA. Website: www.thequietfight.com ARTIST INTERVIEW What initially drew you to…

I am a sculptor and a collage artist based in Santa Clara, CA, USA. I work with the theme of personal memory and resilience. I was born in the USSR, and my childhood experience and years of living in Russia are a part of my work. I graduated from the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA Moscow, Russia). My favorite media is concrete. Also, I love to work with analog collage, photography, and sculpting in 3D. I participated in art residencies in Japan, Hungary, Georgia, and Russia. Until March 2022, I lived in Moscow. After the war with Ukraine started, me, my husband, two kids and a dog left Russia. First, we moved to Armenia, then to UAE. We spent 9 months exploring the new country, culture, and art community there.…

S. Manya Stoumen-Tolino is known for her expressive, gestural paintings that reflect her fascination with organic life. Existing somewhere between representational and non-representational abstraction, her work transcends the confines of any particular movement or time period. Born just outside of Philadelphia, Manya's love of art led to undergraduate studies at the University of the Arts (Philadelphia College of Art) and graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in Painting, where she earned a BFA and MFA, respectively. Early in her career, Manya spent several extended periods working independently in Italy. The time spent studying the great works around her solidified her love of the figure, light, and transcendent narratives. Following her love of movement, she worked as a fitness professional and coach while raising children and maintaining her daily studio…

Tyler Mitchell was born in Baltimore, Md. in 1979. Aware of his passion for arts at an early age, he started painting in oils in middle school and has aspired to be a painter ever since. He won the Maryland Distinguished Scholars Scholarship for the Fine Arts upon graduating high school in 1997, one of only two awarded in the state each year for the fine arts. He went on to attend Savannah College of Art and Design and graduated in 2002 with a B.F.A in Painting. In those years he realized his love for a variety of different disciplines including photography, 3D sculptural work as well as street art and installation. Upon graduating S.C.A.D he moved to San Diego for 6 years, where he pursued surfing… mainly surfing. Working…

“I truly believe artists like us are luckier than most people because we have a direct route to our joy – if you express yourself honestly, authentically, and from our soul; if you raise your unique voice – it's possible for you to experience joy as a natural side effect. TJ Walsh pg. 26 Inside our interview and article section, our writers explore a range of captivating topics. Christina Nafziger chats with Jeremy Olson in the interview “Building a Parallel, Absurdist World.” Alicia Puig presents a thought-provoking conversation with Lucia Jones in “A Metaphor for Memory.” Sergio Gomez provides deep insights into his journey, discussing where spirituality intersects with the human experience. Lastly, TJ Walsh peels back the layers of artistic expression, uncovering the joy it brings.…

ARTIST INTERVIEWS Sergio Gomez is a dynamic and multifaceted visual artist, coach, curator, and gallery founder who has recently moved from Chicago to South Florida. He is known for his striking large-scale figurative abstraction paintings and charcoal drawings that delve into the profound cycles of life. Sergio's artwork has been featured in over 45 solo exhibitions across the United States, as well as in museums in Romania, Italy, Mexico, and Vienna. Additionally, he has participated in over 150 group exhibitions across the globe, including in Spain, Sweden, Mexico, Austria, Italy, South Korea, England, Cairo, Belgium, and the United States. His work has been acquired by prestigious public collections such as the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Brauer Museum. Beyond his studio practice, Sergio Gomez has curated over 100…

CURATED SECTION After earning her Bachelor of Architecture and practicing for firms in Boston and Honolulu, Lynn Weiler Liverton returned to school and in 1996 earned her MFA from the University of Hawaii. For over twenty-five years, she has exhibited across Hawaii and the mainland U.S. Liverton's art practice is split between portrait commissions in bronze and in contemporary figurative sculpture. One of her most ambitious projects to date is her multifigure United by Sacrifice, a memorial to the Armed Services with editions installed in Oahu, HI; Columbus, GA; and Coleman, MI. Some of her commissions include the Thurgood Marshall Memorial (New City, NY), Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bust (Honolulu, HI); and the Rockland County Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial and Monument featuring Cpl Megan Leavy and MWD Rex in Haverstraw, NY.…

Christina is a Danish-American artist and designer. Her cultural background is evident in her work, which is characterized by the simplicity and refinement of Scandinavia while also honoring the inherent beauty of natural materials, as is tradition in the American South, where she grew up. Through multi-media wall-hangings combining textile and bio-resins, she explores the power of form, texture, light, and movement to alter the way we engage with space and impact how we feel in the environment around us. Christina balances a profession in retail design and innovation with her artistic work, exploring a wide range of textiles, natural fibers, and bioresins, combined with traditional fiber techniques such as weaving, sewing, knitting, and knotting to create works of scale. Christina earned a master's degree in interior design from Pratt…

Elen Alien was born in Ukraine in 1990. Her early years were dedicated to honing her basic artistic skills and nurturing her passion at the art school. Even during her formative years, she participated in exhibitions and competitions, capturing the attention of art professionals and leading to multiple awards and accolades. Website: www.elenalien.com Driven by a desire to explore new avenues of artistic expression, Elen pursued a masterís degree in architecture. While completing her diploma she discovered her affinity for interior design. Embracing an eclectic practice, she seamlessly blended interior architecture, graphic design, art, and illustration. Following a decade dedicated to experimentation, Elen Alien embraced a nomadic lifestyle, embarking on a transformative journey. In 2020, she found herself living in Denmark, immersing herself in new cultures and surroundings that nurtured…

Jeanne Ciravolo is a mixed media artist whose recent exhibitions include the Prisma Prize Exhibition in Rome, Italy; Tokens and Traces, a solo exhibition at Buckham Gallery in Flint, Michigan; and Trio, a three-person exhibition at the Athens Institute of Contemporary Art in Georgia. In 2020 she received the Walter Feldman Fellowship, juried by Ellen Tani, Assistant Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, and her work was selected for the White Columns Curated Artist Registry. She has been awarded residencies at the Hambidge Center, Kimmel Harding Nelson, the Anderson Center, and the Jentel Foundation. Publications of her work include Manifest International Drawing Annual 15, Manifest International Painting Annual 10, and Rejoinder, a publication of the Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers University, in partnership with the Feminist…

Melissa Arostegui's artistic journey was ignited during her formative years, where her deep-rooted fascination with narratives, form, and color began to mold her creative path. She studied everyday objects in her early drawings and found joy in storytelling, even crafting a mock newspaper as a child. In college, her art was influenced by the works of artists like Elizabeth Murray, Alex Katz, and David Hockney, which is unmistakably reflected in her bold portraits and whimsical still life paintings. After earning her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Melissa ventured into the art world, showcasing her talents in various exhibitions across Illinois. Notably, she held a solo exhibition at the Air Studio and Gallery in Glencoe titled “Beyond the Surface: Assumptions Unveiled.” Her participation in events like…

Judy Steffens is a Central Illinois artist working from her studio at home. Judy is a figurative realist oil painter. Each of Judy's paintings depicts a visual encounter that she has experienced that sparked her imagination. Her work demonstrates an intimacy with the subject and thoughtful story-telling. Judy earned her Bachelors Degree in Fine Art from Bradley University. Judy has been active in her local art communities. She belongs to local and national art organizations. In recent years Judy has exhibited widely in local and regional exhibitions. Judy's work has been accepted into national juried exhibitions. She has also exhibited in several two-person and solo exhibitions. Website: www.judysteffens.com ARTIST STATEMENT My artistic journey is a reflection of the vibrant and contemporary experiences of people. Through the medium of realistic oil…

CURATED SECTION Nasim G. Pachi is an Iranian-German contemporary painter whose work confronts culture, religion and the restrictions they impose, particularly on women. Her monumental canvases are richly detailed, contrasting the female form with intricate patterns of fabric or mosaics. Their enticing aesthetic draws in the viewer until we are forced to reflect on the importance of choice and individuality amid the complex rules of society. Born in Iran, Pachi studied in Germany and has lived and worked in Europe, West Africa and Southeast Asia. Her experience has revealed that people and their actions are as complicated beyond Iran's borders as inside of them. Her paintings investigate this, encouraging both artist and viewer to reframe their own identity in a global context. Pachi's art has been internationally exhibited. She received…

ARTIST INTERVIEWS I first encountered the work of Brooklyn-based artist Jeremy Olson at EXPO Chicago in April 2024. EXPO is an enormous art fair that sits on Chicago's Navy Pier, and it is easy to get lost in a sea of booths filled with art that you wish you had more time to see. When I came across Mindy Solomon Gallery's booth, I stayed as long as I could in the oddly comforting, alien, LA-chic world that is Jeremy Olson's work. Each painting offers a window into an alien life perhaps not too far off from our own. Using crisp realism and absurdist humor, Olson paints creatures that sit somewhere between amphibians, dinosaurs, and (curiously) humans. In odd hues of pink and blue, these creatures are not human in their…

CURATED SECTION Jessica Archer is a Canadian drawing artist renowned for her lifelike portraits inspired by comic art. Blending fine art portraiture with contemporary comic illustration, Jessica creates realistic depictions of beloved characters using diverse mediums such as pencil, graphite, charcoal powders, and colored pencils. While her formal education provides a strong foundation, Jessica's expertise in realism and portraiture is largely self-taught, reflecting her dedication to her craft. With over 19 group exhibitions across the United States and Canada, Jessica's work has gained widespread recognition. Notably, her portrait of Patrick Stewart was featured on popular media outlets like SYFY Wire to promote the hit series “Picard.” Her commitment to her art has earned her accolades, including the People's Choice Award for Fine Art from Beaux Arts Brampton. As a certified…

Born in 1963 in the suburbs of Paris, Agnès Robin has been living in Québec for more than 30 years. She lives in Ile Perrot where for the last few years she's works in her home studio, artistic painting being now an important part of her life. Passionate, she started self-taught in this field, exploring various mediums (collages, markers, golden leaves, textures…). Since her first works, she has dedicated a huge place to female portraits in the heart of her paintings. Through topical themes (disappearance of species, importance of taking care of our animal world, and consideration that all lives deserve), she exposes her questions and her positioning on the place and respect for women and every vulnerable living being. She likes to create a complicity between her portraits and…

South Florida artist Deborah Perlman is a graduate of Boston University (BFA, sculpture) and Cranbrook Academy of Art (MFA, sculpture). After graduate school, Perlman ventured into communications, enriching her creativity through travel and special assignments. Since dedicating herself to art full time, she has been featured in several art publications and her work has appeared in exhibitions nationwide, earning awards. Perlman's work is held in private collections, and she is a member of regional and national professional artist organizations. Influenced by her training, Perlman creates abstract wall-mounted sculpture. She invites viewers into her ‘almost-but-not-quite-real’ spaces which land somewhere between authentic and imaged, drawing them into the scene to discover where they find themselves. Perlman is currently working with paper, wire mesh, wire, fabric, wood, plastic, and adhesive, and continually looks…

Karen Knight's artistic journey began over fifty years ago, during childhood summer holidays on the shores of Washademoak Lake, in New Brunswick, Canada. Using clay dug from a nearby pond, Karen fashioned works of art in her ‘studio in the great outdoors,’ then baked them in the family campfire – to the sounds of laughter and music, and the smell of roasting marshmallows. In 1989, Karen's creative passions were rekindled, prompting her to pursue studies in sculpture and design at the Dundas Valley School of Art, with clay as her primary artistic medium. After completing her studies, Karen took an eight-year hiatus when the ‘Knights Two’ proudly expanded to the ‘Knights Four’. In 1997, Karen went on to transform a struggling pottery program in Guelph, Ontario, into a dynamic creative…

Dulce defines herself as “A free soul who uses art to inspire others to be.” Visual artist, curator, manager, cultural entrepreneur, activist and mother. Dulce Pinzón is particularly interested in issues of social justice and activations that generate positive repercussions at the collective conscious level and legislation. She has worked in campaigns for the struggle for labor rights in New York together with former attorney general Elliot Spitzer and from the United Nations in creating cultural products for the dissemination of information for the development and democratization of Spanish-speaking countries. Currently her main interest is focused on cultural, environmental, and gender issues through her personal, curatorial, and museographic projects. She studied Communication Sciences at the University of the Americas Puebla and photography at Indiana University in Pennsylvania. In 1995 she…

CURATED SECTION ARTIST STATEMENT As a Chicago-based artist, I specialize in mixed media on canvas. My focus is primarily on figurative abstractions of women. As a female artist and advocate for women's rights, my aim is to depict female strength, elegance, and the tension between the beauty and the chaos of shattered pieces of life that women hold together with grace. I use materials such as flash glazes and textured mediums to capture these moments in my artwork, creating dynamics in the paintings that take on a life of their own. The elements appear and disappear as the light and angles change, resulting in a “living” piece of art. My goal is to create captivating paintings that are hard to look away from and encourage the viewer to engage with…

Contemporary American-Swedish artist John Romi is the founder of Cuneiformism, a unique style he has been working to hone since 2004. Initially creating figurative canvases, Romi has transitioned to abstract imagery and incorporates calligraphy and logo-syllabic script into his work. Shortly after completing his Master of Science in Engineering, Computer Science, Graphic Arts and Multimedia from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Romi began experimenting with the use of Cuneiform within his art. Alongside some of the foremost scholars in the field, Romi has extensively studied the ancient Mesopotamian script Cuneiform and utilizes correct definitions to spell out words and concepts across his canvases. Romi layers the wedge-shaped Cuneiform characters against a background of pure and bold hues hoping that the beauty and peace of his canvases will allow…

CURATED SECTION Marina Ross (b. 1990 former USSR) is an artist, instructor, and curator based in Chicago. She earned her MFA in painting from the University of Iowa in 2018 and her BFA in painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2012. Her work has been exhibited in New York at Sugarlift, Friday Studio Gallery, Art Helix, and Highline Stages and throughout Chicago at Goldfinch Gallery, Heaven Gallery, The Franklin, Sulk, ARTRUSS, and Baby Blue Gallery, among others. She received the Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Support Grant, the Loyola University Professional Development Grant, and the Stanley Award for International Graduate Research from The University of Iowa to attend the Saint Petersburg Artist Residency in Saint Petersburg, Russia (2017). Her work has been reviewed in Newcity and the…

Color makes me Happy. I breathe deeper and my heart expands in the presence of color and organic shapes. My work is movement based, exploring color and shape as energy and vibration. Literally moved by nature, my paintings are created when gestures express themselves with pigment. While some pieces have an obvious top, many can be hung vertically or horizontally. I enjoy the playfulness of looking at them from multiple directions and being open to surprise. I often paint after moving with a long stick found in the forest that extends my reach and movement. Living near a national park and a great lake, I study ever-changing glints of color and light reflected in water and try to discern colors held deep within rocks, trees, plants, and flowers. Growing up…

CURATED SECTION Valerie Carmet is a French-American Pop Art assemblage artist and art educator based between Miami and NYC. She was born in France and moved to the United States in 1989 where she worked in the New York's fashion scene. Her mathematical instincts and her skills led her to start her artistic path in 1995 with the creation of intricate mosaics. In 1998, she honed her skills at the Anandamali Studio in New York City where she created several mosaic murals and picassiette furniture and in 2004, she graduated from The Mosaic Art School (Italy). She taught in several art programs of NYC public schools and in 2004 was selected to be part of the Children's Museum of Art workshops. In 2013, Valerie Carmet started her signature series the…