1. Care Hanson | All My Mothers | $275
Hand dyed papers, collaged images, and thread
18”W x 26”H

Artist Statement:
This handsewn paper collage was created as a Mother’s Day reflection in the year following my Mom’s death. It includes photos of 4 generations of our family, ranging from baby me back to my great grandmothers. Images of birds and eggs hold thoughts of nesting, nurturing and flying away. (Two of these ancestors were gone all too soon…) The stitches are uneven; the edges raw. The lives of these women weren’t easy or without sorrow. In my mind, memories & their stories now intertwine & overlap, some thin as paper. Yet their lives and legacies were warm with love; rich as a handsewn quilt. These women laid down roots that nurture and ground me still…and they inspire me to do the same.

2. Kenny Borsch | Our Memory Lies Here | $1,000
Handbound book made of wedding dresses, mulberry paper, latex, and 35mm film prints
34″ x 24″

Artist Statement:
“Our Memory Lies Here” is a book bound with mulberry paper and the cloth of worn wedding dresses. Through this I consider a garment that once belonged to someone else, symbolizing one of the most significant days of someone’s life, now becoming transverse by my own love and grief. A collective history that binds me to women I will never meet and who do not know I exist. My artistic process is rooted in mixed media, where I use materials to build and remove layers that reveal and conceal details, reflecting the emotional flow of exposure and repression. I use these elements to preserve the essence of these memories, embedding them into physical, visual narratives.

3. Amelia Casiano | Rely | $800
Mixed media
24″ x 24″

Artist Statement:
Amelia Casiano delivers her artwork in various mediums but mainly her artwork is acrylic paint. The artwork that she creates and reflects what she wants to bring about Cleveland and the world. Her work delivers her lifestyle, fashion, technology, inner awareness of nature and environments. The effect of glow and pastel and bright colors are used within her artwork. Through various topics such as womanhood, climate change, local conflicts and international situations. The use of forms and colors create a dialogue within her work through landscapes, community and portraits. That even through roles and the transparent dialogue is the way to demonstrate the connectedness between different cultures. While growing up in the Westside of Cleveland, as an artist this has allowed her to communicate her message as an artist. She wants to get an understanding of how to work with her own craft and her culture. Her work delivers a standpoint and interconnectedness between extroverted and introverted personality, equity, quiet or loud, soft and movement. She uses this through light and deep colors while demonstrating organic figures. While growing up in Cleveland, it has allowed her to look at the environment’s subtleness in her work and cultural awareness that are in her own customs and traditions while diversifying herself in the city. The work she puts together is one that progresses and has a dynamic reality in which she portrays her style that works best.

4. Amelia Casiano | Introduction | $600
Mixed media
16″ x 20″

5. Asia Armour | The Kemet Venus | $1,200
Mixed media collage
24″ x 36″

Artist Statement:
The Kemet Venus reimagines ancient beauty, lineage, and rebirth through a modern Black feminine lens. Rooted in personal and ancestral memory, the figure emerges from a seashell surrounded by blooming roses—symbols of blossoming identity, legacy, and sacred femininity. The blue and gold patterned sky echoes regal histories, while floating butterflies and lush landscapes embody renewal and transformation. Through vibrant collage, this piece pays homage to cultural roots, ancestral power, and the timeless act of self-becoming.

6. Janet Mikolajczyk | Rock why is everything so hard (2) | $140
Digital collage
16″ x 20″

Artist Statement:
This digital collage is composed of my photographs of rocks and my shoes. I combine these images with images of art history. For example, I use Magritte’s rock carrying figure in “The Song Of Violet” and Duchamp’s “Fresh Widow”. The carved lions is my photograph of the Islamic hitching post from the Cleveland museum of art.

7. Kathryn Skidmore | Jonas | NFS
Mixed media
18” x 24”

Artist Statement:
This is a representational mixed media collage of my only child Jonas. Through symbolic imagery it shows a glimpse into his innocence and childhood experience.

8. Care Hanson | A Caroline/Carolyn Collaboration | $275
Vintage materials, gloves, hankie, pillow case piece, notions, thread, and knitting needles
13.5” W x 36”H

Artist Statement:
I have only the haziest memories of my great-grandmother Caroline Susanne. Perhaps they’re simply memories of the stories told about her, for she died before my fourth birthday. Regardless, I’ve always felt a close kinship with this tiny, strong, bespectacled woman. My full name is a late ‘50s version of hers, but the connection runs deeper than our shared names. ‘Old Grandma’s’ quilts warmed our childhood beds with colorful patterns cut from worn-out shirts & dresses. Her crocheted doilies sat beneath centerpieces of painted china on the dining room table and my mother’s very best hankies had been upgraded by Caroline’s lace trims. Caroline’s countless stitches were tiny & even, each made without a sewing machine. Corners lined up well, but always with an inherent softness. The love in all her textiles was evident and tactile.

9. Miles Budimir | New Beginnings: Summer 1969 | NFS
Photographic collage
10″ x 8″

Artist Statement:
In reflecting on the theme of “roots,” I was reminded of my mother’s roots in Akron, OH, which she set down in 1969 as in immigrant from Yugoslavia. Conversations with my mother revealed the house and the street where she first lived in the U.S., arriving in 1969 to visit her uncle who had made a home here in the U.S. after WW II. Finding the house in Akron still standing and occupied in 2025, I combined a recent image with photographs in my mother’s photo albums from that time, when she lived in the house. I added a few other images to evoke the idea that though she was now living in a different country, her home country was still very much a part of her and the new community in which she found herself, raising questions about identity, belonging, family, and human migration; all themes that are as relevant in our own time as they were in 1969. Themes, in fact, which are universally human and timeless.

10. Sydney Kay | Ja’lyn | $6,500
4-color fused glass (screen-printed glass powders)
6″ x 8″

Artist Statement:
“Don’t Touch Me” is an expansion of a previous project called “Delicate”. “Don’t Touch Me” pushes the idea further to talk about Black Women’s fight to keep control of their right to consent. The right to say no and how to say to no has always been a struggle for Black Women. Ranging from reframing questions and statements to having to say no multiple times in a polite manner so you don’t come off as too aggressive. This work is a collection of mixed media that people want to touch, but cannot, to show this struggle. By making artwork with different textures of items included, like fused glass or flocking. The idea is to show the viewer how Black Women are viewed as objects most times but aren’t. They are just people at the end of the day, just like them.

11. Sydney Kay | Ramat | $6,500
4-color fused glass (screen-printed glass powders)
6″ x 8″

Artist Statement:
See above

12. Ashley Strub | Carousel | NFS
Oil paint on Dura-Lar and wood
27″ x 52″

Artist Statement:
This painting, like much of my work, is influenced by light. Specifically how it shapes our memory and perception of a place. A place is where habitation shapes geometric form and in turn geometric form shapes habitation, hence the geometric forms present throughout most my work. The dark blues and purples with the slightly more organic shapes conjure up an idea of cosmic, simple deepness. Which could be reminiscent of a basement, night sky, large body of water or a feeling. The rough, obviously handmade nature of this painting is intentional and is meant to prompt the idea of home as something simple, primitive, habitual and crafted.

13. Zackary Hoon | Rubber Worker | $525
Infrared photography
24″ x 32″

Artist Statement:
Through infrared photography, I create dreamlike images that can appear both nostalgic and futuristic. Since infrared light is reflected most in foliage, leaves and grass are where the effects are most obvious. In B&W images leaves and grass appear white while skies appear black. In color images, my converted cameras render all vegetation in a single color while the sky is captured in a second color. These two colors are different depending on what wavelength of light I have my camera set to capture. However, since infrared light falls outside the visible spectrum, I feel that the colors the camera assigns are arbitrary and I will sometimes change their values in post production. My hope is to present the viewer not with a literal representation of the subject I capture but rather an more personal experience akin to a memory that expresses its true essence.

14. Meryl Engler | Warm Light | $1,800
Reduction woodcut, chalk pastel
28″ x 38″ framed

Artist Statement:
When I first moved to Akron in the fall of 2019, I had no intention of making the city my home long term, but Akron has a way of seeping into your soul. Moving here has given me a new life I could not have had anywhere else. To me, Akron is a place full of people who care deeply for their community and continuously fight to make it the best place possible and I love being a part of that. This image was taken in our backyard in Akron, a place where we hosted friends and family, gathering in community around the bonfire pit. It was here I started putting down roots and making Akron my home.

15. Megan Summers | Faithful Entanglement | $520
Hand-twisted bare copper wire, driftwood, and natural found materials
11″ x 9″ x 12″

Artist Statement:
This wire-scape displays three twisted copper wire trees intertwined onto a driftwood base. This sculpture is intended to provoke thought about faith and its entanglement with the past, present, and future. Using natural but human influenced materials emphasizes our close connection to the earth and others around us. This visual depiction of the tree’s roots, with the variation in sizes, represents growth. This in return, highlights the idea of “planting roots” or taking action in present day will directly impact the future and therefore, solidifying our past. May we all have meaningful days and faith in how it will impact our futures.

16. Alexia Avdelas | When despina dances, you dance too | NFS
Video animation
1280 x 720 px (video animation)

Artist Statement:
My pieces explore body autonomy and focus on the notion of birthing oneself, where the self is consciously constructed and emerges through life experiences, culture and conscious choice. I consider absurdity, humor and repetition within the current state of the world as we see it. Layered content creates confusion, where time is nonlinear, multiple experienced moments are connected and exist simultaneously. I keep record of my life through video, photo, sketches and writing. There’s comfort and catharsis in these repetitive actions and years of documentation starts to overlap and become overwhelming, time feels displaced. Layered audio works like static, without coherence, and becomes a lullaby of familiarity. In this piece, I use my Greek/Pontian culture as a means of reflecting on current events. Pontian style dance is a serious style, representing those who have gone to war and died for their families and freedom. It serves as a way to remember our history and preserve the experiences of our family. Many dances were lost during the Pontian Genocide, which is why I reference experiencing moments allows me to recall others. Pontian dance, characterized by its choreography and participation, reflects on loss in both the loss of homeland and ancestors. Current world events allow for recall and contemplation, where the present day and past timelines are now connected and exist together.

17. Levaille Eitzman | Roots: Hue Contrast | NFS
Found objects, thread, nail polish, and resin
10” x 12” x 4”

Artist Statement:
I was assigned pink at birth, but it didn’t quite match my insides, but the discomfort was subtle, because the true hue contrast was subtle.

18. Eliz Soe | Souls Tied to Kent State | NFS
Pen
6″ x 8″ 

19. James Buckey | Circles of Influence | NFS
Photography and digital art printed on 100% cotton giclée
11″ x 17″ 

Artist Statement:
From the top of Goodyear Middle School to the front of Derby Downs. Tire tread, a reused geode sample, and varying size color halftones throughout. I washed out all the power lines in the gradient maps and made my own with the breaks in the samples. Flush with personal importance and perspectives from all eras of my youth: from earliest memories to defiant teenage moments. A thorough visual “texture” can be “felt” through the eyes on the cold-press cotton paper, heightened at different points and at different lighting angles. Vivid with color, but washed out the same way a memory feels.

20. Jada Green | End of the Road | $80
Four color silkscreen on Stonehenge
20″ x 14″

Artist Statement:
Green’s interest lies in the exploration of surreal spaces. She takes pieces of landscape and figure from life and combines them with an imaginary space to push a narrative derived from topics like migration, displacement, generational trauma, tradition, and institutionalized violence. She tackles these subjects in a satirical manner to illuminate them in a more inviting way. It is essential to acknowledge the uncomfortable aspects of history while also creating a safe and even fun environment for the audience. This generates an innate curiosity and vibrancy to the works, which is integral to the experience. By taking her own familial history and experiences, the good and the bad, she relates to a broader audience of marginalized individuals.

21. Shannon Casey | Home is a Time Capsule | $1,200
Oil paint
48″ x 43″

Artist Statement:
“Home as a Time Capsule” was designed as two oil paintings that work together to tell a bigger story. The old house I grew up in Stow was actually two houses that were put together and it was probably built in the mid-1800s. It was a great place to grow up. My four sisters and I found arrowheads in the garden, hung plastic spiders from the heating register grates (fooling no one), and posed for school pictures on the same rock slab in the yard every year. There was a scary basement and a mysterious access panel in one of the bedrooms, which we were sure was the entrance to an attic full of treasures. With decades of memories, the house almost felt like a family member — it was that much a part of the fabric of our lives. It was a receptacle of memories, good and sad, a free-standing time capsule of a house. The second painting shows a cutaway, almost like a dollhouse, of the different floors of the house and some of the actual memories enacted. I designed “toppers” for each painting to accentuate and give each painting an appropriate roof.

22. Maliyah Clark | EL.Simone 1970- | $350
Cotton t-shirt, heat transferred shirt decal
18″ x 24″

Artist Statement:
In the summer of 2024, I spent the summer in New York City. I had been fortunate enough to intern at the Whitney Museum of American Art. During this internship, I was able to sit in on a meeting about the upcoming Amy Sherald exhibition. Rue, one of the curators, talked about how only two of Amy Sherald’s works were recognizable people. Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor, one extremely exceptional and the first of many. The other’s life wasn’t cherished as it should be. Rue also highlighted the history of portraits in American art, and museum collections often lack Black people. This meeting reminded me of a conversation I had with my mother the last day she was in New York City to see me off for the summer. She had told me that she wanted me, or my sister, to draw her for her obituary. It’s a morbid line of thinking, but that’s just the way she is. Hearing Rue talk about the importance of Black portraiture motivated me to create this artwork of my mother. It made me realize that Black people shouldn’t have to be exceptional or murdered to have their likeness immortalized in a painting. Even Michelle Obama had said she was the first person in her family to have her portrait painted. I immortalized my mother while she can still see it. I do allude to mortality in this artwork by surrounding my mother with mint that is wilting at the bottom. This is a plant that my mother loves to keep growing in the window of her kitchen. Mint is notoriously easy to keep alive, yet my mom often kills it. This shows a personal connection to her, and still shows the mortality of all living things. The last way I showcase those themes is by applying this portrait to a red t-shirt. In the Black community, you often see people put photos of their loved ones that pasted on T-Shirts. Showcasing my mother’s portrait, this way encapsulated the event and ideas that sparked its creation.

23. Sarah Gordon | Dear Diary | NFS
Mod-podge, Gorilla glue, paper, magazine, pamphlet clippings, dice, and domino on canvas
12″ x 16″

Artist Statement:
Dear Diary is a collage which shows some of my growth over one of my years in undergrad of college. The pieces shows the supporting roots which influence and persuade how I’ve changed or grown as a person. Adorned with magazine clippings, random 3-D objects, and plenty of adhesive, the piece is delivered in a Hodge podge sort of fashion that looks like a messy diary entry. Everything on the canvas is from a different event which held some value for me. At first, I hoarded this pamphlets, papers, and magazines I had collected, holding onto everything. After botching a previous work (the old piece peaks out a little), I decided to re-use a canvas somehow. With a change in mindset, I decided that instead of leaving items to collect dust in my room, I can re-purpose them and revitalize them. So, I chopped a clipped apart the booklets and pamphlets I had, really digging for the parts that stood out to me. In the end, I got rid of a lot of old clutter, but also made something new which I value more. Dear Diary shows little glimpses into what is around me, and what inspires me. A lot of the imagery is reminiscent of things around Cleveland because I attend school up there (CWRU). For example, the map of Edgewater park and the feature of the moCa museum on the canvas pay homage to Cleveland. The rainbow heart symbolizes my queer identity which I accepted in after starting college. And, the the small domino on the bottom corner symbolizes the memory of my loving grandma whom I lost not too long into starting university (she loved to play dominoes against me). The different images on the canvas were selected because to some capacity to speak to me and tell me a story. It’s a diary entry without words.

24. Serenity Norman | Bantu Knots | $500
Wood carving, markers
4″ x 6″

Artist Statement:
This piece, titled Bantu Knots, is inspired by African/African American culture and haircare. Hair is an important aspect of the culture. It is used as a form of self expression and a representation of individuality. Intricate styles and accessories passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years lends to the richest history that has become a staple for black communities worldwide. As an African American woman, this piece was created as a way to express what hair means to me personally through one of my favorite hairstyles, which is Bantu knots (a style that originated from the Zulu tribes of Southern Africa). In a way, it is a love letter to my people, my community, and to myself.

25. Nick Lee | Find me where lightning strikes | NFS
Acrylic paint on canvas
24″ x 24″

Artist Statement:
This still life depicts my grandmother’s traditional Japanese Geta sandals. The sandals sit in front of the viewer without any figure presence. The viewer must wonder to whom these shoes belong to? My grandmother, father, and I have experienced similar experiences as Japanese descent in the United States. These shoes belong to us three. I invite the viewer to think about our perspective as Nikkei people. I fully embrace my culture with this piece, but at the same time I will not be burdened by negative stereotypes about Japanese people. One may think I will be a model minority, which is quiet and submissive. However, I will go for the adventure and chase lightning if I have to.

26. Nick Lee | Lost in Thought | NFS
Acrylic paint on panel
12″ x 16″

27. Shannon Timura | She was the story they forgot to tell | $375
Oil paint on canvas
18″ x 24″

Artist Statement:
This painting explores the quiet power of rootedness and imagination. A solitary chair sits outdoors, its legs growing thick, tangled roots that stretch deep into the earth, an image of legacy and family history, anchoring the present to the past. Seated in the chair is a young girl, absorbed in a book, her posture calm but intent. Above her, white birds circle in flight, embodying memory, freedom, and the stories that transcend time and space. The chair, a symbol of home and belonging, is transformed into a living vessel of ancestry, tradition, and the unseen forces that shape us. The girl represents the next generation, inheriting not just genetics or heirlooms, but stories, values, and unspoken strength. As she reads, she is both grounded and uplifted. The circling birds echo the flow of imagination and wisdom passed down through generations, suggesting that while we are rooted in where we come from, we are also called to rise, explore, and reimagine our place in the world. This piece is also a deeply personal reflection. After recently discovering my biological father and the extended family I never knew-who, in turn, do not know me – I often feel like an outside observer, not even a footnote in their story. And yet, I’m curious. I’m beginning to build connections. These early threads feel like the birds overhead – elusive, circling, difficult to grasp, but undeniably present.

28. Makaylah Clark | Portrait of Elsimone Clark | NFS
Acrylic paint, color pencil, and wax pastel on canvas
20″ x 30″

Artist Statement:
History , there are little records and images of African American people. The records and images we do have only depict a small part of my History. By painting my mother in a royal and commanding portrait I am able to control my own narrative and preserve my family History. I combine my personal History with elements from different cultures to invoke a sense of grandeur. I have her poses in reference to Heuy Newten (co founder of the Black panther party) sitting in a peacock wicker chair holding a gun and spear. I have my mother holding a peacock feather in her right hand which is reference to our west African heritage. A staff in the other hand in reference to our European linage. The overall presentation of the portrait is bases on royal Korean court painting. These paintings often depict the king\queen sitting on a throne against a sold background. At my mother’s feet there’s 4 watermelon seeds (her favorite fruit). Four watermelon seeds representing her four kids. Lastly I covered the dress in royal Korean court landscapes , which has been an ongoing motif in my work. This work is dedicated to my mother and how I wish to remember her.

29. Kellie Wolke | Images from the Project Political Display, Nov. 2024 | NFS
Silver gelatin prints from 35mm film

Artist Statement:
These images are part of a project that spanned five days in Nov. 2024, documenting political displays largely in Columbiana county, where I grew up, and Summit county, where I’ve lived for most of my adult life. All are from Northeast Ohio. While grappling with disbelief, overwhelm, and bitterness regarding the impending election, I was also reflecting on what we do to make our homes speak about who we are.

30. Klair Barr | An Every Day Performance | NFS
Video projection, plastic shower lining, shower caddy, feminine hygiene products, framed written artist statement
4′ x 7′

Artist Statement:
When I was ten years old I started growing hair on my arms and legs. It was dark and thick and I started to get funny looks from the kids in my class. I begged my mom to let me shave my legs. She told me ten was too young and that I could shave my legs once I got my first period. Then I would be ready. Sure enough, two weeks later my period came. My mom was so excited she gave me a Christmas present early. I was proud to “become a woman”. I was the second in my class, ahead of the curve. I look back on that tiny version of myself with mixed emotions. How lucky I am to be someone who has always loved womanhood. And how unlucky I am to had to have grown up so young. 15 Years later and I hate shaving my legs. Who am I trying to impress? Who am I performing for? I don’t want to perform womanhood, I just want to be a woman. I don’t even like men, why do they always think I’m doing it for them? But even when I do shave my legs it is still for them. I am sick and tired of comments and nasty looks at my body hair. Just like when I was a little girl I shave my legs just to shut everyone up.

31. Klair Barr | 1386 Ave | NFS
Digital photograph projection, audio, builders foam, tracing paper, copper wire, acrylic paint, and alcohol markers
4′ x 7′

Artist Statement:
In 1999 my parents bought their first house. It was little and yellow and about a 20 minute walk from Lake Erie. This meant that during the summer months our little yellow home was covered in mayflies. In projecting my old home onto the wall, much smaller than its actual size, I am comparing my view as an adult with that of a child. The house seems so much smaller than it did when I was young. The seven mayflies mounted on the wall are much larger than in reality. Combining the adult perception of space with the childlike view of the world, I have created a piece that memorializes my childhood home and paints creatures often thought of as disgustig in a much softer light. The audio of wind blowing and bugs trilling places you in the late summer of my youth.

32. Candice Greene | Floral Texture Study | $150
Needle felting, embroidery, and beading
5″ x 7″

Artist Statement:
“Floral Texture Study” is a textile exploration of the relationship of texture and space, using floral imagery to create an intimate scene that begins to break out of the picture plane. The layered needle felting and embroidery uses bold color and textural differences to create contrast and entice the viewer into a closer look. Florals have been a recurring theme to my work as an ode to my grandfather and my earliest childhood memories working in the garden together. Much of my work is small in nature, but not lacking in detail. I enjoy creating works that encourage the viewer to engage with the piece and linger, noticing new details in the process.

33. Candice Greene | Layers | $200
Needle felting, embroidery, beading, and punch-needle
8″ x 8″

Artist Statement:
“Layers” is a mixed-media textile piece that combines a love for all forms of fiber art and nature. As a child, I spent many hours digging in flower beds and exploring my grandparent’s garden. My goal was to capture that child-like curiosity by depicting traditional imagery through various fibers processes, including punch-needle, embroidery, beading, and needle felting. In my works, I love to play with space, often breaking out of the picture plane to create a semi-dimensional piece that draws the viewer in.

34. Amber Bishop | A Portal Somewhere Good: 2.0 | NFS
Video and sculpture
Runtime: 6 min 20 sec, table: 4 feet long × 2 feet wide × 29 inches high

Artist Statement:
I am an archivist of the mythic stories known as Black American life, or the Black Fantastical. I am a storyteller and representative of Black stories. Filmmaking is my primary tool and form of expression. I ascend from Twinsburg Heights, a small Black suburban neighborhood in Ohio. Growing up in Twinsburg, I’ve seen Black people tap into the collective Black imagination to dream beyond their present state and look into a future not known to them by the white supremacist American State. I am inspired by these everyday visionaries. Across the nation and in everyday life, Black people tap into the inherent magic that is deeply seated in our culture, and we alchemize systemic oppression into thriving communities, loving families, and joyful moments. In my archival artistry, I am preserving and translating the everyday magic of the Black fantasy, starting with my own life, family, and neighborhood. I tell the stories of who we have been and capture the stories of who we are now so that we can tell new stories of who we can become. I am ultimately striving to reconstruct the narrative of the Black experience so that the magic of Black creation is the main window through which the world sees into Black life.

35. Asia Armour | The Moon Child | $980
Mixed media collage
18″ x 20″

Artist Statement:
“The Moon Child” is a meditation on memory, lineage, and the tender guidance we receive from unseen hands. Set against a field of forget-me-nots, a child reaches out, symbolizing innocence, exploration, and the eternal connection to one’s roots. The hand beneath her is a metaphor for ancestral support; the love, labor, and protection that have shaped my story and so many others. Working in mixed media photography, I layered textures of florals, celestial imagery, and archival fragments to create a dreamscape where heritage and imagination coexist. This piece honors the unseen caretakers; the mothers, grandmothers, and ancestors whose sacrifices and dreams uplift future generations. In a world that often overlooks softness as strength, “The Moon Child” reclaims it, offering a glimpse into how home is not only a place but a living, breathing inheritance carried within us. Through the blending of documentary photography and collage, I continue the tradition of visual storytelling, echoing both personal and collective narratives tied to growth, memory, and becoming.

36. Emily Fontana | Forget-Me Fairy | NFS
Acrylic paint, spackle piping, molding paste, air dry clay, wrapping paper, pouring medium, glitter, wire, tulle, and lace on stretched fabric
20″ x 30″

Artist Statement:
Was there a time when your dreams were sweet? Are your desires truly yours, or were you just told what they should be? Girlhood is a time during adolescence filled with dress-up, and make-believe, and innocence.​​ I use the sentiment of this time as a refuge from the reality of adulthood– an urge to be small again. But what does it mean to realize that longing is actually a trap? My work displays the duality between conditioned childhood dreams and witnessing the reality of them over time. Using cuteness as an entry point to encounter the art, a natural sense of tenderness is formed. Lavishly decorated paintings, printed media, and cake sculptures are each adorned with excess. Cardboard, spackle, craft acrylics, glitter, and beaded details all combine to appeal to, then deceive the viewer. The cakes are not real, never changing, and you can not eat them– even if you want to. I use symbols of girlhood and sexuality to confront the complexities of desire and disappointment, playing into the dark side of all things cute. Nostalgic animals are punctured, floral fabrics open up and deteriorate, and text yearns over memories of love and fantasy. The feminine experience is to carry the weight of contradiction, never ceasing to provide unfulfilled expectations. In the eyes of the consumer, femininity is a commodity that lacks agency. My work indulges in these ideals, served on a platter. Do you still want to take a bite? Settled within the melancholy, I invite viewers into a seemingly sweet world, only to disrupt it with the sharp edge of reality. Cuteness is simultaneously adored and exploited, bound to superficial pleasures. Adorably enticing, cakes draw you in— but when you get close, your stomach will sour. Not everything is as it seems.

37. Elizabeth Prindle | Family Folklore | $425
Mixed media assemblage
14″ x 19″

Artist Statement:
Families create their own folklore as stories are handed down from generation to generation. The story changes with each telling. Who has the true story? How did these photos become separated from their storyteller(s)? The spools of thread and loom shuttle represent women sewing together and telling stories, “spinning yarns”, family ties, histories woven together.

38. Carla Wagner | Hanging Out At the Duomo | $1,495
Textile
17″ x 84″

Artist Statement:
With this work I was heavily inspired by my trip studying abroad in Italy in summer of 2024. I used hand dyed yarn to emulate the beautiful colors of the Duomo and history behind the red brick rooftops of the Italian buildings. During my time studying in Florence, I got to see the Duomo everyday and lived nearby. I used my studies and interests in Italian wine production to make this piece, for example, there are three wine glasses woven into the bottom third of this textile. This imagery and color relations stand for a grounding element in regard to culture, heritage, and experience of Italy and history.

39. Ashley Strub | Twilight Mix | $50
Digital print
7″ x 5″

Artist Statement:
This photo, like much of my work, is influenced by its light. Photography has been a medium most useful to me through its literal connection to light. My photography attempts to exploit the inner workings of the camera through the obscuring images with light-catching substrates or blurry, primordial subject matter. I believe that where we come from and our instinctual habits (such as snapping a photo of a plant or rock) are connected through our unique interpretations of “home.”

40. Roo | Fishing for Memories | NFS
Flameworked glass
9” x 19” x 4’

Artist Statement:
As a kid my mom would take me fishing. Now that I’m an “adult” I don’t see my mom that often. Fishing is still something I actively enjoy and it’s also a way I’ve been able to feel close to my mom.

41. Renee Clippinger | I know you | NFS
Film

Artist Statement:
I know you encapsulates feelings of nostalgia between one’s past and future self. The work explores the two different versions of the same person finding home and comfort within one another in an otherworldly space.

42. Victoria Fields | Living Rot | $650
Ceramic
11″ x 19″ x 11″

Artist Statement:
In my works I embody the idea importance of trauma and the lasting impact it has on the recipient. I engulf myself with my past and the details that created me to be the person I am today. Through mixed media and symbolic imagery, I create an uncomfortable scenery that makes room for open dialogue about the resilience and pain created through our own personal life stories. Rather than offering a neat and healed idea of a victim, my art shows the suffering, inviting the viewer to sit in discomfort and recognize the deep emotional impact that trauma can have on an individual.

43. Merry Petroski | Threads | NFS
Resin combine
6”x 9”x 2”

Artist Statement:
“Threads” is a small-scale Combine created with epoxy resin and embedded materials. It is part of an exploration in transparent layering to provoke emotion through materiality rather than direct illustration. Threads may evoke themes of memory, regret, and the unreachable desire to understand things long lost. The embedded objects and shifting translucency mimic the process of recalling memories—fragmented, delicate, and distorted over time. As a wall-mounted piece, I hope its size invites intimate viewing, allowing the viewer to look closely and reflect on what’s obscured or lost in the layers. I want Threads to show that emotional presence can be conveyed without narrative, relying on color, texture, opacity, and form to carry meaning.

44. Merry Petroski | Frayed | NFS
Resin combine
6”x 9”x 2”

Artist Statement:
“Frayed” is a small-scale work created with epoxy resin and embedded materials. It is conceived as part of a meditation alongside a companion work titled Threads. Frayed focuses on fragmentation and the distortion of recollection, and connections that persist even as clarity fades. Frayed uses transparent layering, embedded materials, and intimate scale to evoke a tactile, emotional resonance without relying on narrative. As a pair, they reflect on how we attempt to hold onto what’s slipping away, and how presence can be felt through absence, texture, and form. The embedded objects and shifting translucency mimic the process of recalling memories—fragmented, delicate, and distorted over time. As a wall-mounted piece, it invites intimate viewing, allowing viewers to look closely and reflect on what’s obscured or lost in it’s layers.