Emi Lundblad
Emi Lundblad Artist Statement I make art that elicits emotions. Sometimes, I am freeing my own emotions that have been tethered inside me. Other times, I want to engage my viewer. Get them to feel disappointment with the world, reminisce on the past, and experience deep sadness with a glimmer of hope. My personal space at home is very important to me. I include places such as my bathroom, bedroom and kitchen table in my artworks. I like taking my house’s boring walls and plain furniture and bringing them to life in sharp focus and vibrant colors. I also like creating pieces with social and political commentary. I take my verbal complaints about the world and weave them into intricate detailed visual displays. Occasionally, I sprinkle some humor into my works, such as cute animals, exaggerated facial expressions, and interesting titles. I have a preference to create work in more forgiving mediums, such as gouache, pastel, charcoal, graphite pencil and clay. Artist Bio Emi Lundblad (He/They) is a 19 year old full-time student at George Mason University. He is also a student at US Arts Center, and has been attending their classes for 12 years. Emi also took digital art and ceramics classes throughout middle school and high school. In 2024, Emi earned the Scholastic Gold Key Award for his digital artwork Baba’s Kitchen.
Leah Lowery
Leah Lowery Artist Statement I identify myself as a mixed-media artist who uses art to communicate interchangeably as and to Source. My work is an ode and meditation on the unconscious self. I use a range of mediums such as oil and acrylic paint, paper, fabric, wire and found objects to tell stories of creation through the essence of the black woman. Artist Bio Leah Lowery is a mixed-media artist based out of Prince Georges County, Maryland. Lowery has attended school for Studio Art at Montgomery College and has experience as an art associate at her local art store where her love for mixed-media expanded and evolved. Lowery has exhibited work in multiple galleries across the DMV area and also extends her creative practice to apothecary which can be found at multiple local markets and Etsy.
Alexis Irby
Alexis Irby Artist Statement I am a sculptor, collector, and explorer. Hubcaps, feathers, broken electronics, rocks, and candlesticks are just a few examples of collections you might find in my studio. I highlight the mundane and overlooked parts of life by repurposing found and post-consumer objects, united with natural materials and crafted elements. This combination introduces a sense of absurdity and sometimes humor into my sculptures, documenting aspects of reality in ambiguous compositions. The narratives behind my work are comprised of idiosyncratic specificity, intentionally leaving the purpose unclear. This invites viewers to examine objects more closely, to form a personal reflection, and to arrive at an individualized meaning. Chosen materials directly influence the design of my creations. I seek objects through an exploratory and spontaneous process. Sometimes I set out on a walk intending to collect something specific, like twigs or river glass. During these treasure hunts, I encounter additional materials along the way. I am always alert for the unexpected, synchronistic moment of coming across an object that sparks my interest. Qualities of the found item draw my attention, such as the color, texture, or even the location in which it was found. I use these formal elements and symbolic characteristics, both personal and societal, to guide the groupings which form my assemblages. Much of my work is a diaristic process, a constellation of moments brought together, captured in an artifact representative of a specific time, place, or idea. A heuristic approach allows me to discover more about the materials as I work with them. Artist Bio Alexis Irby is a visual artist and educator currently living in Columbia, Maryland. She is an Adjunct Professor and MFA Candidate at Towson University, pursuing a Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in sculpture. Her art draws inspiration from both nature and post-consumer objects, with a focus on formal qualities such as shape and pattern. She has exhibited sculptural work in a variety of galleries and exhibitions in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Delaware. Alexis has two Bachelor’s degrees in Art Education and Art & Design, with a concentration in the Fine Arts. She taught art at Oakland Mills High School for three years before returning to continue her education, and currently works as a substitute teacher for the Howard County Public School System. Aside from art and education, she is passionate about music, nature, and caring for animals.
Adam Goodman
Adam Goodman Artist Bio Adam Philip Goodman was born in Germantown, Maryland in 1999 and earned his BFA in Communication Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in the Fall of 2020. Goodman works primarily in collage and film photography to document urban environments through a comedic lens. He was a featured illustrator for the Visual Art Center of Richmond in 2023 and has had work shown in VCU’s The Anderson Gallery. Artist Statement Through a lens of humor, my work explores the absurdities of urban life by blending photography, collage, and graphic design. By juxtaposing everyday elements in unexpected ways, I aim to highlight the surreal, chaotic, and often overlooked aspects of city living.
Jean Luc Chretien
Jean Luc Chretien Artist Statement My work explores the question: How can color and perspective give form to the intangible structures of my mind? I’ve always been curious about my thought processes, as they are intangible, weird, and undefinable yet deeply personal. Sometimes, I get trapped in them, while other times, they lie in the background and subtly shape my worldview. Through surreal perspectives and environments, I embrace this uncertainty and oddness in my art. Color plays an equally important role in my practice. Before laying colored pencils over my pieces, many of them start with abstract, fluorescent acrylic ink washes. While the washes confuse my sense of natural color relationships, they also draw out something more instinctual in me when choosing later tones and hues. My resulting body of work interrogates my culture, gender, and psychology, exploring the tension between conscious intention and impulse, clarity and confusion. Artist Bio Jean-Luc is a 17-year-old multimedia artist and high school Junior at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. He enjoys using art to explore psychology, identity, and perception through surreal and introspective pieces, and he is constantly fascinated by the weirdness and intricacies of our minds. With his practice, he hopes people leave his work feeling confused yet intrigued. He is a National Scholastic Gold Medalist and winner of the Congressional Art Competition, with work exhibited in the U.S. Capitol. Outside the studio, he leads an annual international teen art exhibition focused on mental health and interns with the National Portrait Gallery’s Teen Museum Council. When he’s not making art, he’s running, listening to music, or walking around DC. He hopes to study psychology and art in college.