Helen Ziga

I am inspired by the beauty and complexity of color and shape, making reference to the physical world as I experience it. The aesthetic of my artwork is a geometric, hard-edged
abstraction. I use large and small shapes, lines, patterns and color relationships to represent a metaphor about the space and control an artist has over said visual space. While at first glance the artworks are aesthetically pleasing, I purposefully provide multiple points for the eye to rest. The size of the panel, the compositional scale, color saturation and brightness,proximity and distance, create a planar surface that does not stop moving. My intent is to ensure the painting has no object, no singular point that the viewer can depend on to define the composition. The eye will be continuously redirected to other areas of the plane. There is no place for rest. My artistic lineage comes from Minimalism, the Graphic Arts and Feminism, occasionally converging geometric shapes with craft-based materials. I create acrylic paintings on canvas, wood and paper and often incorporate embroidery as a nod to craft. I relate to the texture
and warmth embroidery adds to a surface. Much of my work is mapped out in advance, sketched out in Adobe Illustrator, and drawn on the surface before I begin painting. This
process allows me to focus as I take the work into its final form.

Rey Vargas

For many years, I used acrylic techniques as my primary medium for my figurative expressionism
in my artwork.  It was not until about five years ago, my interest turned to exploring the use of collage and mixed media.  I became curious about the possibilities offered by collage as a technique to express myself in a way that would enrich my work as a whole, and provide a means for me to
introduce recycled artwork and materials as part of that artistic expression. I find that recycling materials, such as gift wrapping paper, wall paper, cardboard, plastic etc.,
further embodies my exploration in the work of an artist.  I’m constantly interested in new expression through the use of new forms and techniques. Collage is one of those alternatives, which has enabled me to continue to create in subsequent years with a fresh perspective and creativity. The use of collage as mixed media in my latest work is a natural flow from my personal life experiences living in Cuba during the 80’s.  For me, it is a reflection of human survival through my creativity and exploration. Many artists today make use of recycling and thus contribute to preserve and identify our
planet free of garbage and debris causing pollution and littering to our environment. In my case,
I make use of disposable (paper) elements, combined with some of my experiments with sketching on watercolor paper, painted or drawn with ink, pencil, grease cake and so on, which eventually found themselves tucked away in a drawer as if entombed in eternal oblivion.  My intent is to breathe new life into these segmented memories by integrating them into a new dimension. My themes in this piece captures a floral moment; floral as symbolic recognition of the great
influence of Asian culture, which first used collage as a means of communication and expression during the time that paper was developed (approximately 200 years B.C.).  The use of collage was also widely used by the Japanese in the 10th century.
What defines my work in this mixed media which incorporates cut or torn pieces of paper and debris on the surface making whole our diverse universe.

​LELA BRUNET (b. 1985) is a visual artist living in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her BA in Art Education from Kennesaw State University in 2014. With her main subject being the female form, Lela explores the contrast created when the grace of the figure and the tension of energetic patterns and colors collide together. Lela’s work explores this visual battlefield of pattern, color, and form. She works in a variety of media including murals, painting, drawing, and design. She has exhibited her work and murals in multiple galleries and events throughout the United States and internationally. Her clients include Adidas, Microsoft, MailChimp, Facebook, Starbucks, Pepsi, NCR Corporation, Orpheus Brewing, Mellow Mushroom, and Soul Cycle.