BEYOND THE VEIL
Featuring 31 Artists From Around the World
Reflecting on all that is veiled, concealed, hidden, and peripheral.
BEYOND THE VEIL
Reflecting on all that is veiled, concealed, hidden, and peripheral.
Featured Artists:
Chibuzo Amajor, Shir Beck, Blu, John Boudreau, Bogdan Bousca, E ÇEVİKCAN, B. Kirk Chernansky, Arooj Chaudhry, Zoetica Ebb, Josephine Florens, Brenda Freires, Agnes Gomori, gringuts, Vilma Leino, Monika Lorincova, Farrah Macci, Benna G. Maris, Elena Masrour
Carolyn McPike, Claudia Moreno, Jaime Roberts, Maksim Shishov, Sona Sahakian, Bárbara Ramos, Tiziana Rasile, Chyenne Rielly, Kat Trevino, Jens Vange, Valencia Washington, Christine Williams
April 8th, 2022 - May 20th, 2022
OVERVIEW
Reflecting on all that is veiled, concealed, hidden, and peripheral, 'Beyond the Veil' explores the enigmatic moments frequently associated with the image of a veil. A social, identical, and cultural marker, the veil is neither limited to its history nor to its pragmatic or symbolic use. It is not necessarily physical but could be represented non-materialistically as well.
The etymology of Veil is "to cover, conceal, mask, disguise (something immaterial)". There are many iterations of veils in society and cultures, in nature such as a fog or mist, and veils between worlds or realms of consciousness. A social, an identity, a cultural marker, a veil is neither limited to its history nor to its pragmatic or symbolic use.
ORGANIZED BY
Emma McMullin, Director of Curatorial Affairs; Rocio Montiel, Chief Curator; Jenny Chernansky, Senior Curator; Shannon Gardner, Associate Curator; Natali Dobreva, Lead Apprentice Curator.
GRATITUDE
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VIRTUAL 3D EXHIBITION
Explore the Milostka Center for Exhibitions 360-degree Virtual Gallery
EXHIBITION CATALOG
Click below to explore the artists' biography and collection.
AVAILABLE NOW! Catalog will be available for purchase beginning April 8th
ARTISTS
For a full interview, click on each artist's name.
Instagram: amajorarts
My art is a representation of personal emotions & thoughts which are expressed in an abstract manner. My art tells a story of personal life experiences.
Hello, my name is Shir Beck and I paint in oil and acrylic. Born in 1990, I was born in Arad, and moved with my family to the city of Eilat. I studied painting and dance for many years, I danced classical ballet, tap and flamenco. I attended elementary school and high school in Eilat. After my military service, I studied industrial design at Studio 6b in Tel Aviv. I studied art and painting at Eilat College. I also took a graphic design course. I worked for the Nature and Parks Authority in Eilat. The sea and the desert are part of me.
Instagram: psychedelicblu
I work as art-educator with children and teenagers, I try to paint in my freetime.
Im self-thought, although sometimes i take art-workshops to learn new stuff.
Usually I dont sell my art, but im thinking about it.
Instagram: johnboudreauartist
In life, I feel a veil gently protects something on a mysterious level.
Instagram: bogdan_bousca
Detaching far away as possible from everything that means commercial and technical it’s a goal itself. As much difficult is to achieve this in a world where kitsch is in charge and it sells better than ever, as much more I am satisfied with what I do.
There is always a tinny place between reality and fantasy. In this place, I try to breathe and create images. This place gives me the opportunity to dream with open eyes.
My submitted collection is my small world of fiction-reality, where the absence of time gives me another identity. Good cover for me to escape from daily routine and from all the „noises” around me. A never-ending dreamer.
Instagram: emelcevikcanpaintart
By observing the details of everyday surroundings, I find endless ideas from Nature. Working with watercolor has always been the choice for me because it flows from the brush and is never the same application. In our day, when time flows very rapidly when we can look at everything with a short break, inspired by art and based on the joy of life it gives, love in my paintings. Sharing. I try to convey our amazing transformation with nature to people with the language of colors and forms. Art and nature are the basis of our existence. Life without art is like a desert without water. These days when the pandemic has kept people away from each other, I think that the only element that allows us to reproduce life is that we should be inspired by realizing the works of art. . Converts. It overcomes the obstacles and enables us to exist.
Instagram: grainybychaimaa
I have always been interested in photography since I was younger but I have been a film photographer for only 2 years now. I discovered it through some friends and it allowed me to express all sorts of emotions, through a 35mm lens I liked being creative and I was intrigued to be challenged to speak through a photograph, I quickly learned how film works it took me a while to get a nice camera but I worked with what I had. I first was interested in street photography but now I’m more drawn to portraits, they can express nostalgia which seems to be my favorite emotion. I tend to use a lot of red, blue, and green lights to make my portrait more creative but mostly because it’s not that easy to get the right texture and exposure so it was a challenge for me. It’s great to portray certain moods or feelings in a photo and to project what I actually feel or see. Capturing the essence of a person is something passionate for me..
Instagram: art.by.arooj
Viewing art as a form of healing and Divine transcendence, artist Arooj Chaudhry, uses her creative expressions to explore and understand the depth and impact of creating art on forming mystical connections and reaching the depths of the soul. As a nature-loving, soul-searching traveler Arooj’s trips have taken her to meet various healers, shamans, and mystics during her trips to Mexico, Greece, Germany, Italy, and Pakistan. Arooj alchemized her cross-cultural inspirations in her work through the use of bold colors, impressionistic layering, and exploring the details and movements of intricate fabrics which are culturally unique in her figures.
My "In Search of" art pieces were created from wall covering fragments that had been removed while remodeling our 1918 vintage apartment. The layered fragments of paint and plaster became a canvas for printing old family photos. The salvaged material captured my imagination and served as inspiration for creating images reflecting the many lives that were enfolded and had unfolded within the walls of my apartment over the last 100 years.
Instagram: zoetica
Would you allow a strange organism to merge with your DNA if it meant survival in a harsh alien environment? How much of your “self” do you need to still be you, and, ultimately, does it matter? These are the questions facing a shipwrecked cosmonaut documenting the ecosystem of her new reality in Zoetica Ebb’s concept series, Alien Botany. The unnamed protagonist’s findings are presented with detailed ink diagrams of mystery flora and of the ways it interacts with human hosts – presumably other crew members of the ill-fated space mission.
These works on paper employ a vocabulary of techniques drawn from enlightenment-age naturalist studies and Victorian medical illustration. Alien Botany examines states of divergence, surrender, and equilibrium through the eyes of a lifelong immigrant, speaking to the boundless human capacity for adaptation. Pulling at preconceptions of what is innately natural, Zoetica looks to the potential of our genetic alphabet in an imagined future among the stars.
Alien Botany is a consequence of a lifetime of experiences and passions, conceived at the intersection of Soviet space obsession, a love of the compulsive detail and speculation in antique scientific illustration, and a fascination with the beauty and horror of the natural world.
Instagram: brefreires
My work as an artist is multidisciplinary, I communicate in different ways. I speak primarily through painting with the use of colors and sculptural textures. But on the other hand, I also allow myself to communicate through poetry, performance, and other pluralities.
I paint about my universe, presenting myself in a real-imaginary reality at the same time. I propose the centralization of my figure as a black woman crossed by concerns, affections, fears, psychological and emotional tensions.
Instagram: artgomori
I’m a multidisciplinary artist, who’s a big believer in the combined healing power of art, nature and laughter.
In the last few years, digital painting and drawing have become my main channel of artistic self-expression. I often take nature-based photos during my walk in the nearby woods. It could be a picture of a tree trunk or the clouds, which then I use as my inspiration to create a visual story.
My work reflects my deep connection with my heritage, nature and the divine source. As a channel for the higher realm, I allow the theme of my artworks to emerge intuitively.
Humour plays a big part in my life and creative work. Even if an artwork has a more serious theme, I insert magical elements, such as imaginary creatures, to ease its heaviness. They are a reminder that when we believe in magic; we open the doors to possibilities around us.
Instagram: gringuts
This work is trying to unveil story of the generation, what grew up at the feet of the agonizing red empire beyond the iron curtain and experienced adolescence and youth on its ruins, trying to navigate life in the newly discovered free world of capitalistic West. This work is trying to unveil the soul of the generation, what is prone to self-destruction and cynicism, even nihilism, driven by principle of fleshly pleasures and sense of inferiority, infused with necessity for dominance and self punishment. Everything in this generation lives on a very border of opposites.
The current situation in Ukraine shows, what happens when hidden demons of past from somebody’s twisted soul come into the physical reality. It shows what happens when whole world lives in denial, ignoring actual reality. Russia as a country and as a nation has never dissected their historical trauma, pain and guilt. On contrary, it has been suppressed and hidden under the veil of ideological mythology. Instead of healing individual confusion, pain and anger, it has been weaponized and turned against the imaginary threats.
Instagram: vauhtivilma
For me self-portraiture is freedom. As the person behind and in front of the camera, I am in control of every aspect and that makes me feel liberated. When I’m creating my artwork, the camera is an ally who doesn’t judge. It gives me space to get to know myself through art and experiment with my body, mind and feelings. Working with playful compositions and strong colour schemes is a way for me to lighten up darker subjects. In my work, I mix quirky details with pastel shades, to create an atmosphere where comedy and horror can meet each other. My portraits are visual stories, that give the viewer many possible endings. They are stories from inside of the household, where daily life turns uncanny and the person we are is in main spotlight as the one we should learn to love and take care of.
Instagram: monika_lorincova
paint mainly with acrylics, sometimes including collages, with a focus on the figurative representation of the world I live in. As a people orientated person, the main inspiration for my work comes from observing society. Through my paintings, I examine people and places, our cultural (or media) trends and social norms, how these affect the way we try to present ourselves, but also their effect on our mental health, and the repercussions of our actions on the lives of others as well as the nature and environment around us. I see my art as a way of reflecting on society and record stories that I feel are typical for the times we live in.
My work focuses mainly on the figurative representation of the current society, documenting a modern way of living. Throughout the pandemic, my focus shifted more on the behavior of an individual, in particularly a woman. I try to capture women at their everyday jobs, or other activities, just as they are.
Instagram: fairy_abstractions
My intentions as an artist are to capture the beauty in the mundane, render the human experience through my creative expressions, and inspire others by inviting them to question themselves and critique the world around them in order to ignite collective growth.
I am interested in raising awareness on metaphysical, human, social and environmental issues, favouring the use of poor materials through minimalism.
Instagram: elenamasrour
My works are inspired by the proliferation of religious propaganda over the last 40 years in my home country, Iran, and social changes that have occurred, following the Revolution, I represent a generation of Iranian people who aspire to be modern at a time when religious leaders continue to weaponize the rules of God in order to maintain. As an Iranian woman whose life has been heavily touched by the political events of the half decades in Iran, I have focused on modern Iranian women's issues. The Islamic Iranian revolution in 1978 has had an impact on Iranian women's daily lives dramatically as well as reshaped their identities and their role in society. After the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1978 in Iran, there have always been various forms of tension and conflict between the value system resulting from the jurisprudential principles of government and the custom of society, especially in areas such as clothing, compulsory Hijab, lifestyle, and social presence of women.
The core of my concern is the injustices that impose on Iranian women's life by suppressing them at home. I attempt to highlight women’s experiences from a woman’s point of view
Instagram: carolynmcpikeart
Four years ago, I started assembling mixed media collages as a creative outlet. At first, I restricted myself to creating circular collages only, which gave me the focus and freedom to explore many different designs. These collages evolved into mixed media paintings that are created with paper, fiber, stone, plastic, and metal. Creating my work has always been a meditative experience and a meticulous process. In 2020, becoming a first-time mother during the pandemic left me feeling angry, isolated, and powerless. Finding bits of time to continue making my art became my source of escapism and survival. Making my art is how I reclaim my identity and care for myself while caring for my daughter. Despite living in a chaotic and uncertain world, it is within my control to act as architect of my carefully-constructed work. Nurturing my art practice is my way of focusing on what I can control while honoring my creative calling and living a fulfilling, happy life.
Instagram: clamoca
My practice focuses on the relationship between power and gender, considering the set of circumstances that can favor interests, or just the opposite. My goal is to question gender roles assigned by certain industries such as medicine or cosmetics. Also the family traditions we have inherited, for example in the way we accept getting old and the efforts to prevent it; systematic violence or childbirth. In my process I use photography, especially portraiture, to reflect on the events that have impacted me. I try to work outside the limits of style, taking advantage of the freedom that the production of documentation images gives me, as well as the representation in a more abstract style, and also I use video. I have a special interest in continuing researching the representation of women and aesthetic procedures to change faces and bodies, and how this fact is used in the reinforcement of political power, secured by the apparatus of social networks and media.
Instagram: br.amos
My work is about relationships, corporeal, mental and spiritual. I am always exploring different body forms, deformities, what can emerge from these interactions, and what emotions can be conveyed. For me, the creatures that I paint are the purest expression of ourselves, our interior without the external baggage that we carry.
Human connection, violence, body multiplicity are recurring themes depicted in my artworks. I am influenced a lot by psychoanalytical readings and my experience in theatre, bringing characters and seeking contrasts between the real and the imaginary, the dreamlike and the non-place. I have the purpose with my creations to touch people’s souls, make them question, feel and see things differently.
Instagram: rasilet
My artistic journey has begun whit the “FADES” Collection that is focused on the chromatic synthesis that determines a spatial structure. The shape is dematerialized into color. The pictorial matter is dissolved whit glazes that create three dimensionality that suggest an essence beyond space. I try to represent ancestral forms, where the being is conceived in a universal dimension. Everything is related to the elements of nature, time, energy and its vibrations. I prefer the classic technique of oil painting, to have the opportunity to highlight the color, through shades and transparencies. I love a painting of atmospheric sensation, where the sign is dissolved and everything acquires a fluid aesthetics. The light is very important for me! In the fading, the light veil of chromatic light takes on the task of revelation, revealing the archetype.
Instagram: chygummybear
Controlling the depiction of my body is an affirmation of my agency over it. For me, the illusionistic act of painting mimics both the performativity and actualization of gender identity. Queer coding such as vibrant colors and dreamlike exaggerations materialize safety in an otherwise treacherous world. Through the imagery of martyrdom, deification, and healing in the spaces between I aim to scrutinize all binary-based power dynamics.
My current work ponders the fickleness of authenticity and other unavoidable burdens of life such as death, sexual objectification, and quantum theory. The rifts between these topics have resulted in a type of schizophrenic pastiche that I am eager to expand through the lens of Renaissance-style portraiture.
My paintings aim to captivate and comfort those who are not innocent but nevertheless embrace vulnerability as a form of interpersonal, cultural, or artistic growth.
Instagram: AmendedArchives
Taking great pleasure in the discovery and application of a range of mediums, I focus primarily on analog and digital collage or a hybrid of the two. Exploring the nature of color, texture, and context, is a therapeutic process used to make sense of the world around me.
Casting light on the issues that plague our species, I seek to illuminate collective experiences to support change and healing. On the precipice and in the midst of so many critical decisions, my work is meant to inspire critical thought, internal reflection, and thoughtful action.
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Instagram: sonyl_artartart7
Her works are about the search for an inner experience of time, where memories are made experienceable in the shape of fixation and transformation. She strives for a fusion of past and present, which creates a dynamic and timeless dimension. The transience, the cycle of human existence - life, death and rebirth - plays an important role in this; this transforms our reality and strengthens our human consciousness. In her art she wants to stimulate people's imagination and sensory experiences in which the traces of the past are revived in the present, which remains anchored in her memory and thus enriches her personal history. In this way she wants to inspire people to make an inner journey by really feeling and discovering for themselves what the treasury of their existence is.
Instagram: hatelovemaximshishov
For me, art is fashion and I do my best to show it in my work. By education, I am a Psychologist and Pedagog of deviant behavior, so I try to reveal the sacred themes of humanity through minimalist paintings and art objects.
Apart from that, I try to use unnecessary materials. I pursue ideas of social aesthetic through my artworks which are predominantly created from reused and recycled materials.
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Instagram: kattrevino1258
I find I create about people that are tied to a struggle that binds them from freedom (flight). Even on the edge of the sea where the winds carry my worries away the tides bring them back in - So close to paradise yet so far. I remember the dreams that fade away in the sunlight then re-create them in Art. The 'Great-Escape' I find in the surreal worlds I design and welcome the viewer to a place of strange and beautiful fantasy. I create Art that moves people, that changes people's thought process through expression to share with the World. I love to be a part of this change and give people hope through Art.
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Instagram: jensvange.photography
Magritte, Escher, Monet, and Dali have long captivated my imagination; how they translated the edges of reality into the fantastic. This body of work interprets urban buildings through reflections in their neighbors. The abstractions reveal fleeting, unintended architecture that passersby often miss. The hidden dimensions of these photos give viewers pause to decipher what they see, puzzle how images were captured, then look beyond the familiar and uncover - or rediscover - the fantastic. All photos are single exposure..
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Instagram: inkd__
Balance in Art refers to the use of artistic elements such as line, texture, color, and form in the creation of artworks in a way that renders visual stability. Balance is one of the principles of organization of structural elements of art and design, along with unity, proportion, emphasis and rhythm. Later inspired by provocative icons, from every walk of life, what starts out as chaotic vision, soon becomes a passionate symphony of color and nontraditional imagery.
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My work is quite different. While some of my pieces are paintings, I enjoy using nontraditional materials in my art. My favorite materials to work with are yarn and canvas. It gives me great pleasure to design concepts and see them come to fruition using these mediums. Using yarn to create shapes and visually appealing pieces is therapeutic for me. However, my work doesn’t just benefit me, it benefits all who view it.
Research has proven that art can have a direct impact not only on the creator, but the viewer as well. Art has been known to help relieve stress, lower depression levels, and help to enhance critical thinking skills. My work definitely does all of those things and will benefit the community. I like seeing how my work excites my family and causes them to try to figure out how I created my art, like it is some sort of brain puzzle. I want my work to invoke both happiness and creativity in people. I want my work to be an inspiration to others to pursue their dreams and to reassure them that the sky is the limit.
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