10 Emerging Artists 2023

Shining a Light on 10 Visionary Artists who are Leaving Their Mark on New England and Beyond

This feature is a favorite to work on—and a true team sport. Multiple writers and nominators, conversations flowing for weeks, a constant swirl of ideas—it’s a whirlwind of color and preparation. And the artists always seem to expand the definition of “emerging.” This year’s feature adds a new twist. Art New England invited a previous Emerging Artist to be a nominator, interdisciplinary artist Harlan Mack of Johnson, VT. And so a new tradition is born. ANE asked Harlan to share his experience: “It seems that every instance of the term, emerging artist, may have different implications. So many artists are accomplished masters of the art of emergence, by repeatedly surfacing with new gifts and knowledge. It has been a pleasure to highlight artists that I think about frequently.”

Taking a deep dive into these conversations, several common themes resonated. Many are committed to making art more accessible; exploring spirituality in the act of making; improvising, collaborating with deep, intentional looking; and inviting adventure and experimentation into their processes. This is a courageous group—all are pushing boundaries, asking questions and demanding answers from their work and the world. And they all strive to give back—to people, to places that supported them, to the land. Art New England is honored to celebrate: AGONZA, Providence, RI; Laila J. Franklin, Boston, MA; Jim Heskett, Charlestown, MA; Justine Kablack, Rockport, ME; Alyssa Klauer, New Haven, CT and Brooklyn, NY; Nathaniel Moody, Brattleboro, VT; Verne Orlosk, Manchester, NH; Andrew Scripter, Westbrook, ME; Hillary Sprague, Boston, MA; and Crystal Stokes, Morrisville, VT. Perhaps you know a few already.

And thank you, nominators, for your time, thoughtfulness, and collaboration: Shura Baryshnikov, assistant professor in theater arts and performance studies at Brown University; Tamar Russell Brown, director, Gallery Sitka; Jennifer Herrera Condry and Will Kasso Condry, Juniper Creative Arts; Shawn Dumont, The Shelter Cultivation Project; Suzanne Lee, director, the lakes gallery of chi-lin; Harlan Mack, sculpture program manager, Vermont Studio Center; Carrie Paveglio, executive director, Olu & Company, on behalf of NXTHVN; artist/curator Anna Queen; and owner/artist Curtis Speer, CUSP Gallery, Newport. It’s been inspiring to learn about your new projects and endeavors as well.

Nathaniel Moody
Brattleboro, Vermont
nathanieljmoody.com; @bluestarmoody

I was introduced to Nathaniel in 2018. He is a master at creating a sense of unhurried immediacy. In viewing his work, we are invited to open a window into his personal experience. I feel as if I can breathe in the moment as he did and can stay there in that moment as long as I wish. In Nathaniel’s recent work, he pulls us in deeper still, beyond the external senses and into the moments within. — Harlan Mack, interdisciplinary artist, Johnson, VT.

Nathaniel J. Moody of Brattleboro, VT, flies under the radar in his rural landscape. Yet to those who know him, he is a treasured and talented friend who enjoys painting BIG. And his impact grows every day.

“I have been drawing my whole life,” muses Nate as he recounted a story of a dinosaur obsession at age three which continued for years. By seven, he was drawing these creatures and selling them to the neighborhood kids. When his mother discovered his sales, she insisted he return the money.

As a high school student, Moody knew art school was his gig. He studied at The Art Institute of Boston. Post college, Moody volunteered in the Peace Corps. He reflects, “As a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania, I lived in a remote village with no running water or electricity. It was there …that I observed and began to develop my own spiritual connection to Earth and its energies.” The artist painted portraits to honor the culture and people of this time in his life.

A Vermont resident since 2007, Moody moved from Burlington into a yurt from 2016-2022 with his partner and younger son—his older son visiting on school breaks. Not for the faint of heart, especially in Vermont. Nate built a wall inside the yurt to create rooms, using the wall for painting on a large scale. His home reflects the artist’s spiritual and physical connection to the land: “As a lifelong seeker, I am interested in the mystery and the mystic,
exploring the connection we have to one another through land and spirit, as well as what happens when that connection is disrupted. My subject matter is a combination of observation and spiritual downloads from Source, images that come to me in dreams, ceremonies, and meditations.”

Nate’s studio practice consists of large-scale oils and watercolor as well as small scale watercolors. He also employs colored pencil in the work. Using watercolors forced him to be freer with application of paint. His practice spans twenty-plus years, “It is the central part of my life, but not always consistent… When using oils, I primarily work with brushes, spray bottles and rags. I strive to use thin washes to build up depth. Then I apply paint impasto style. Overall, I am unwilling to compromise what I am making.” Moody is looking to build a more consistent studio practice which requires being able to sell the work to carve out the time. “It’s a circular kind of wheel,” he says.

The strongest influences in Moody’s work are Paul Gauguin as well as Scottish artist Peter Doig. Magical realist painters Odilon Redon and Charles Burchfield influence his current paintings which Moody describes as the magical realist genre.

Moody’s goals for his work and audience? “I am constantly trying to pair back on detail, adopting an exercise restraint mantra. I want my spiritual connection to earth and spirituality to shine through the paint. When things are flowing, I feel tapped in. Call it God or whatever you want, feeling nature on the ground in between your toes represents Spirit.” — Kelly Holt

Hillary Sprague
Boston, Massachusetts
hmsprague.com; @h.m.sprague

Like many people in my sphere of artists, Hillary Sprague is a good friend for about 20 years. She is a native of Martha’s Vineyard and we met while
I lived there. When she started to get serious about her work, I said, “Let me represent you.” She agreed. I am honored.

Her work is minimal and heartbreaking all at the same time—because she paints life. I support this kind of work because it is abstract in nature but peaceful. However, more than anything, I wanted to represent her and her work, because she means something to me—I want to be supportive of her art career, as an extension of our friendship. — Tamar Russell Brown, Gallery Sitka

As a little girl walking the dunes of Martha’s Vineyard, Hillary Sprague developed a philosophy: when you come upon something powerful in your life, whether it be an activity or your artwork, you have to lean into it. Which makes sense when Sprague describes her art, as “complexus,” a Latin word meaning embrace or a whole made up of many disparate parts.

Sprague works with monotypes and wood cuts as a printmaker and painter, yet she wants to expand to larger, more architectural work, evolving her previous 2-D pieces to an expansive three-dimensionality that reflects her sense of the human experience. “I love what the viewer sees in my work, whether it is a little bit of delicacy, anger or death. I love building things, of course 2-D work is not building things but I’m progressing towards more three-dimensional pieces.”

Sprague’s determination to expand expresses a need to further explore human nature. Her process starts as a conjuring of emotion from writing poetry, and those words assist her in visualizing what her art will become.

“My work is very much about being human. What a person fixates on says so much about our different personalities. I get lost in the process of how do you coax a little curiosity and emotion out of this piece, so to draw somebody in with something that is very intricate. This motivates me to ask, “Can I add a little more fragility, can I make it more delicate or add contrast to make it more powerful?”

Sprague’s artwork embraces the weathering of time, essence, balance and experience, even if each piece is made up of drastically disparate parts. “I’m always curious and interested to look at things just a little bit closer whether they be people or objects.”

Sprague often explains the inherent and encompassing beauty she finds in her aesthetic process, yet more so in the human condition.
It is how she leans in to her artwork and her life. — Maureen Canney

Verne Orlosk
Manchester, New Hampshire
studioverne.com; @studioverne_vglassy

I first met Verne at an Art New England reception in Concord, NH, and as many, was intrigued by her beautiful glass leaves. A crucial part of my work in the gallery is trying to listen to the artists I represent, to encourage them to take the next step towards their dreams.

Visiting Verne’s studio and seeing her ideas develop I saw there was a hidden natural world waiting to come out in beautiful light and color—in a way I had never seen before. Over time and much exploration Verne has taken this medium into many new directions, pushing the boundaries of what had been the expected. In the gallery’s Process II exhibit the summer of 2021 Verne exhibited the incredible, time consuming and multi-stage process of working in fused glass and we all learned so much about her creativity and knowledge of the technique. — Suzanne Lee, the lakes gallery at chi-lin

After working as an artist for more than two decades, Verne Orlosk is surprised by being called an “emerging artist.” Orlosk’s nominator, however, sees Orlosk as re-emerging into a new medium. “Orlosk recently has been working on larger pieces, which like paintings, are built up of many layers, components and firings. Her approach to the fused glass technique is not one known to most in the art world… Orlosk’s long and self-developed career is starting to bloom.”

Orlosk wrangles with any such constructs. “I don’t see myself fitting into a category.” Yet in the medium of fused glass, Orlosk breaks boundaries by never establishing any. She tests and breaks glass—always pausing to ask the ‘what if,’ positioning how far she can push the glass with unique results. Her fused glass work is visceral, one expects to touch snow and ice when they see Ghost Leaves, a framed 23 x 29 inch piece or sense that the Vernal Pool is really water with leaves and nature’s debris floating on the edges.

Fitting into a cast of what Orlosk is creating would hinder her process. “The ‘what if’ is the unpredictability of each variable… When I’m designing something I have to go in my head all the way to how it is going to be displayed. Then I can back up and think of all of those elements and put them together. The ‘what if’ is usually about trying to push some creativity in the glass that the glass really doesn’t want to do.”

Orlosk plays with temperatures in the kiln of 200 degrees or more, and is then thrilled by the discovery of new techniques as that glass cools down or heats up.

Even in the past year Orlosk has carved out a place for fused glass that had not previously existed, receiving numerous awards as a result. “I had not considered submitting my work because it was glass. I started to call the shows asking them if I should submit my work in the fine arts categories. I never felt that there was a place for glass in these shows.”

Orlosk is emerging from the chrysalis of her new form asserting the limits of glass and from that she is also redefining where fused glass fits in the fine arts community. Finding a place devoid of constructs and limits. — Maureen Canney

Jim Heskett
Charlestown, Massachusetts
jheskett.com; @heskettart

While Jim has spent his career in the world of events and corporate travel, he never turned his back on his art. Now more than ever, Jim is focusing on his true talent and passion and that is evident in his latest work which takes the viewer to a pensive and introspective space, balancing the elements of light and dark. As if tapping into a part of each of us that we continue to navigate and embrace. The nostalgic aesthetic of Jim’s paintings begs the question: “Is he an old soul or battling with an internal struggle that we can all relate to yet is difficult to articulate?” Reminiscent of old English/Dutch masters like J.M.W. Turner and George Philip Reinagle. — Curtis Speer, owner, CUSP Gallery + Lifestyle, Newport, RI.

Jim Heskett has found balance. At home in New England, in charming Charlestown, MA, he balances a job managing travel logistics for a rolodex of private clients while pursuing his art. “I was always compelled to come to New England, specifically Boston… It’s a very empowering place to be. I love the severe changes in the seasons. I love the darkness of wintertime.” Heskett is at an exciting point in his life: his art career is gaining momentum and well-deserved recognition. A recent party guest happened to be a gallerist and there’s buzz of a potential show this year.

Applying the word “emerging” to an artist always sparks an interesting exchange. The fun is found in broadening the definition. “Emerging” breaks age barriers—Heskett is 64. “I think of myself as always emerging. There have been times where I’ve made lots of art and there’s times I’ve stepped away from it. And then it always, always calls me back…”

“I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t make art,” Heskett continues. While at college, he says, art drew him in. “I’m one of those people that loves those little black bound sketchbooks. I think I’ve always had one with me. I am inspired by things that are from the natural world… I’m very much a classicist painter in the sense that I believe in craft and technique and understanding what paint can do if you understand the medium.”

Heskett recently embarked on a journey that lead him into color study, devising self-inflicted artistic challenges en route, where he found a deeper understanding of his own eye and voice. We discussed four paintings, beginning 15 years ago to the present, where Heskett’s immersion into and then extraction from intense color work was reflected. “I decided to switch from a white background to black—with everything black or a mixture of blacks and work from dark into the light or into wherever it’s going to take me. I’m so used to thinking through layering color to create darker and darker areas and to create shadows but still there are reds and greens in the shad-ows. I’m going to completely flip this whole thing around and see where it takes me.” The results are sensuous and mystical.

Discussing art with an artist is illuminating—even journalists learn new words. Like pareidolia. “I came across this in a novel and thought that could be my signature word,” Heskett explains. “It’s a psychological experience when your mind looks at an image and you see something in it. I have acute pareidolia. While other people look up in the sky and say, ‘That looks like a rabbit’, I look up and say, ‘Wow, that looks like a beaver pulling a chariot with a silencer.’ Heskett is also hilarious, possessing a wit only self-awareness can sharpen.

So here he stands, consumed with artistic curiosity and introspection. And contentment. “Maybe the good thing is, [success] didn’t happen immediately. Now I have something to show that’s new and fresh. I do think there is serendipity in life. And it pays to try out new paintings on your party guests.” — Rita A. Fucillo

Alyssa Klauer
New Haven, Connecticut
alyssaklauer.com; @alyssaklauerart

NXTHVN would like to nominate artist Alyssa Klauer, who lives and works in New Haven. She was a NXTHVN Fellow in the last cohort. Part of Alyssa’s work explores the concept of “Queer Time” where the lives and experiences of Queer individuals may not unfold in a linear way. — Carrie Paveglio, executive director, Olu & Company, New Haven, CT.

The first instance Connecticut artist Alyssa Klauer can remember really feeling the influence of art in her life was on a high school trip to New York City. Her class visited the Paul Theck show at the Whitney Museum. “It opened my eyes to what art could be.”

Klauer studied at the Maryland College of Art and got her MFA at Cranbrook Academy of Art. She had been drawing and painting since she was a kid. “It’s a continuous thread in my life.” She works in acrylic and oil with the intent of using the material in every way possible. Klauer exhibits nationally with residencies coast to coast, bringing her most recently to Los Angeles.

During residencies, her sketchbook practice is particularly integral to the experience. “It’s symbolic in some ways. I scribble out something like a diagram and then make the painting… I often free-write and pull out the phrases to title the work and to get out of my head,” shares the artist.

Becoming a fellow of NXTHVN in New Haven, CT, for 2021-2022 changed Klauer’s career. This experience enabled her to become a full-time artist. “There I worked on a body of work that features two major motifs—the first being the ‘dreamers’ that appear as ghostly portraits apparating on a plane removed from the dream spaces featuring the second motif— the women. My work meditates on ‘Queer Time,’ the idea that Queer individuals often experience a delayed or second adolescence when encountering time-bending experiences such as coming out later in life. My paintings capture the desire to repossess the memories of a hetero-temporal childhood, the precarity of a foreshortened future and the beauty of Queer rebirth.”

A studio day begins with Alyssa rising early—getting that caffeine going. “I love the morning, the stillness. I use noise cancelling headphones… often I enjoy listening to Enya. I paint until it is right. The way I use color is intuitive. I encourage myself to follow what I feel. Usually, I will begin with work on the floor—do some staining and dyeing. It’s like the canvas is willing to try anything. You can see every single layer in person in my canvases… like a treasure hunt. I paint in oils—aiming for huge contrast in the image… getting in there with a little brush, using the whole spectrum of my tool kit.”

Of the future, Klauer muses that she would love to have a museum show in the next few years. After all, the goal is just to paint. — Kelly Holt

Laila J. Franklin
Boston, Massachusetts
lailajfranklin.com; @la.frank

In an effort to delve deeper into the voice of movement and the art of dance, Art New England reached out to interdisciplinary artist Shura Baryshnikov, assistant professor in theater arts and performance studies at Brown University, for new work and new names to be aware of in New England. Laila J. Franklin was among them.

Laila’s choreography invites the viewer on a journey: “I improvise, I score, I fail, I score again, I usually laugh, and there is a small chance I cry, and, in that case, I have tissues.” Her work—and her voice—is fresh, strong, and powerful. Full of intention and resonance: “I am invested in the (in)visibility of lived experience. My work seeks to create a container for the complicated nature of being a moving body in the world.” — Rita A. Fucillo, publisher, Art New England

Laila J. Franklin’s dances are not the ethereal, otherworldly work of most dancemakers. Franklin is interested in “taking that veil off of dance.” She seeks to reveal something about the nature of humaneness through her work. Her practice relies on improvisation, collaboration and a raw sense of realism. “Nothing is precious unless you decide that it is,” says Franklin. Each piece of hers reveals or explores something different about the human experience. Something she chooses to make precious with her work and her body.

Franklin begins her process with a prompt or a task. “Lately I’ve gone in with: this is the concept. This is the idea. Here’s a sentence of ‘this is what the dance is about.’” Whether it is a thematic question or a physical task, Franklin uses her improvisatory method to explore this prompt. She uses videography to edit her work and see her dance from the perspective of the audience. From there, she identifies key markers in her movement, things she wants to return to as she moves on in her process.

Franklin has been largely Boston-based throughout her career, beginning with a BFA from the Boston Conservatory. She went on to earn an MFA from the University of Iowa. A performer with a multitude of groups and the recipient of several artist residencies in the past few years, Franklin always has several projects going on.

Born in 1997 and raised in the Washington, D.C., area, Franklin has been dancing since she was a young girl. She soon found that it allowed her to express herself despite being, as she says, “painfully shy.” “When I was moving, it was a way for me to feel really seen and heard.” She makes sure to thank her parents, who have always supported her on her artistic journey. Over the years, Franklin found inspiration from teachers and collaborators. She values those who make her think or question her way of thinking.

Currently, Franklin is part of the 2022/2023 Dancemakers Laboratory Residency through Boston Center for the Arts, where she is working with two local collaborators to create her next piece, an evening length work titled BABYBABYBABY. She will also be starting rehearsals soon for the New York premiere of I as another, a piece that Franklin collaborated on as a performer with New York- and Los Angeles-based dancemaker Miguel Gutierrez.

Looking to the future, Franklin wants to
create a sustainable practice for herself and find a balance in her work. Franklin has something to say and a talent for using her work to portray it. “As humans, we are constantly having to navigate how we relate to the world around us, and the other people in the world. And in my work, I want to show that.” — Autumn Duke

AGONZA
Providence, Rhode Island
agonza.com; @agonzaart

“We are pleased to nominate AGONZA. As a Queer Latina artist, AGONZA is breaking barriers to representation in public art in her home state of Rhode Island. AGONZA’s personal canvas work is introspective and expressive. Her public art is an extension of her personal style, consistent in her advocacy of Black and Brown joy and resilience, and is a ‘microphone’ to a society in flux.” — Jennifer Herrera Condry and Will Kasso Condry, co-founders, Juniper Creative Arts, Brandon, VT

Muralist AGONZA is adding color and joy to her community in her home state of Rhode Island, one mural at a time. AGONZA’s biological mother was born in Puerto Rico, and her father is from the Dominican Republic. She remembers always making art as a child, growing up in the Manton Heights Projects with her grandmother, where she later returned to create public art.

AGONZA studied painting at the University of Rhode Island. Her canvases kept growing until she could hardly get them through doorways. Painting evolved into making murals in 2018.

AGONZA connects with community through social justice work. Her public art practice grows organically. Prior to the pandemic, she painted her first BLM fist. In 2020 during the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor Black Lives Matter protests, AGONZA rushed to the streets in Providence where windows were being boarded up for a protest march. She began painting the boards. Soon, the streets were filling with artists responding and painting. AGONZA went live on social media and the artists led the March. This event marked her discovery as an emerging muralist.

On process, AGONZA shares, “The ability to absorb and feel the environment around where I will be painting has become a tradition… as well as all the conversations and feedback from those who spend most of their time around the area. I tend to incorporate a figure that has a combination of resemblance to many who I believe may spend time in this area.”

A favorite painting of AGONZA’s is Legends Nvr Die. AZONZA created this painting for musician Trippy Red, a goth artist wildly popular with the younger generation. She was asked to paint the piece to honor Trippy Red’s two best friends who passed away. The title is from one of his songs. The musician was deeply moved. AGONZA “loved him for the person that he is. The cover of the book is different than the pages.”

AGONZA works with partnership organizations often, including the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Providence Housing Authority and City of Providence, Art Culture and Tourism. “I inform the community on how to fund public art programs and educate them on how to make these projects happen.”

“I always try to make sure I am serving my mission; I prefer places that are underserved. I keep an open conversation with the work.” All paint is purchased from a Providence vendor who mixes paints for her that are environmentally safe and last ten years.

This spring, AGONZA will transform the entrance of the St. Mary’s Home for Children in North Providence, RI, where she spent time as a child. Giving back to this organization is important to her, “to make them feel like this is home and to lift up the youth in this community.” AGONZA will also travel to Asia to study the Kamai culture. Her partner is Cambodian, Vietnamese and Chinese, so this will be an important immersive trip for both.

Future plans include travel. “I want to study education in different cultures and paint my experiences in different countries while I develop my practice and techniques.” — Kelly Holt

Crystal Stokes
Morrisville, Vermont
crystalsart.com; @crystalstokesart

I was introduced to Crystal’s work in 2021. There is always a sense of depth and calm to the individuals portrayed in her works. As someone who remembers individual faces for a very long time, I have great respect for portraiture that introduces me to part of who the individual is in that moment. I get a sense that her works are a true collaboration between the sensibilities of both the artist and the individuals. — Harlan Mack, interdisciplinary artist, Johnson, VT.

Stokes grew up in Morrisville, VT. She describes, “Growing up biracial in a predominantly white state had its difficult times. Drawing allowed me to release some of that energy and realize some outlets for myself.”

Stokes’ father is a musician. Part of her artistic roots included lying on the kitchen floor and feeling the vibration from band practice. “It is an important part of who I am as an artist. The simple transition from one song to the next can transform what I see on canvas, and ultimately the painting itself” noted Stokes. Music is a grounding element of her studio practice.

Another inspiration is the work of Lee Jeffries, a British photographer. She drew his images to perfect her technique. She describes his work as grittier than hers but having the same intent. Stokes began painting in earnest in 2014, first dabbling with charcoal and graphite. And soon the drawings evolved into paintings. Stokes confided, “For many of us, art is a portal into our own safe space and I’ve really loved that. That’s why I continue to paint, really.”

Stokes creative practice evolved into a 360 degree experience. She modeled for August Burns, a highly accomplished painter, who is now her mentor. “She has guided me through this journey quite a bit on how to present and see myself as an artist.” Stokes has also modeled for figure classes. “The one thing I love about being a model is that I get to hear all the techniques. I get to see every artist’s style and how they portray me differently. I see a little bit of each artist and myself in every painting.”

Stokes’ series “Pieces of You” aims to capture the raw nature of who we all are. Her process begins with the camera using high contrast lighting. Stokes works from the eye out. The eye is her power place. The models are family members. “When I show my work, viewers often say they recognize the person in the painting as if they have always known them.”

Stokes participated in the Emerging Artists program at The Current in Stowe, VT. The arts center has been a guiding force in her career. She was also the first recipient of Diane Gabriel Visual Art Award from Burlington City Arts.

Stokes owns her own rental business in Stowe, is a realtor, and does interior design. “This community of New England artists is such a precious community, working tirelessly through the seasons, hardship, survival. It’s so nice to learn we are all in this together.”

Of current times, Stokes shares, “During the George Floyd murder and many uprisings, I was nervous my work was being used because of the color of my skin rather than the merit of my work… at that time and sometimes still all these emotions come up where I feel I need total control of my art. I need to try to be respectful of myself, build trust and be able to exhibit my work again after a bit of a hiatus.”

What’s ahead? “I don’t like to do things halfway, I like to show growth—for respect for my audience and the people that have supported me. There are all these little steps that you don’t realize you need to do. I think that makes us the artists we are—rebels, using materials the best you can withing your budget. I want to end up at Art Basel, Miami. Because why not? I go every year. There is a big venue on the beach “Scope”—I would love just to have a little corner there.” — Kelly Holt

Justine Kablack
Rockport, Maine
justinekablack.com; @kab_ine

Justine Kablack’s practice draws on a lexicon of found and collected imagery that come together as meticulous drawings. The works present the viewer with ethereal mythologies, both personal and worldly, that explore what lies just beyond our vision. Through commanding skill of the medium, Kablack shows the multiple facets of enigmatic existence. — Artist/curator, Anna Queen, Rockland, ME.

Justine Kablack’s studio in mid-coast Maine is in Rockland—a city brimming with galleries, museums, and a funky downtown district. She studied interdisciplinary arts at MICA in Baltimore—mostly ceramics, sculpture, and printmaking with drawings as components of larger installations. Early in her career Kablack worked as an art assistant for Dustin Yellin in New York City replicating photographs which inform her practice now. She has exhibited in New England and New York City and enjoys the company of local artists in Rockland who are a supportive and enthusiastic community.

Kablack’s graphite drawings involve research, accumulation of clippings, and gathering images. She has a great talent designing borders as well. Travel is a key element in the mix—taking photographs as a way of notetaking. The photos are either used directly in her work or inform future pieces. A day at a museum for inspiration is also important. When working on collage, “I am hoping for serendipity—magic to reveal itself to me as I juxtapose images. This does not happen on demand,” explains Kablack.

Accessibility is a goal. “I care about putting work in homes—keeping my art collectible. I would rather have my work in the collection of someone who will cherish it and care about it.”

Kablack’s influences include multimedia artist Laurie Anderson—“her practice and all the forms it takes to explore something.” Another interesting influence is David Lynch—for his uncanny sense of Americana, seeking through darkness. A visit to MASS MoCA in one of James Turrell’s installations was a seminal experience “the darkness…and the faint glow in front of you” stay with her. For Kablack, making drawings is heavily linked to a spiritual practice. Night scenes are common in her work.

Kablack keeps a Zen practice and listens to podcasts from Zen Mountain Monastery. Another ritual is listening to singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen. “Listening to music is helpful…and I love reading other people’s poetry. It helps me pin down visual ideas.”

Simplicity and consistency center her artmaking. One will always find in her studio: cotton rag Stonehenge paper, Scotch blue tape for working the edges, boxes of photos, found imagery and ones she takes, Alvin drafting pencils, 8B Monolith woodless pencils, and the new addition of Blackwing pencils. “Sometimes it helps to fill a sketchbook page with graphite to hit the reset button.”

Kablack is headed to New Mexico for a second residency this winter. Her last visit was in 2018 at the Elephant Butte Lake Artist Residency where she was inspired to create landscape work, and now looks forward to expanding on that. Where is Kablack headed? “I would love to make work as my day job and show in places farther afield… as long as it stays fun and special.” — Kelly Holt

Andrew Scripter
Portland, Maine
andrewscripter.com; @wing_club_

I see Andrew as a working class craftsman armed with mind melting technical skill and a Riso press. His zines, art prints, and murals are made to be touched, handled and shared. This is art for the people. I am drawn to the mechanically complex process in which he crafts his familiar feeling Folk Art. His work is a beautiful mashup of old, new, intellectual and low-brow. — Shawn Dumont, The Shelter Cultivation Project

Andrew Scripter is a Renaissance artist in Portland, ME, specializing in screen-printing, design and Risographs, and as a curator and prolific artist on the zine scene. His work is exhibited throughout the Portland area, and with the Shelter Cultivation Project in Vermont and New York.

Growing up in western Massachusetts, Scripter traces his passion for commercial art, graphic design, and photography to high school days, when he was also introduced to screen printing. After graduating from Massachusetts College of Art, he moved to Portland and immediately found the artist community to be open and welcoming. There he founded Wing Club: a publishing practice, silk screen and design studio and for-hire printing practice whose moniker is graphic design (primarily for band posters and t-shirts) and Risoprints. “I work well with really hard parameters” shares Scripter. “I am drawn to the technical approach in making art.” Wing Club currently resides within Pickwick Studio Press in a building filled with artist studios.

Scripter’s inspirations gravitate toward design and thinking about the day-to-day things we take for granted… reflective of the time in which we live. He visits antique shops looking for bookmarks in history and is intrigued by how folk art is built out of utility. Circuit boards resonate with Andrew. It’s something mechanical that is visually intriguing and could be reconfigured on a new visual level.

The zine culture is an important thread in Scripter’s art practice. At an early age, he learned that “this artmaking practice does not need to be precious, not every page needs to be a masterpiece. Zines are a great vehicle to put something out into the world… see if it works. Does it come back to you? There is something cool about making affordable, accessible art and supporting other artists by collecting their zines. Some zines are made with no text, making the visual language speak first. In a culture where everybody wants to be attached to everything, the zine lets us feel the freedom of being disconnected—setting the piece free into the world.”

Scripter founded and hosts the New England Art Book Fair (inspired by the New York Art Book Fair) with four partners. Since 2017, they’ve developed this artist book and zine venue to expand community, and invite those outside of the community to show and sell their work. The vibe has grown into a thriving tradition each fall, hosted in Space Gallery in Portland.

Scripter’s goals include making a book out of his lifelong history of zines. Continuously inspired by the utilitarian nature of artmaking, he would be thrilled to develop a product/object from his designs. — Kelly Holt