Charlotte Deason Robillard is a ceramicist who uses hand-building techniques to create work that explores the human aspect of artmaking.  “My current body of work is an examination of the relationship between the artist’s physical body and their art. Sometimes this relationship is obvious — my fingerprints in the clay — but other times it is more subtle.” As conversation about art and AI continue to evolve, Robillard’s work “celebrates the messiness and unpredictability” of human creation. 

Ami Maki’s Obese Landscapes series consists of 40 large-scale paintings made with charcoal and acrylic on canvas, each measuring 7 x 5 feet. Maki celebrates the beauty of bodies that exist and have always existed outside of what the Body Mass Index (BMI) defines as fit. “The term ‘obese’ has been weaponized to perpetuate discrimination and shape perceptions of worth, leading to the marginalization of those whose bodies do not fit within narrow societal standards,” she says. Her work explores the ways in which our bodies not only resemble the beauty of nature but are part of it.

Sarah Heckles creates small figurative works on paper using onion skins as her primary material. “This work expresses a universal theme of moving in our bodies, often joyfully,” says Heckles. Drawn to the material’s “familiar yet unexpected” qualities, Heckles uses its natural forms to evoke subtle human gestures. “I pay attention to our rhythms of walking, the weight of stepping, the stretch of reaching, and the shrugs of shoulders.” Her figures invite viewers to explore their own relationship to their bodies and to each other.