Author: Iris

Alexandra Jicol makes art that reaches beyond surface beauty, drawing from a life shaped by contrast and complexity. Born and raised in Bucharest, Romania, during a period of political tension, she grew up between the quiet strength of the Carpathian Mountains and the dense atmosphere of the city. That early duality continues to inform her work, where emotion and observation meet in thoughtful, layered compositions. For Jicol, art is a kind of excavation. She works to uncover what lies underneath the surface of human experience—emotion, vulnerability, contradiction. Her paintings aren’t just compositions of color and form; they are quiet meditations…

Vicky Tsalamata lives and works in Athens, but her practice stretches far beyond borders—geographical, historical, and emotional. A Professor Emeritus in Printmaking at the Athens School of Fine Arts, she works in mixed media with precision and insight, using archival prints on Hahnemühle cotton paper to deliver sharp, at times sarcastic, reflections on the human condition. Tsalamata’s art doesn’t aim to soothe; it cuts. It questions. It demands that we consider how much, or how little, we matter in the grand machinery of history. Her ongoing series, La Comédie Humaine, nods to Balzac and, through that, to Dante, reminding us that…

Caroline Kampfraath creates art that holds presence—works that contain memory, emotion, and fragments of lived experience. Based in the Netherlands, she builds 3D pieces using found materials like metal cans, glass bottles, and cast elements of the human body. Each object becomes part of a broader story—one shaped by personal history, curiosity about the world, and the ways we connect to our surroundings. Her sculptures feel like quiet exchanges between what’s tangible and what’s felt, between what’s been used up and what still holds meaning. Through this layering of form and feeling, Kampfraath creates something that stays with you. At…

Miguel Barros doesn’t paint just to fill a canvas. He paints to reflect something essential—how we live alongside the natural world, how we move through it, and how it moves through us. Born in Lisbon in 1962, Barros carries with him the layered perspectives of Portugal, Canada, and Angola. These three homes, spanning continents and histories, have shaped his view of art as a cross-cultural dialogue. In 2014, he moved from Angola to Calgary, Alberta, opening a new chapter of experimentation and introspection. Barros studied Architecture and Design at IADE in Lisbon, finishing in 1984, and you can still sense…

Ruth Poniarski didn’t begin her life as a painter. Her creative path started with structure—literally. She earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute in 1982 and spent ten years in the construction field. But architecture, for all its logic and form, wasn’t enough. In 1988, she pivoted. Painting offered something else entirely: a way to explore the unknown. It didn’t follow a blueprint. It asked questions. It gave her room to bring together myths, culture, philosophy, and literature into a surreal, expressive language of her own. That decision—leaving behind hard angles for the freedom of canvas—opened the door to…

Sylvia Nagy’s work bridges the precision of industrial design with the intuition of spiritual exploration. Born and trained in Budapest, she earned her MFA in Silicet Industrial Technology and Art at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. Later, she continued her path in New York at Parsons School of Design, where she wasn’t just a student—she taught and even developed a course on Mold Model Making in Plaster. This balance between technical knowledge and creative instinct shows up in everything she does. Her practice has taken her from Hungary to Japan, China, Germany, and the U.S., with each place…

Pasquale J. Cuomo didn’t stumble into photography—he walked into it with purpose, camera in hand, still a teenager. What began as a simple curiosity turned into a life’s work, spanning over fifty years. An American photographer rooted in experience and passion, Cuomo has seen the artform shift from the darkroom days of film to the clean precision of digital—and now, with deliberate choice, he’s gone back to film. His career has moved through fashion, architecture, advertising, weddings, public relations, and legal documentation. By 1985, Cuomo was no longer dabbling. He had a full-fledged operation, complete with his own lab, serious…

Some artists depict what’s already in front of us. Others open a doorway to something hidden—something ancient, personal, and impossible to name. Kimberly McGuiness is the latter. She possesses a rare talent for creating work that reads like a story passed down through time, rooted in nature, mythology, and imagination. Her art isn’t just visual—it’s a world unto itself. McGuiness draws from deep wells. You’ll find horses, peacocks, symbols, and oracles—not as ornaments, but as vessels of meaning. She’s especially drawn to the beauty and mystery of the natural world, the pull of myth, and the surreal spectacle of circus…

Sabrina Puppin doesn’t just paint—she throws you into a storm of color and emotion. Based around the world and showing her work internationally, Puppin has carved out a space for herself where abstraction meets feeling. Her style is bold and unmistakable. You won’t find delicate strokes or minimal gestures. Instead, her canvases are packed with high-energy color, layered textures, and motion that seems to leap from the surface. These aren’t just paintings to look at—they’re paintings to experience. What Puppin aims to do is more emotional than literal. Her works don’t try to mimic the world. They reshape it through…

Nancy Staub Laughlin isn’t trying to fit into a box. She works in pastel and photography, and instead of choosing one over the other, she brings them together in ways that feel both grounded and dreamlike. She earned her BFA from Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, and over the years, her work has been shown in galleries and museums along the East Coast. Her pieces are also part of corporate and private collections, and she’s been interviewed and written about in various publications. The late Sam Hunter, a respected art critic and historian, once called her work “refreshingly unique”—and…