Author: Iris

Bea Last is a Scottish artist whose work cuts deep into the intersections of memory, material, and meaning. Living and working in the Scottish Borders, Last builds her practice around what she calls “sculptural drawing,” using salvaged, recycled, and gifted materials to shape installations that feel both grounded and ephemeral. Her art doesn’t exist to sit quietly in the corner. It speaks, it pushes, it mourns, and it reflects. Every piece she creates seems to ask the same question: how much can a material hold, and how far can it stretch to carry the weight of lived experience? She doesn’t…

Alexandra Jicol is an artist who doesn’t just make work—she searches. Her art is shaped by a deep need to understand what it means to be human. Emotions, memories, and fleeting expressions are at the center of her practice. She doesn’t stay within stylistic borders or follow expected paths. Instead, she moves where the feeling takes her. Jicol’s work is personal, intuitive, and grounded in a genuine fascination with people—their joy, their pain, their truths. Over the years, she’s created a style that resists easy labels. She’s not interested in technical perfection. She’s after something much harder to pin down—what…

Caroline Kampfraath is a Dutch artist whose work explores the fragile, gritty, and deeply human spaces where emotion meets matter. She doesn’t simply make art; she constructs meaning out of texture, memory, and confrontation. Known for her 3D installations, Kampfraath doesn’t shy away from using unexpected materials—metal cans, old bottles, and even human body casts—layering them into sculptural forms that explore our relationship with nature, society, and ourselves. Her work is personal, but not insular. It invites the viewer into a shared dialogue. Kampfraath’s art is not about shock value; it’s about digging beneath surfaces—literally and metaphorically. Her practice moves…

In Canberra, Australia, Kirandeep Grewal is building something that goes beyond the studio. Her art lives at the edge of personal and collective memory, rooted in community and cultural reflection. Grewal isn’t content to simply make something beautiful. She’s asking questions, challenging assumptions, and quietly reimagining what it means to be an artist. Her background bridges creativity with service. As a teacher, she shares her process. As a community collaborator, she fosters healing and conversation. And as an artist, she creates work that is layered, tactile, and deeply meditative. Sustainability isn’t an afterthought—it’s central. Each piece carries the imprint of…

In the vibrant capital of Canberra, Australia, Bruce Cowell has spent over 40 years behind the lens—quietly observing, documenting, and interpreting the world. His work as a fine-art photographer is grounded in both technical skill and emotional insight. Cowell isn’t interested in flashy trends or passing movements. He’s more concerned with what lies underneath: the moments we miss, the stories etched into landscapes, and the quiet weight of being alive. Cowell’s photography bridges his experience as a commercial and professional photographer with his deeper pursuit—using visuals to explore what it means to be human. For him, photography is less about…

Aliza Thomas, an artist living in the Netherlands, was born and raised in Israel. Her life’s path reflects the quiet depth that comes from years of exploration—both creative and personal. She is a visual artist and papermaker, but that’s just one layer. Thomas is also a devoted teacher, both in art and in practices like Qigong and Taijiquan, disciplines that emphasize balance, flow, and presence. Her daily life is deeply rooted in family, as a mother of three and grandmother to three more. These roles don’t compete—they complement. Thomas brings the same attentiveness to her teaching and art as she…

Vicky Tsalamata, an artist based in Athens, Greece, works at the intersection of history, critique, and personal exploration. Her art reflects a clear-eyed view of the human condition, one that carries the biting wit and deep introspection found in Honoré de Balzac’s La Comédie Humaine. Tsalamata doesn’t shy away from asking uncomfortable questions. She examines where we stand in the grand scale of time, society, and the natural world—and whether our cultural artifacts and ambitions hold up to the slow, steady forces of nature. A Professor Emeritus in Printmaking at the Athens School of Fine Arts, Tsalamata has spent decades developing…

Kimberly McGuiness doesn’t just make art—she builds experiences. Based in Georgia, McGuiness is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans visual art, surface design, and writing. Her creative process is rooted in storytelling, but not the tidy kind. Instead, she leans into complexity, ambiguity, and the edges of the human experience. There’s a rawness and vulnerability in her work that pulls you in. She uses color, texture, and symbolism to craft pieces that aren’t just meant to be looked at—they’re meant to be felt, questioned, and interpreted. McGuiness is known for taking inspiration from life’s messiness—emotional weight, unseen burdens, and unspoken…

Sylvia Nagy’s work sits at the intersection of art, technology, and global movement. Trained in both industrial design and fine art, she blends material knowledge with expressive intent in a way that feels at once grounded and visionary. She studied at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, where she earned an MFA in Silicet Industrial Technology and Art. That technical foundation would evolve as she explored ceramics more deeply—especially during her time at Parsons School of Design in New York. There, she not only taught but also designed a course in mold model making using plaster, pushing traditional…

Born on February 28, 1963, in Alès, France, Patrice Layre has always moved through life with a painter’s eye. From early childhood, he found comfort in holding a brush, watching color spread across paper. His grandfather, a painter himself, played a quiet but powerful role in shaping this path. The bond they shared over art stayed with him long after his grandfather passed away. For Layre, painting is more than expression—it’s remembrance, connection, and a way to slow time. Layre didn’t come to art through formal institutions. His approach is intuitive, personal, and anchored in observation. He paints not for…