Material Process

Juried by Francesca Altamura

About the Juror

Francesca Altamura is a curator and creative strategist, successful in driving innovative artistic experiences in architecture, as well as prestigious galleries, museums and spaces in New York and internationally. Altamura is senior art curator at Morris Adjmi Architects and was senior curator at Acrylicize and curatorial assistant at New Museum of Contemporary Art.

Curatorial Statement

Material Process, curated by Francesca Altamura, brings together thirty-nine artists whose materially driven practices explore the evolving relationship between substance, process, and meaning. Working across media—including canvas, clay, glass, paper, metal, fiber, cement, organic debris and found objects—these artists reveal that material is never inert. Materials have the ability to act as collaborators, archives, and witnesses.

Organized across three thematic virtual walls—Matter, Method, and Mechanism—the exhibition examines how material exploration itself becomes a mode of inquiry. Some artists return to elemental processes and historic techniques, honoring the foundational qualities of form, texture, and time. Others manipulate, deconstruct, and push materials to the edge of recognition—stretching, breaking, and rebuilding through gestures that are as playful as they are critical. While other artists explore the systems—emotional, ecological, industrial, and cultural—that shape how materials are used, understood, and remembered.

Together, these works form a textured meditation on the transformation of material through personal, social, and environmental lenses. In the hands of these artists, material and process are not merely starting points for creation; they are modes of thought and being, ways to confront and preserve what might otherwise be lost, and quietly invent alternatives in a world increasingly shaped by disposability.

Wall 1 – Matter

Montana Binder / Geoffrey Litherland / Barry Beach / Kerry Stevens / Emily Conlon / Aydin Hamami / Susannah Weaver / Pauline Cordier / Aleksy Cisowski / Mary Connell / Emilia Milcheva / Jenna Manzano / Flora Anderson

Material is more than just medium—it is memory, essence and force. The artists on this wall engage with the foundational matter of form and texture, often through direct encounters with natural processes and environments. Montana Binder surrenders control to water and light, capturing ephemeral imprints on photographic paper, while Geoffrey Litherland’s frescoes ground pigment and sand into slow, cosmic meditations on landscape. Barry Beach transforms reclaimed wood and synthetics into undulating topographies shaped by chance and geology, and Kerry Stevens channels the elemental force of landscape through poured wax and shellac. Emily Conlon layers etchings with beeswax to hold onto fleeting impressions of place and time, while Aydin Hamami’s stitched assemblages echo the fragile persistence of memory through discarded and found materials.

Others on this wall emphasize the raw dialogue between material and maker—between softness and structure, repetition and labor. Susannah Weaver’s felted concrete sculptures make visible the tension between wool and cement, creating surfaces that are both fleeting and solid. Pauline Cordier challenges spatial perception through sculptural interventions, while Aleksy Cisowski uses reverse-painted Plexiglas to reveal the process of making as a final unveiling. Mary Connell builds paintings from compost and plaster, accumulating lived time into textured surfaces that fluctuate with each layer. Emilia Milcheva embraces clay’s natural imperfection, allowing form to emerge intuitively. Jenna Manzano’s fiber sculptures highlight the meditative power of repetition and subtle texture, while Flora Anderson’s paintings explore emotional depth through dual-sided mark-making on raw canvas—honoring both material and her own cultural identity. Together, these works celebrate the essential nature of making: tactile, temporal, and deeply attuned to the quiet intelligence of materials.

**Montanna Binder**
*El Salto del Agua #6*
Lumen print of a waterfall
20" x 16" x .25"
$1,200.00

**Montanna Binder**
*El Salto del Agua #8*
Lumen print of a waterfall
20" x 16" x .25"
$1,200.00

**Geoffrey Litherland**
*Aether Drifts*
Sand, lime, earth, and cosmic pigments on wood
wool board
24.4” × 20.5” × 2”
$3,000.00

**Geoffrey Litherland**
*Space Forms*
Sand, lime, earth, and cosmic pigments on wood wool
board
24.4” × 20.5” × 2”
$3,000.00

**Geoffrey Litherland**
*Astral Mesh*
Sand, lime, earth, and cosmic pigments on wood
wool board
24.4” × 20.5” × 2”
$3,000.00

**Barry Beach**
*Hollow Topography*
Reclaimed wood and cardboard
21" x 16" x 14"
$2,500.00

**Barry Beach**
#4
Reclaimed wood, vellum, and glue mounted on board
32" x 25" x 4"
$3,000.00

**Kerry Stevens**
*RHSF X1*
Shellac, wax, pigment on wood panel
48" x 48" x 1"
$4,650.00

**Kerry Stevens**
*RHSF Breath*
Shellac, wax, pigment on wood panel
48" x 48" x 1"
$4,650.00

**Kerry Stevens**
*RHSF*
Peony shellac, wax, pigment on wood panel
48" x 48" x 1"
$4,650.00

**Emily Conlon**
*Being II*
Layered etchings, beeswax, and thread on paper
22" x 25" x 0"
$450.00

**Emily Conlon**
*Being III*
Layered etchings, beeswax, and thread on paper
22" x 25" x 0"
$450.00

**Emily Conlon**
*Being I*
Layered etchings, beeswax, and thread on paper
22" x 25" x 0"
$450.00

**Aydin Hamami**
*Tempest*
Mixed media on sewn canvas and found material
72" x 60" x 1.5"
$10,500.00

**Aydin Hamami**
*Big Tree*
Mixed media on sewn canvas and found material
62" x 60" x 1.5"
$9,500.00

**Aydin Hamami**
*Transmission*
Mixed media on sewn canvas and found material
72" x 64" x 1.5"
$12,000.00

**Susannah Weaver**
*Plinths*
Cement and Merino Wool
18" x 18" x 18"
$1,200.00

**Pauline Cordier**
*RUE ST.MARTIN 38BIS*
Lenticular sheet, ink, plexiglas, magnets
9.8" × 7.9" × 1.2"
$2,800.00

**Susannah Weaver**
*Plinths (detail)*
Cement and Merino Wool
18" x 18" x 18"
$1,200.00

**Pauline Cordier**
*AVOIR LIEU*
Photochromic pigments, resin, fiberglass
78.7" × 43.3" × 28.3"
NFS

**Aleksy Cisowski**
*Untitled*
Acrylic on Plexiglas
36" x 24" x 1"
NFS

**Aleksy Cisowski**
*Untitled*
Acrylic on Plexiglas
40" x 30" x 2"
NFS

**Aleksy Cisowski**
*Untitled*
Acrylic on Plexiglas
5’x 4’x 2"
NFS

**Mary Connell**
*Violet Night*
Oil and charcoal on oil and plaster on wood
20" x 16" x 2"
$1,500.00

**Mary Connell**
*Ripple/Grit*
Oil and oil pastel on wood
11.5" x 16.5" x 1"
$1,200.00

**Emilia Milcheva**
*Love letters almost sent*
Ceramic
9.1" × 3.9" × 2.4"
$800.00

**Emilia Milcheva**
*Moon born*
Ceramic
9.5" × 7.9" × 7.9"
$750.00

**Emilia Milcheva**
*See the stars before they fall*
Ceramic
15." × 7.1" × 4.3"
$530.00

**Jenna Manzano**
*Circling (Five Loops)*
Linen
48" x 10" x 6"
$1,600.00

**Jenna Manzano**
*Fracture* *(Two Tubes with Cord)*
Linen
48" x 8" x 3"
$1,200.00

**Jenna Manzano**
*Coupling*
Linen
54" x 12" x 6"
$2,000.00

**Flora Anderson**
*Untitled_ B*
60” x 48”
Proprietary gouache color blend on raw canvas
$9,300.00

**Flora Anderson**
*Untitled_ A*
Proprietary gouache color blend on raw canvas
30” x 30”
$2900.00

Wall 2 – Method

Yunqian Lin / Rebekah Burgess / Lingyi Hu / Dani Hawkes / Deborah Meyers / Rosalyn Driscoll / Marion Grant / Brenda Stumpf / Tyler Burton / Oriana Confente / Merlin Lentz / Victoria DeBlassie

Through acts of risk, curiosity, and innovation, the artists on this wall reimagine material as something not fixed, but in flux—something to be broken, deconstructed, and reinvented. This is experimentation as a form of inquiry. Yunqian Lin collaborates with water, time, and entropy in her photographic works, allowing nature to deconstruct the image and reconstitute it as something entirely new. Rebekah Burgess floods historical image reproductions, nurturing organic growth on paper to emphasize the fragility of documentation itself. Lingyi Hu’s close-up images of transforming glass defy the expected behaviors of the material, presenting it as a shifting landscape and capturing its uncanny in-between states. Dani Hawkes allows her rusting paintings to continue evolving with environmental forces, giving up control in favor of unexpected material expression. In each of these practices, process is not a means to an end.

Other artists experiment by hybridizing traditional craft with unexpected materials or methods, inviting new sensorial, philosophical, and sculptural possibilities. Deborah Meyers fuses ancient goldsmithing with contemporary textures and gems, bridging centuries through tactile contradiction. Rosalyn Driscoll’s rawhide-based forms hang, float, transformed by time and gravity. Marion Grant layers Japanese paper, acrylic, and fabric in shifting palimpsests that invite balance from chaos, while Brenda Stumpf assembles relic-like sculptures from salvaged materials and steeped paper, evoking forgotten rituals and alchemical transformation. Tyler Burton explores the impact of modern life on the natural world, using multimedia installations to question our disconnection from nature. Oriana Confente reclaims analog processes like botanical film development to propose new, care-centered collaborations with more-than-human forces. Merlin Lentz merges animal, machine, and glitch into ambiguous painted forms that blur the boundaries of identity and material. Victoria DeBlassie invites us to reconsider sensory hierarchies by using the hand to recontextualize discarded domestic materials, turning the overlooked into quiet acts of resistance. Across all these works, experimentation is not just a strategy—it is a commitment to uncertainty and playfulness.

**Yunqian Lin**
*3XJ7+M2 Savannah, 3*
Archival inkjet print on Unryu paper
44" x 55" x 0"
$400.00

**Yunqian Lin**
22PQ+3R Wilmington Island, Georgia
Archival inkjet print on Unryu paper
44" x 55" x 0"
$400.00

**Yunqian Lin**
*24J4+FR Tybee Island, Georgia*
Archival inkjet print on Unryu paper
44" x 55" x 0" Yes $400.00

**Rebekah Burgess**
*Fern*
Polaroid emulsion transfer with applied resin
4" x 4" x .2"
$200.00

**Rebekah Burgess**
*Untitled*
Polaroid emulsion transfer with applied resin
4" x 4" x .2"
$250.00

**Lingyi Hu**
*A Landscape of Tourmaline*
Glass, Prints
40" x 60" x 0.004"
$2,700.00

**Dani Hawkes**
*Rust Painting II*
Steel
19.7" × 19.7" × 0.8"
$900.00

**Dani Hawkes**
*Rust Painting III*
Steel
15.8" × 15.8" × 0.8"
$800.00

**Dani Hawkes**
*Rust Painting IV*
Steel
15.8" × 15.8" × 0.8"
$800.00

**Deborah Meyers**
*Ring*
Jewelry
1" x 1" x 1"
$2,250.00

**Deborah Meyers**
*Ring*
Jewelry/Metal
1" x 1" x 1"
$2,350.00

**Deborah Meyers**
*Ring*
Jewelry/Metal
1.5" x 1" x 1"
$2,550.00

**Rosalyn Driscoll**
*Emptiness of Fire*
Rawhide, neon
12" x 41" x 17"
$15,000.00

**Rosalyn Driscoll**
*Incarnation*
Rawhide, steel, leather
90" x 60" x 20"
$15,000.00

**Marion Grant**
*Metal Brocade*
Alternative media on handcrafted multi-layered acrylic
18" x 15" x 2"
$1,150.00

**Brenda Stumpf**
*Reliquia*
Mixed media and found object sculpture
16" x 8" x 8"
$1,800.00

**Brenda Stumpf**
*Altare*
Mixed media and found object sculpture
24" x 16" x 11.5"
$2,800.00

**Brenda Stumpf**
*Arcanum Munera*
Mixed media and found object sculpture
25.25" x 22" x 8.75"
$2,800.00

**Brenda Stumpf**
*In Memoriam*
Mixed media and found object sculpture
11" x 24" x 9.5"
$2,800.00

**Tyler Burton**
*Salton Feet*
Salvaged interior wall, ceramic
52" x 22" x 14"
$6,000.00

**Tyler Burton**
*Satsuma Haas*
Concrete, vegetable & fruit bag netting, plastic, paint
15.5" x 8" x 7"
$1,200.00

**Oriana Confente**
*Impressions Between Light and Land (Variation I)*
Phytogram photogravure on handmade paper
8" x 10" x 0.25"
NFS

**Merlin Lentz**
*Birdshit*
Mural various fungi on laminate, resin and acrylic on wood
43.3" × 68.9" × 1.1"
$4,400.00

**Merlin Lentz**
*Two Figures Playing One Guitar*
Acrylic and resin on wood
32.3” × 24.2” × 2.9”
$5,200.00

**Merlin Lentz**
*Waffle Painting*
Fungi on laminate, resin, oil and acrylic on wood
33.3” × 21.3” × 2”
$3,600.00

**Victoria DeBlassie**
*Prepackaged Oranges (Le arance preconfezionate)*
Laminated orange peels, invisible thread, red ink, glue
3.5’ x 2’ x .5"
$8,000.00

**Victoria DeBlassie**
*The Netted Peel (La scorza rete)*
Net print on orange peels, thread, black ink, sealent
9’ x 20’ x 6"
$10,000.00

Wall 3 – Mechanism

Christine McDonald / Caroline Hatfield / Rebecca Murtaugh / Maria Sol Rodriguez / Shawn Marshall / Aylin Derya Stahl / Juan Granados / Zoe Schwartz / Jamey Hart / Nela Steric / Holly Stone / Julia Norton / Norah Stone / Charlotte Saylor

Mechanism is not solely a function of industry or automation—it is also human. It refers to the intricate systems—emotional, cognitive, cultural and industrial—that shape how we perceive, interact with, and assign meaning to material. The artists on this wall trace how materiality intersects with memory, labor, identity, and care. Their works reframe the idea of mechanism as a human social architecture: a structure for navigating complexity, mediating loss, and grounding personal and collective histories.

Christine McDonald’s inflatable car-skin sculptures critique planned obsolescence, equating industrial decay with bodily vulnerability. Caroline Hatfield fuses sci-fi and geology to explore extraction and environmental futures. Rebecca Murtaugh uses locally harvested clays to transform ceramics into ecological tools. Maria Sol Rodriguez repurposes lottery tickets into fragile handmade paper, exposing the false promises of hyper-consumption. Each artist engages with material systems not just as infrastructure, but as deeply human environments—psychological, economic, and affective.

Others explore how architecture, technology, and visual archives shape perception and memory. Shawn Marshall builds surreal architectural spaces layered with transformation and recollection. Aylin Derya Stahl documents the slow fading of images in urban spaces, turning visual entropy into cultural reflection. Juan Granados fuses clay with digital restoration to embed familial memory into mutable form. Zoe Schwartz merges glass, pearl, and metal into layered ecosystems that explore transformation and ancestry. Jamey Hart gathers humble materials to examine absence, presence, and the poetic space between. Nela Steric’s chemically altered imagery blends symbolism with everyday residue, evoking personal and collective mythologies.

Finally, a number of artists engage with discarded, overlooked, or ephemeral materials to surface the subtle mechanisms of regeneration, remembrance, and adaptation. Holly Stone experiments with pleated tissue and light, revealing how perception shifts with illumination. Julia Norton assembles paper, pigment, yarn, and bone into sculptural works rooted in care. Norah Stone embeds foraged ecological debris into ceramics that feel both maternal and geological. Charlotte Saylor turns painting rags and found objects into layered compositions where texture and memory cohere. These works transform residue into reflection—reminding us that every material bears the imprint of human touch, and that every act of making is also a way of understanding.