Is It Me?: International Juried Exhibition

As we age, we change, both externally and internally. We transform and metamorphosize. We inevitably ask ourselves: “Is this who I am now? Who was I before? Is this me?” We find beauty in the confusion and the transformation. We invited artists to meditate on the disturbing reality of their potential and works that unveil the roadblocks impeding self-actualization. We questioned whether the oasis of maturity is actually a mirage – a hazily reconfigured reality, distorted by the sweltering heat of generational expectations. This exhibition was about self and health, wellness and worry — as we examined our skin, our fears, and our personal growth.

Is It Me? featured artwork in an array of media, including sculpture, painting, textiles, mixed media, photography, and digital media. For our juried exhibitions, the Trolley Barn Gallery brings together an international roster of vital voices in art and culture, presenting thought-provoking artwork and ideas in a renovated industrial space that is the hub for the area’s thriving arts scene. This exhibition presented a collection of thought-provoking works, artfully curated by the Youth Curatorial Team alongside our talented guest curator.

This international juried exhibition was held March 10 through April 14, 2023 at The Art Effect’s Trolley Barn Gallery, 489 Main St., Poughkeepsie, New York, with an Opening Reception on Friday, March 10 from 6-8pm.

Opening Reception Events
6:00: Opening Reception with light refreshments
7:00: Welcome and Awards
7:30: Open Mic

Open Mic Details
In order to allow the community of Poughkeepsie to fully engage with the difficult themes presented, the opening reception will also include a half hour Open Mic session. Gallery visitors will be encouraged to sign up for a short slot where they are free to read poetry, speak honestly, perform music or dance and continue the conversation about wellness and aging in real time. The opening reception is 6 -8pm. At 7pm Trolley Barn Awards will be presented to the winners of the “Guest Juror’s Prize”, the “Youth Juror’s Prize” and the “Honorable Mention Prize”. After the awards the open mic session will start at 7:30pm. This opening reception is free and open to the public, like all Trolley Barn Gallery openings.

About the Curator
Emilie Houssart is a Dutch American artist and curator based in Poughkeepsie, New York. Her performance and installation works explore ideologies and ecologies of landscape, rupturing toxic norms in public spaces, and generating dialogue about alternative ways of being. As The DIRT Project, she leads experiential, collaborative workshops for all ages that nurture our relationships with invisible life forms inside the body and underfoot.

Houssart’s work recently featured in Metabolism of Cities for the Urban Soils Institute, curated by Margaret Boozer, LMCC Arts Center, NYC. Her 15-month evolving installation Co-co-codac! was part of Owning Earth at Unison Arts Center, NY, an outdoor exhibit curated by Tal Beery. As 2021 Artist in Residence at the Samuel Dorsky Museum, NY, she curated the exhibition DIRT: Inside Landscapes and led a series of interactive public projects, including DIRTdoors at Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary for Rooted: Art + Land with the Dorsky Museum and Walkill Valley Land Trust. Previous residencies include Women’s Studio Workshop, NY, Frans Masereel Centrum, Belgium, and Print to the People, UK. She co-curated an/aesthetics: Rosekill, Rosekill Art Farm, NY; pop-up show EARTHBOUND, NYC; and international exchange show EXPORT 19 at Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn, NY.

Originally from Norwich, UK, Houssart gained a BA Hons. in Modern Languages from the University of Durham, UK, and studied drawing, painting and sculpture at the Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy. She is Adjunct Professor of Art, Sustainability Faculty Fellow and member of experimental collective Eddy at SUNY New Paltz, where she completed an MFA in Sculpture with Printmaking in 2022. Houssart has taught at Vassar College, Women’s Studio Workshop, West Point Military Academy, the Woodstock School of Art, Fall Kill Print Works, the Charles H. Cecil Studios and the British Institute of Florence.

Gallery Hours
Exhibition: March 10 – April 14
Wednesday-Friday: 2-5PM • Saturday: 12-4 PM
(during exhibitions only)

Is It Me? Virtual Gallery

Esperanza Alzona Opposing Views Cast Iron 7.5” x 7.25” x 4.75” Frederick, MD $1,000 Alzona depicts a physical form of two heads merged and an athletic torso form with vertical lines carved into it, embodying self-identity and manifestations of spirituality. Alzona is a professional dancer, choreographer, and competitive athlete who makes sculptures made out of metal. The weight and material of the metal indicate the heaviness of being human, as well as the bond of body-mind experiences.
Esperanza Alzona Caged Heart Cast Aluminum 21.5” x 18” x 3.5” Frederick, MD $2,200 Alzona depicts a physical form of two heads merged and an athletic torso form with vertical lines carved into it, embodying self-identity and manifestations of spirituality. Alzona is a professional dancer, choreographer, and competitive athlete who makes sculptures made out of metal. The weight and material of the metal indicate the heaviness of being human, as well as the bond of body-mind experiences.
Timothy Atseff What am I? Acrylic on Canvas 40” x 30” 2” Syracuse, NY NFS Being one with experience is to have no need for a facade in an increasingly digital world. The work captures the solidarity of the digital world with tonal values and an isolated composition. The work marks Atseff’s gradual experience, and begs the question whether being an artist is enough.
Timothy Atseff Reflection #1 Acrylic on Canvas 40” x 30” 2” Syracuse, NY NFS Being one with experience is to have no need for a facade in an increasingly digital world. The work captures the solidarity of the digital world with tonal values and an isolated composition. The work marks Atseff’s gradual experience, and begs the question whether being an artist is enough.
Heather Baumbach Cover up Hand-Dyed Jersey Knit, Cotton, Wax, and Steel Pins 36” x 36” 1.5” Madison, AL NFS Heather Baumbach manipulates fabric, wax and needles to replicate worn and weathered creases in skin. Her piece is both delicate and distressed so as to confront the multiplicity of the human form. And there is a violence to the work - stuck with pins and needles - which speaks to the discomfort we can feel within ourselves, whether from pressure from external forces or internal insecurity.
Karen Benally Blue Hawaii Mixed acrylic & ink on linen-finish paper 9” x 14.5” Red Valley, AZ $300 Karen Benally loves to immerse herself in southwestern landscapes. After her divorce at 40, Karen reimagined her life as an artist and cultural anthropologist. Now 80 years old, she illustrates her love of nature and native cultures with abstracted landscapes, which illuminates her ideal environment - “blue lakes, soft sands, cloud-filled skies, green grasses, whispering trees, and gardens, wild & well-tended.” Her work with acrylic has reenergized her love of art and transformed it into an exploration of play.
Karen Benally Sunset Mixed acrylic & ink on linen-finish paper 13.5” x 19.25” Red Valley, AZ $500 Karen Benally loves to immerse herself in southwestern landscapes. After her divorce at 40, Karen reimagined her life as an artist and cultural anthropologist. Now 80 years old, she illustrates her love of nature and native cultures with abstracted landscapes, which illuminates her ideal environment - “blue lakes, soft sands, cloud-filled skies, green grasses, whispering trees, and gardens, wild & well-tended.” Her work with acrylic has reenergized her love of art and transformed it into an exploration of play.
Oli Boyer Mammorium Cherry, Maple, Milk Paint, Plaster 50” x 20” x 7” Philadelphia, PA NFS Oli Boyer uses different mediums that allow them to express themselves while refraining to use words. The artist creates a tapestry and a cabinet as a memorial for their top surgery. It’s a memorial but not a death. It is acceptance of the past, yet gratitude of the future, which leads to rebirth.
Oli Boyer Transmutation of (O)phe(li)a Quilt Screenprinting, Silk, Velvet, Body Pillow Sleeve, Cotton 60” x 40” Philadelphia, PA $1,500 Oli Boyer uses different mediums that allow them to express themselves while refraining to use words. The artist creates a tapestry and a cabinet as a memorial for their top surgery. It’s a memorial but not a death. It is acceptance of the past, yet gratitude of the future, which leads to rebirth.
Isabella Covert Appendage Acrylic on canvas 30” x 20” Madison, WI NFS Isabella Covert tackles the question of self through images of physical sensation in order to communicate the human experience. Through untold narratives of confusion, eroticism, and suffering, their work puts a lens on all the qualities that define us as human beings. Covert inspires conversations of the rights of bodily autonomy, the forms of human contact and the tangibility of the sensation of touch.
Benjamin Cunningham The Denunciation of the Shepherd Acrylic Paint on Birch Board 78” x 108” x 2” Norristown, PA $4,500 Benjamin Cunningham reimagines biblical scripture with queer iconography. His practice manifests in this altar piece which is a symbolic rewriting of the toxic messages the artist experienced during his past participation in the Catholic Church.
Ali Dachis Smooshed 2 watercolor on transparent paper. 36” x 48” Brooklyn, NY $900 Made of separate but connected panels of paper, this piece distorts the human face and turns it into something malleable and unfamiliar. The subject’s features are warped by touch, raising the question of whether the pressure is applied by their own hands or by those of an outsider.
Elizabeth de Bethune Mi Corazon; Lightening Strikes Oil with acrylic gouache and collage on panel 18” x 18” Yonkers, NY Elizabeth De Bethune connected the dots between health and illness in her painting, Mi Corazon, Lightning Strikes. She depicts Death holding her heart in the palm of their hands with lightning bolts that can also represent veins of different ailments leeching and sucking the life out of her. This piece reflects the struggle of aging and living with life altering health issues.
Elaine Erne Bear Hug graphite pencil on paper 40” x 34” Philadelphia, PA Blackness holds weight. Drawing your eye the intense empty stare of the bear. The expression dominates your mind, provoking the question: How many times have you been someone else's toy?
Aaron Fabio Trapped Alcohol-based marker & water color 12” x 9” Crozet, VA $200 In his first year of sobriety, Fabio created a series reflecting on how alcohol affected their lives. The piece represents their isolation and detachment from their own body while they struggled with this addiction. He was there, trapped feeling like he could not escape this reality.
Vincent Ferrari Auto-Exposure 2 Archival Photograph 16” x 20” Bowie, MD $250 Ferrari’s Auto- Exposure 2, Sandman, and Desert Road captures the natural horizons of diverse landscapes through a camera lens, unveiling the world's beauty. The body and the earth interconnect, creating harmony and interaction with all those entities. The accessibility of loving the skin on our bodies helps us be grounded and realize everyone is the same.
Vincent Ferrari Sandman Archival Photograph 16” x 20” Bowie, MD $250 Ferrari’s Auto- Exposure 2, Sandman, and Desert Road captures the natural horizons of diverse landscapes through a camera lens, unveiling the world's beauty. The body and the earth interconnect, creating harmony and interaction with all those entities. The accessibility of loving the skin on our bodies helps us be grounded and realize everyone is the same.
Vincent Ferrari Desert Road Archival Photograph 20” x 16” Bowie, MD $250 Ferrari’s Auto- Exposure 2, Sandman, and Desert Road captures the natural horizons of diverse landscapes through a camera lens, unveiling the world's beauty. The body and the earth interconnect, creating harmony and interaction with all those entities. The accessibility of loving the skin on our bodies helps us be grounded and realize everyone is the same.
Allison Hilgert Drained Oil on Canvas 60” x 30” Salt Point, NY $2,925 Alison Hilgert grew up in the small town of Crystal River, Florida, where she beloved the nature surrounding her. In her painting, she created a dream-like world unraveling the traditional values of her upbringing in rural Florida. Questioning the place she called home all her life brought up the evaluation of the struggle, power, and vulnerability of life.
Percy Kleinops All Parts Matter Mixed Media (Oil and Acrylic) 36” x 48” Tarpon Springs, FL $5,400 The over life size cup represents our capacity to help others. We start off with our cups full and our bodies intact. Kelinops offers a Prophetic warning: When you have nothing left to give you begin to tear apart yourself. Leaving our bodies in shatters.
Emily Koch Thinking of Adulthood Acrylic on canvas 24” x 36” Newton, MA NFS Emily Koch’s oil paintings dwell on themes of uncertainty and discovery. The hazy colors and indistinct forms give the pieces a mystical quality that brings to mind mythology and the imagery of creation. From lonely landscapes to colorful nautical scenes, Koch’s work takes viewers on a journey similar to those being undertaken by the subjects of the paintings.
Emily Koch Season of Solitude Acrylic on canvas paper 24” x 18” Newton, MA $850 Emily Koch’s oil paintings dwell on themes of uncertainty and discovery. The hazy colors and indistinct forms give the pieces a mystical quality that brings to mind mythology and the imagery of creation. From lonely landscapes to colorful nautical scenes, Koch’s work takes viewers on a journey similar to those being undertaken by the subjects of the paintings.
Emily Koch Marinade Oil on canvas 69” x 42” Newton, MA $15,500 Emily Koch’s oil paintings dwell on themes of uncertainty and discovery. The hazy colors and indistinct forms give the pieces a mystical quality that brings to mind mythology and the imagery of creation. From lonely landscapes to colorful nautical scenes, Koch’s work takes viewers on a journey similar to those being undertaken by the subjects of the paintings.
Emily Koch By the River Oil on canvas 36” x 72” Newton, MA $15,500 Emily Koch’s oil paintings dwell on themes of uncertainty and discovery. The hazy colors and indistinct forms give the pieces a mystical quality that brings to mind mythology and the imagery of creation. From lonely landscapes to colorful nautical scenes, Koch’s work takes viewers on a journey similar to those being undertaken by the subjects of the paintings.
Emily Koch Rainbow Faces in the Sand Oil on canvas 28” x 42” Newton, MA $9,500 Emily Koch’s oil paintings dwell on themes of uncertainty and discovery. The hazy colors and indistinct forms give the pieces a mystical quality that brings to mind mythology and the imagery of creation. From lonely landscapes to colorful nautical scenes, Koch’s work takes viewers on a journey similar to those being undertaken by the subjects of the paintings.
Maxine Leu Tongue Twisters Plaster and mix-medias 6.6” x 34.4” x 5” New Paltz, NY $1,000 Second-hand materials and old elements that are around, Maxine Leu explores materiality to navigate through the confusion of knowing themselves and their place within a given society. Disassembling and reassembling are the pillars to Leu’s self exploration; utilizing the acts of assembling and collecting to artistically express their thoughts through juxtaposition.
Jacqueline Lorieo Positivo/Negativo Del Corpo Marble 16” x 10” x 6” Yonkers, NY $4,000 The female body is cleaved in two elevating the bodies and exposing our inners. Who are we if not are bodies? Lorieo polishes the outside of the body like a jewel to create a conversation for bodies being tied to worth. The interior of the body is excavated in fine detail to remind us there is richness within us.
John McGiff Serenade of Icarus gouache on canvas 30” x 40” Salt Point, NY NFS John McGiff painted Serenade of Icarus and The Flying Lesson, inspired by the Greek tale of Icarus series he took on three years ago with a Jungian analyst. In this version of the story, from falling out of the sky, the artist is given a second chance with the help of a female apprentice to rewrite his story. Painting for McGiff is a way to strengthen their self-awareness and awaken their understanding of the world around them.
John McGiff The Flying Lesson gouache on canvas 40” x 40” Salt Point, NY NFS John McGiff painted Serenade of Icarus and The Flying Lesson, inspired by the Greek tale of Icarus series he took on three years ago with a Jungian analyst. In this version of the story, from falling out of the sky, the artist is given a second chance with the help of a female apprentice to rewrite his story. Painting for McGiff is a way to strengthen their self-awareness and awaken their understanding of the world around them.
Sarah Moldovan Eternity Plus One Day acrylic gouache 36” x 36” Lincoln, NE $1,650 Sarah Moldovan uses playful imagery to create “unlikely realities”. The banana is personified with human fear and vices to explore the absurdity of the human experience.
Sarah Moldovan Intimate Moment 01 acrylic gouache 30” x 24” Lincoln, NE $1,950 Sarah Moldovan uses playful imagery to create “unlikely realities”. The banana is personified with human fear and vices to explore the absurdity of the human experience.
Susan Morelock Prenatal (A Life's Work) Pigment Print 7” x 10” Allentown, PA $400 The process of motherhood Morlock bore follows the transformation of changing her life. Even though motherhood can be so tiresome, challenging, complex, and sometimes heartbreaking, being a mother can change people personally for the better. Morlock accepts the significant change in how she perceives herself and how others perceive her.
Christy O'Connor Carried Trauma I detail dress making patterns, glue, thread 21” x 9” x 8” Middletown, NJ $850 Christy O’ Connor explores self identity by magnifying the experiences of generational trauma carried by blood. Looking deeper than the physical to define our image, we are reminded that we have the ability to pass on this pain to those who come after us. Highlighting the scars passed through DNA, O’Connor shows how this damage has the ability to influence how we come to see ourselves.
Ben Pinder Golden Forty Hands With Child Ink, acrylic on paper 36” x 32” Rhinebeck, NY $2,000 This piece is full of indistinct boundaries: hands turn into bottles, background and foreground blend together, and humans become prey animals. The unclothed, crouching figure and the infant are both in positions of vulnerability, literally and symbolically. At the center of it all is the baby, surrounded by empty drink containers, immobile and helpless to turn anywhere but inwards.
Jack Powers Monsieur Valentine Digital Print 11” x 8.5” New Paltz, NY $125 Jack Powers holds up a digital mirror to remind us that we find ourselves on the frontier of the age of information. Having worldwide media puts us just a click, swipe and scroll away from being influenced by those online, never realizing whose opinions we are allowing to shape who we are.
Nina Samuels Raku Coral Masks Ceramics, Glaze 2.5’ 2.5’ Savannah, GA $1,000 Nina Samuels identical masks remind us that we are all the same on the inside. The coral growth is like the natural development of our personalities. Each growth takes a different form and texture represents our individuality.
Hannah Staples Am I Myself Plastic Bottles, Polyurethane Foam on Canvas 12” x 9” x 2” Seattle, WA $250 This mixed media piece features the type of plastic bottles used to hold pharmaceuticals. In conjunction with the eponymous writing, the work brings to mind the anxieties that affect many people who take medication. When a pill regulates your well-being, where is the line between use and abuse?
Makayla Swann My Safe Place Oil 3.5’ x 3.5’ Lawrenceville, GA $2,000 The harmful culture and social norms that exist in the black community that harm one another in a constant cycle. The bedroom is on fire, right? People’s bedrooms define them as a person; she wants to burn down the world that has harmed her. This references her taking back her freedom to find herself. She’s asking herself,"What is “me”?
Yoshie Tsuzuki Sense Ink Pigment on Paper 18” x 14” Iruma, Japan $220 Yoshie Tsuzuki explains how fear and anxiety can help us learn something about ourselves, even if it is not good. The light shines brighter the further it goes into the dark bliss, as Tsuzuki’s goal is to express both agony and exhilaration uniformly. The more rationalistic we consciously are, the more alive we become in the spectral world of the unconscious.
Polina Varlamova "The body fragment" Textile sculpture 18” x 15” x 4” Cary, NC $540 Polina Varlamova explores immigration, emmigration and the cultural exchange between peoples that results from human migration. The artist weaves together imagery of bodies and skin to create a lingua franca (a language adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different) of artistic expression. Each piece reflects the internal struggles of non-native peoples and makes that confusion and fear physical and shows the effect on the human body.
Polina Varlamova The intertwining Textile sculpture 20” x 20” x 1” Cary, NC $700 Polina Varlamova explores immigration, emmigration and the cultural exchange between peoples that results from human migration. The artist weaves together imagery of bodies and skin to create a lingua franca (a language adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different) of artistic expression. Each piece reflects the internal struggles of non-native peoples and makes that confusion and fear physical and shows the effect on the human body.
Rute Ventura Scrying of a Woman and Her Body Oil on canvas 36” x 36” Ridgewood, NY $7,000 Rute Ventura explores the self by personifying the inner conflict that plagues the human experience. Using geometry, exaggerated proportions and humanoid figures, Ventura places a spotlight on inner emotional discord. The interactions found in Ventura’s work portray active resistance, and self reflection.
Rute Ventura Counter Intention - a Self-Made Monster Oil over wood panel 16” x 20” Ridgewood, NY $2,000 Rute Ventura explores the self by personifying the inner conflict that plagues the human experience. Using geometry, exaggerated proportions and humanoid figures, Ventura places a spotlight on inner emotional discord. The interactions found in Ventura’s work portray active resistance, and self reflection.
Paul Wirhun Self-Portrait in 5 eggs CHORT dyed/batiked/scratched eggshell assemblage on wood 20” x 11” New York, NY $7,000 Paul Wirhun demonstrates how egg shells can be more than a byproduct of breakfast. They can communicate thoughts of identity, cultural background and qualities of the past being brought to the present. Using egg shells not as an object but as medium to find connection through their cracked nature.
Mia Zheng Self-portrait 2021 35mm film 26” x 26” 4” Honolulu, HI $2,200 Mia Zheng congregates the “what ifs” subject by describing how taking risks isn’t as bad as they seem in the long run. Her self-portrait reflects the relationship between art and artist, together with the viewer and introspector. Self-love and self-appreciation assist in advancing one’s skill and growth as a person.