The Hollow Exhibition

“Dysmorphia”

*2.1’x4.75’

*Watercolor on gessoed panel

$700

“By all accounts, I have a wonderful life.  I have married, loving, and supportive parents. I have friends, graduated college, have a job and a comfortable home.  Yet I am faced with a view of myself that is far removed from reality.

I hope this painting can be like the Picture of Dorian Gray that can absorb these exaggerated problems I see in myself. “

Robert Giova

robertgiova@gmail.com

“Hungry”

*12”x16”

*Watercolor on paper

$225

“Left hungry, one will start to eat away at the Soul.”

Carla Wyzgala

carlawyzgala@gmail.com

“Float”

*16”x36”

*Watercolor on gessoed panel

$180

“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.

An you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.

And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” ― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Roderick De Jesus

rr.dejesus@gmail.com

“Vision Unimpaired”

*11”x17”

*Watercolor, digital

$50

“When you stare at yourself in the mirror too long, all you’re going to notice are imperfections. But to whom are these things flaws? No one but yourself. So take a step back and open your mind as well as your eyes. Let the complements you receive sink in and hone them. What you may see as something worth masking just might be what makes you the beautiful, one-of-a-kind person that you are.”

Danielle Trejo

danielletrejo@gmail.com

“Dreaming with a Broken Heart”

*5”x7”

*Ink, copic marker, watercolor, gouache and acrylic on paper

$150

“Hold on to hope, for it is not yet lost. For now we see dimly, as though through a haze….”

Caleb King

caleb@calebkingart.com

“Stick-Boy”

*12”x24”

*Oil on canvas

$350

“The idea behind “Stick-boy” came from being very skinny myself and knowing others that were embarrassed to be as skinny as we were.  The usual nicknames for skinny people were thrown around a lot at me but they never really got to me, however, I know it probably bothered others with the same predicament as myself. So this piece is of an exaggerated and elongated figure of a young boy who has over come some of those skinny nicknames to find that he’s happy with who he is. A large “string bean” is seen in the back with one end tied in a knot to show he surpassed that name.  A “matchstick” has been burnt down to show that name has now been over come as well as having snapped a large “toothpick” in half.  With a “twig” in hand he uses the last nickname to draw a smile in the ground.  I think it shows that you can embrace what you are and be happy with that realization.  I also did not included clouds or any element over the characters head to show that he had risen above all obstacles and names and, as the saying goes, “there are clear sky’s ahead” for this young fella.”

Ethan Culleton

ethanculleton@yahoo.com

“Smoker”

*15”x16”

*Watercolor and white gouache on paper

$600

“Saw this man on the CTA one morning.  He looked pretty depressed. I sketched him quickly.  I immediately pictured him as a Blues musician, and to help add to that image I felt he needed a cigarette for design purposes.  Then I thought about how the cigarette has become a design element.  So this piece is more an observation of culture than anything else.”

Andrew Day

andrewday1@me.com

“Free Me”

*8”x10”

*Mixed media on canvas

$350

“girl sweet girl,

endless are You.

important is this moment

and everything You feel.

what do You carry and why?

more importantly, how?

how do You walk with that?

how can You breathe?

come here, come here please

right now, this can’t wait,

come here and tell Me where

it

hurts

and then I will ask You to

set

it

down.”

Rae Catherine Fleagle Noble

raecatflea@gmail.com

“Polar Revolution”

*”16”x20”

*Paper, ink and digital on paper

$375

“I am hollow

Just a cavity in the sunken world we call Earth

Empty and feeding off the pain

I am crushed

Fighting against the weight of a force much stronger

Clawing and reaching for hope

Slipping down to an unknown darkness

Blind of love

I am missing

Not living in the now

A vision, dying in the memory of the past

Screaming without a voice

I am breathing

Barely sucking in the air

Hoping the oxygen will sustain

I am alive

Climbing to normalcy

Looking for the day I can feel what I choose”

Heather Rae Leininger

raeillustration@aol.com

“The Winner”

*13”x19”

*Watercolor and Gouache on paper

$450

“I wanted to get across the inner strength that lies beneath the surface in all of us. The scene is set in high school. It is in high school, where that kind of verbal garbage is said to us on a daily basis, and is the most damaging to our spirits. In a world where people continually degrade us, we can rise up and break free of their grip on our self worth.”

Eric Olsen

art@ericolsenillustrations.com

“Peace in the Valley of Love and Delight”

*18”x20”

*Watercolor, gouache and ink on paper

$600

“Listen! My beloved! Look! Here he comes, 
leaping across the mountains, 
bounding over the hills. 
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, 
gazing through the windows, 
peering through the lattice. 
My beloved spoke and said to me, 
“Arise, my darling, 
my beautiful one, come with me. 
See! The winter is past; 
the rains are over and gone. 
Flowers appear on the earth; 
 the season of singing has come, 
the cooing of doves is heard in our land. 
The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. 
Arise, come, my darling; My dove in the clefts of the rock, 
in the hiding places on the mountainside, 
show me your face, let me hear your voice; 
for your voice is sweet, 
and your face is lovely. Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes 
that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom. My beloved is mine and I am his; 
he browses among the lilies. 
Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, 
turn, my beloved, 
and be like a gazelle 
or like a young stag 
on the rugged hills.” 

Emily Rose Ivari

finnishrose@gmail.com

“Despair”

*18”x20”

*Watercolor, gouache and ink on paper

$550

“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.” - Psalm 40 (excerpt)

Emily Rose Ivari

finnishrose@gmail.com

“Fear”

*18”x20”

*Watercolor, gouache and ink on paper

$550

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
 and from the deadly pestilence.
 He will cover you with his pinions,
 and under his wings you will find refuge;
 his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
 You will not fear the terror of the night,
 nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
 nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side,
 ten thousand at your right hand,
 but it will not come near you.
 You will only look with your eyes
  and see the recompense of the wicked.” - Psalm 91 (excerpt)

Emily Rose Ivari

finnishrose@gmail.com

“Repeat Offender”

*14”x18.5”

*Watercolor and carbon pencil on paper

$600

“5:20 p.m. June 16,2002 A 12 year old boy named Blaine was killed when a drunk driver slammed head-on into the passenger side of the vehicle Blaine was in. Blaine was one of my brother’s best friends.  I didn’t know him that well but the image of Blaine’s father holding his son at the accident scene has been burnt into my mind.  I was 18 at the time and my first real experience with the impacts of someone else’s addiction.  I realized the horrible consequences of someone who is intoxicated and behind the wheel.  The man survived and I know he has to live with it the rest of his life.  Felix Hernandez received 7 years in prison for reckless homicide.  He had been using a fake license since 1996 when he lost it for drunk driving. 

 I remember feeling like no punishment would be appropriate.  At the young age of 12 my brother was influenced by this event in primarily negative ways. I find this unacceptable and unconscionable. This was one of the first times I realized that I was only in control of my own actions. “

Andrew Day

andrewday1@me.com

“Hands That Feed”

*2.5”x3.5” (each)

*Watercolor on paper

$75

“Pick away at her until she’s perfect”

Carla Wyzgala

carlawyzgala@gmail.com