Raised in a Chinese family in Hong Kong, Richmond-based artist Vivian Chiu explores themes of migration, identity and transformation in her abstract and optical wood sculptures. Artist: Born in Los Angeles, Chiu emigrated to Hong Kong when she was three years old. Chiu lived there with her extended family until she returned to the United…
When Florida ceramic artist Rebecca Zweibel creates her hand-built abstract forms she never knows what the final work of art will look like. And she’s fine with that. “I love the unexpectedness of not knowing exactly what shape I’ll be making until it actually comes to life,” said Zweibel. Artist: The Connecticut native was born…
With help from his custom lathe, North Carolina woodturner Anatoly Tsiris shapes whole tree trunks into large-scale sculptures and vessels. Artist: Tsiris was born into a family of schoolteachers in the small Ukrainian town of Kmelnitsky. He planned to carry on the family tradition by graduating from college with a teaching degree in math and…
With a background in psychology, Texas glass sculptor Malina Cipleu is drawn to how visual environments influence our internal state: how they can ground us and energize us. Or, offer quiet moments of reflection. Artist: Born and raised in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Cipleu moved to the United States in 1999. After living in a few different…
Keith Holt spent 17 years running a gymnastics center in Maryland before he turned to art. The experience in the gym strongly influenced his wood forms and sculptures. Artist: Grew up close to where he lives now in Forest Hill, MD. In school, Holt took art classes every year and had a teacher who took an…
Georgia’s Shelton Cochran calls himself a modern folk artist, blending traditional folk art subject matter and materials with modern technology. Artist: An Army brat, Cochran was born in Wiesbaden, Germany and spent the majority of his formative years on American Army bases overseas and in the United States. While earning a degree in business management, Cochran…
Historical architecture, industrialism and haute couture influence the bold jewelry designs of North Carolina metalsmith Jill Melyssa. Artist: Born in Bogota, Colombia, Melyssa was raised in New York. She earned a BA from the University of Albany and an MBA from Empire State University. After college, she worked in various managerial positions in New York…
Kentucky native Emily Ridings says her fashion training helped refine her eye for silhouette, proportion and storytelling: Qualities that now define her basketry. Artist: The Kentucky native grew up in Richmond in a creative family. Judy Ridings, her grandmother, is a master basket weaver who lived nearby. Ridings’ mother is a talented seamstress. By age…
Georgia’s Mitchell Biggio utilizes digital and traditional techniques with simple materials to produce his visually clean and modular wall sculpture. Artist: Growing up in Marblehead, MA, Biggio was always interested in art and building things. In high school, he wanted to be an architect. Biggio started at the Savannah College of Art and Design as…
Growing up in Colorado, Chad Hayward experienced the feeling of openness and expansive space that today influence the Georgia artist’s wide-ranging and interdisciplinary work. Artist: Born in Summit County, NJ, Hayward moved to Colorado at the age of 7. After high school, he studied fine art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago,…