This event is part of a series – see below for details.November 26, 2022 10:00 p.m.
2022 BuyArt [small works holiday show and sale] in the WFAC Gallery
Event Details
Thirty one contemporary Rhode Island-based artists are showcasing their work in the gallery at the WaterFire Arts Center for the BuyArt small works holiday show and sale from Friday, November 25 through Sunday, January 8, 2023*. The BuyArt show and sale encourages visitors to support local artists by giving the gift of art for the holidays.
Visitors are invited to the show’s opening day on Saturday, November 26 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. during WaterFire’s ArtMart on Small Business Saturday as well as an evening with the artists for our holiday Sip ‘n Shop event on Thursday, December 15 from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Visit to enjoy and shop the hundreds of works displayed, the store + gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
*Holiday Closure from Christmas Eve through New Years Day.
Participating Artists
Anne Manera
My work explores colors, shapes, textures and contrasts which represent this ever changing world in which we live. As an artist, my goal is to convey a message from my heart and soul in a subtle manner, allowing the viewer to interpret the artwork on a personal level. As colors emerge, morphing into shapes and forms, the viewer is left with an insight into how beauty truly exists in the eye of the beholder. Each piece I create is representative of my past, present and future while simultaneously striving to engage the viewer.
Alexie N. Rudman
Fascinated by both life on land and at sea, Alexie is a multimedia artist whose work is centered on the human form and the marine environment. Having grown up on Rhode Island’s rocky shore and having pursued a career in coastal environmental management, her affinity for the ocean is expressed in both her Japanese-style gyotaku fish prints and acrylic paintings. Many of the live fish she uses to create her fish prints she catches herself locally. She is fortunate to have grandparents who exposed her to classic arts at a young age, which led to an appreciation of Renaissance art and the human form, to which her charcoals and female nudes pay homage. Beyond creative expression, she is grateful art has enabled her to access an incredible and kind community of creatives here in the ocean state, from whom she is constantly learning.
Amy Wang
Amy Wang is an artist in the midst of processing the entanglements between Moon, Mother, Queerness, ritually-nurtured intimacy, and ancestral history. Her work primarily consists of ritually made portal/surrogate objects and vessels that place the circular moon and its elusive, distorted reflection in conversation with each other and the viewer.
Lately she is drawn to the chinese idiom 水中捞月 which would literally translate to “trying to fetch the moon from the water,” but in practice it is a phrase that is used to describe pursuing something that is merely illusion. It alludes to a story in which a group of monkeys find the moon in a well and fruitlessly work to pull it out, but of course because it is just the moon’s reflection upon the water, it ripples away immediately upon the moment of contact. Applying this as a larger metaphor, Amy explores several questions:
How does a Queer individual find their way back into or toward their familial, ancestral, and spiritual origin/home, or inhabit intimacy in these spheres all while pursuing a Queer joy?
If the moon itself is such an existence (one of fullness, of reunion, of wholeness/fulfillment in Chinese culture), what then is the moon’s reflection in the water?
What, then, does it make us who reach toward said reflection while gazing upon the moon in the sky?
Benjamin Giguere
I have been teaching and creating glass work for 25 years. I have always admired the extreme opposites glass has to offer in its physical states from hot to cold. Sharp to soft. Fragile yet durable. The conversation I have with the glass during the process of making an object plays on this idea of controlled chaos. I am classically trained in form. For over a decade I created clear forms and honed in on the quality of craftsmanship. This allowed me to have a controlled (canvas) in form and allow the chaos of color to consume the piece. It is that in between both dualities that I feel balanced.
CELESTE DIAZ FALZONE
My work is my thoughts, feelings and experiences turned outward. By using common archetypes such as a human, a home, an animal, ect., and abstracting them, blurring the line between where one begins and another ends, I am able to create a style which shares my perspective. I am often confused in the physical world, feeling as though my mind exists in an existential place, and walks away from its physical surroundings easily. This often makes me feel naive to the planet, like a tourist in all places, and struck by human behavior regularly. Humans are the most interesting thing in the world to me, so a lot of my work focuses on my observations of human stimuli, behavior and energies. I’ve always felt like an observer of life rather than a living being myself, so creating work has allowed me to place my mental landscape in the physical world, grounding me in reality.
Denny Moers
I make these black & white monoprints in a traditional darkroom and apply light and chemistry to create an alternate experience. My subject matter has been varied from architecture to landscapes and consumed structures. I recently completed a book, Casting Deep Shade, with CD Wright on Beech trees.
My photographic monoprints have been exhibited worldwide and are included in over 30 public and private collections throughout the world. I received a RI Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts and the RI Council on the Arts Fellowship in Photography 4 times.
These prints are limited edition archival pigment prints made from the original monoprint.
Elijah Trice
Work that is created by the voiceless in most cases speak to the identity of a community, that has been muted. The messages of the repressed must not disregarded, instead should be embraced and transmitted throughout the world. My art allows people to connect to each other regardless of ones background. Allowing empathy and understanding to lead the conversation as oppose to prejudice and false narratives.
Emily Quinn
Emily Quinn is an artist, activist, and animator working in a variety of media. Her work explores femininity and identity, and is colorful and 3D in nature with many pieces coming literal inches off the canvas. She also uses lots of recycled material, exploring the relationship humans have on the environment. She is most known for her two TED talks and her digital media work which has amassed over 15 million views worldwide.
Hannah Mackie
Hannah (they/them) is a queer artist and advocate. They are a lover of dirt, avid over-waterer of house plants, and an ocean dweller. Fascinated by experiences and understandings of belonging, they are ceaselessly exploring the intersections of identity and connection to place. Their work is a reflection of the old brickwork, chipped paint, and hopeful wildflowers sown across our city. Imperfect watercolors and shaky pen lines evoke vague familiarity, depicting liminal spaces that have an ambiguously comforting marriage of acquaintance, abandonment or wear, and often a reminder from nature that we are not alone.
Justin DeGraide
I am a 28 year old Film Photographer from Providence, Rhode Island. Throughout the last few years, my passion for film photography has grown naturally. Film has a certain magic, a sense of atmosphere, depth, texture, and realness that can’t be emulated with digital. The imperfections, the snapshots of real life, the way one must slow down to properly capture the shot are just some of the things I think about while taking the shot. Through practice, patience, and understanding, I have come to a point where I truly know what this form of art is to me.
Joseph Mushipi
I am a self-taught Zambian artist who moved to the US a little over a year ago. I consider myself an African storyteller through my work, drawing inspiration from African folk-tales and experiences. Ialsotell stories of animals and my dreams through my pieces. The unique way in which I mix and texturize colors has drawn attention to my work both in Africa and here in Rhode Island.
julia!
My work ranges from grotesque and uncomfortable to alluring and soft. Bodies and biology greatly inspire everything I create. Figure drawing has become a place of solace to retreat into. Because I approach drawing the female form with complete acceptance, I am forced to, in the process, face my own form with complete acceptance. It is beautiful because it is, I am beautiful because I am.
Jeffery Palmer
Jeff Palmer is an artist based in Cranston, Rhode Island specializing in block prints, screen prints, and abstract painting. Jeff can be found vending throughout the year under his “Taft Street Studios” tent at art markets, popups and festivals around Rhode Island. His tea towels and mugs are customer favorites at several specialty stores that focus on home decor, kitchen wares and unique gifts. When not making art, Jeff is a day player director for Luminous Agency, a media company in Providence.
Jeremy Schilling
The following work is a selection from over 2000 drawings, paintings, and mixed media pieces created since September of 2020. The main body of this collection is not about refinement but rather the physicality of the charcoal and or graphite medium, specifically highlighting the reactionary decision making in response to a live models pose. Each drawing is a five minute conversation, a question (the models pose) and the response (artist use of composition and marks). Working from life is a unique experience, as the act of observation is a fleeting one. There is only time to capture and record the most important elements and because of this, a drawing can become a journal of decisions of deemed importance. There is an honesty that emerges from these decisions.
Jeremy’s work has been on display at Gold Gallery in Boston’s SoWa District, The Wickford Arts Association Gallery, Mystic Arts Center Gallery, The Wickford and Scituate Art Festivals, and the RISD Craft Exhibition. He has had solo exhibitions at Counter Weight Brewing Company in Hamden CT in 2018, Perkatory Coffee Roasters in Middletown CT in 2019, AS220’s Main Project Space in Providence RI in 2019, and annually at the Pawtucket Art Collaberative since 2020.
In July 2019 his work was part of a month long display at the Waterfire Arts Center in conjunction with Luke Jerram’s “Museum of the Moon” and John Sabraw’s “The Milky Way.” The exhibit was in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing and was in partnership with Brown University and the NASA RI Space Consortium.
Jeremy grew up in Connecticut where he was trained as a landscape painter before attending the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied Illustration.
Julia Samuels
I have carved a series of intimate and sardonic idioms and vastly open-ended questions to serve as coping mantras that remain honest about the world around us. In the face of current social, economic, and global conditions, we are undoubtably in need of some reassurance and relief. The cliché “Live Laugh Love” directive is too prescriptive and wholly unaware of the truths we live with, remaining ineffective, blind to the world around us. I needed the ambivalence of these text-based prints to create space for each of us to draw our own conclusions, even landing on optimistic notes, if we are capable of it. Julia Samuels was born in Portsmouth, NH and earned her B.F.A. in Printmaking from Pratt Institute and her M.F.A. in Printmaking from Rhode Island School of Design. She is currently the master printmaker and director of Overpass Projects, a multi-disciplinary fine art printmaking publishing studio committed to social equitability. In her own work Julia focuses a on commentary of environmental damage and nature’s perseverance. Her personal and publishing work can be found in several public collections including Library of Congress, Detroit Institute of Arts, Cleveland Museum of Art and RISD Museum. overpassprojects.com, crayolajunkie.com
Jared Winslow
Jared Winslow is a Street Photographer based out of Providence, Rhode Island, who is captivated by scenes of life. He’s always been a curious observer, loving to search for the beauty in the mundane, which has lead to his genuine pursuit of photography. What once started as a hobby, has since turned into so much more. For him, walking with his camera has been his favorite way to escape, reconnect, and express himself. It’s become a form of therapy. He’s fascinated by the idea that you never know what life will present to you when you go out looking for photographs. Each time is stepping into the unknown, and that’s what keeps him coming back for more.
Kevin Mastro
As a painter and mixed media artist, I use acrylics (heavy body to flow to spray paint), oils, pastels and various forms of metal leaf (e.g. gold and copper) on wood and linen canvas to provoke the mind. All this work shares a common theme of abstraction, inviting the viewer to make sense, for themselves, what they wish to see. This year’s show provides a sampling of work from multiple collections with a particular focus on the mind’s yearning for faces. As a neuroscientist by day, I am fascinated by the evolutionary importance of faces where a large swath of our brain is dedicated to identifying and connecting with these important sites of emotional display.
Lois Harada
Lois Harada is an artist and printmaker working in Providence, Rhode Island. She studied printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and settled in Providence after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2010. She works at DWRI Letterpress, a commercial letterpress printshop where she also prints her own work.
Larisa Martino
I create art to define my feelings and emotions, to express my inner views and sensuality. The subjects of my paintings are usually women and abstracts. My muse is an imagination that relies on collected images and real observation. I begin my creation by submerging myself in trance, clearing daily worries from my mind. With swooshing circular motions that render the curves of a woman, violin, fluid shapes, floral petal, a glass of wine, I follow with pen and brush the footprints of my daydreaming. My artistic influences include Gustav Klimt, vintage and modern fashion sketches, and Art Nouveau. I rejoice in blending diverse textures, materials, and techniques, which result in mixed-media creations. In my work, you will discover playful lines of ink, deliciously textured acrylics, peek-a-boo fabrics, and unexpected red wine stains.
Laura White Carpenter
Sculptor Laura White Carpenter has been recognized for her creative 3 D work in a variety of materials from clay to metal. Her art path began as a painter of abstracted environments and her focus has transitioned to conceptual sculpture, which continues this theme of nature and speaks to relationships between humans and our earth.
The suncatchers are created from seaglass found on RISD Beach in Barrington, where I walk my very cute dogs. That beach is a treasure trove of found objects, with my finds incorporated into many of my sculptural forms. I breathe a new beautiful life from the discarded, while also feeling as if I’ve cleaned and recycled a small patch of the planet.
Marsena Adams-Dufresne
Marsena is a printmaker, collagist, and writer who’s inspired by historical practices and vintage art, and is driven by a need to make sense of her experiences as they’ve been shaped by historical forces, patriarchy, capitalism, and religious abuse. Her intention in sharing her art is two-fold: to push the comfortable out of their comfort zones so they become aware of unacknowledged beliefs, and to create connection with those who, like Marsena, are healing from trauma, find themselves on the fringe of what society would call “normal,” and wish to make a difference in the world.
Maxime Jean Lefebvre
I am interested in subverting daily objects, and turning them into something both precious and useless. My latest project stems from my first observations in American supermarkets, that felt like museums to my foreign eyes. I chose to focus on detergent bottles, primarily because of their simplistic yet beautiful shapes, and the plurality of their designs, specific to every brand. I started applying grids to the casts that I was making, so that the viewer’s attention would be focused on the shape and not solely on the brand, while still feeling familiar and uncanny.
Rafael Medina
Rafael Medina is a street photographer that was raised in Providence, Rhode Island. He Loves his city and tries to display that passion through his work. With his camera in hand, he walks around Providence for hours always searching for new perspectives. Photography has allowed him to document a city that is quickly changing and he’s grateful he’s been there to experience it.
Regina Teresa
I’m a graphic designer, photographer, & teacher with a passion for anything in the arts. I love to use my imagination to create things and inspire creativity & learning in others. I use photography as a means of self-expression and discovery. Capturing the extraordinary in the ordinary, creating meaningful connections, or simply getting lost in the creative process is what motivates me to create. This particular selection of photographs have a shared theme of ‘where the water meets the sky’ by the sea or the city. Create everyday!
Sara Breslin
Like life, my work is fluid. As I evolve and experience life, my work reflects it. I have been on this earth for 2, going on 3 decades and I have experienced love and loss, grief and depression, anxiety and the twist and turns of womanhood. I am grateful for my human experience and I explore it through my artwork.
In my work I focus heavily on feminine subject matter as it directly relates to my self discoveries as a woman experiencing our terribly beautiful world. I lean on themes of duality, showcasing images of flowers and skulls, dark and light, life and death, to express the complexities of life. Often times the colors or flowers I choose are symbols of grief, purity, and love. I create images of fantastical woman in simple surroundings so that others may transport themselves into the illustrations and feel consumed by the power and emotions these paintings represent.
Sydney Darrow
Creation for me is a way to explore memory, connection, and duality. As I see it, art is its own language; I use my work to communicate thoughts and ideas I otherwise find difficult. Using mainly oil paint, ink, charcoal, or graphite – I utilize mindfulness, academic study, and curiosity to zone in past the technical level right into the root of my own expression.
Sav Hazard-Chaney
Savaree “Sav” Hazard Chaney is a “401 adopted”, self-taught artist. Sav explores her big three; community, culture and design through art. She continues to navigate self and self-expression through her joy of exploring different mediums. Presently, Sav is in her textile bag. Through rug tufting with yarn, Sav hopes to expand and explore fusions between different artistic elements and create one of a kind pieces, as well as making rug tufting accessible to the Providence Community.
Sarina Mitchel
My name is Sarina Mitchel and I am a visual artist based in Providence, RI. I have been drawing and painting since I could hold a pencil. In this show, you can see artwork from a few of the different styles I work in! The iridescent and dimensional paintings you see are inspired from microscope images of epithelial lung cells. I use tools like a laser cutter and a CNC milling machine to carve out the outlines of these cells into masonite (a thin, dense material made of compressed wood fibers), and then use paint to add color, motion, and depth. Many of the other paintings feature my much-beloved character Ms. Proboscis. Many people ask “what” she is, but I find it more fun to leave this open to interpretation and see what others think. She has given many people including me a sense of hope and levity!
Joel Rosario Tapia
Mr.Joel Rosario Tapia , is known as “TAPIA”, “’ Cacique (Chief) Tureygua Taino Cay’ and Chief Tureygua. Is an aboriginal urban artist and cultural practitioner of “Boricua “,or what is contemporarily referred to as Puerto Rican descent. Born in Providence and served 2 tours of combat in Iraq with the US Army. He is the Superior the Chief of the Cibuco-Bayamon Taino Tribe and an active voice and writer in the Indigenous Rights and Taino diaspora.
“My work is influenced by indigenous Taino Culture and Hip Hop.” He is the 2021 RISCA Folk Arts Fellow. A multi-hyphenate and creative director, He practices independently and professionally, and project manages and consults . He holds a Masters In Business science, and a bachelors degree in recording sciences /Audio Engineering. He curates urban and indigenous BIPOC centered shows from his Private Gallery studio “Da Art dealers” in Providence. He is also one of three 2022 Curatorial mentees for the “Providence Biennial for Contemporary Arts” Program “Providence curates”. He administer yearly ‘Areito” (indigenous Caribbean celebrations) He is an author of Two books on his body of works “Ab-Origin” and “Kiss The Girls” and he is the coauthor of 2021 The Implications and Ramifications of the Artificial Black identity a legal chronology of the Americas 1492 to 1968 Editions I and II. He is a member of Providence’s Racial and Environmental justice Committee.
Vanessa E Gonzalez
I am a recent graduate with a Bachelors in Sculpture and Ceramics, from Rhode Island College. This collection is close to my heart because it is another outlet outside of my studio three dimensional work. These pieces were developed over the years and take you through the emotional rollercoaster of my undergrad. I see this collection as a visual memoir, for times I could not put my emotions into words.
