Homiens Winter 2026
Sharon Harms, The quest (detail), 2025, Oil on linen, 60″ x 40″ (1524 mm x 1016 mm).
It is a privilege to introduce our Winter 2026 exhibition, a collection exploring the balance between external structures and interior sanctuaries. When viewed together, these artworks form an unexpected dialogue. The smooth, deliberate architecture of ceramic ladders and the unpredictable surfaces of smoke-fired clay and rocky terrain stand in clean contrast to the raw, kinetic energy of wild horses, the elasticity of playful photography, and an intimate selection of animal, human, and botanical portraiture.
A quiet narrative gravitas unifies these pieces. We move from an artist’s incursion into the atmospheric stillness of their own imagination, toward meticulous layers of hand-cut paper that combine to capture the rhythms of community life. By using allegorical motifs like an apple, lotus, and magnifying glass, these artists map both individual subconsciousness and our valuable shared connections. Their artworks coalesce to gently hint at a modern folklore, while offering a complex and striking investigation into the role and presence of the artist.
The Homiens Art Prize is Now Open
Parker Jackson
Biter Fighter, No.1 2025
Photograph on Vibrance Metallic photo paper
36″ x 18″ (914 mm x 457 mm), 42″ x 24″ (1077 mm x 610 mm) framed
Artist’s Statement: Having just been bitten by a rival, a wild horse raises up and emotionally reacts to the fierce aggression. Two mares flinch at the unfolding drama. Saliva and skin fly in the air as both mustangs kick up dust in their battle for dominance and survival.
Parker Jackson is an emerging photographer primarily focused on visual storytelling of the American West.
Parker’s current project, Frontiers, invites the audience to consider our modern frontiers as they intersect with the uncertain future of wild horses. Their fate may be a harbinger of things to come, or an encouraging tale of resilience. The drama that unfolds in their world often reflects both a story of the human struggle and of the modern natural world at large.
The Frontiers project offers an intimate, dramatic and often exquisite view that pushes the boundary in a number of contemporary ways. Tethered to the reality of the present moment, it serves as a tangible connection to our natural world and a reminder of our role in its future.
Miriam Rosenthal
Lady of the Lake 2024
Oil on linen
24″ x 36″ (610 mm x 914 mm)
Artist’s Statement: The inspiration for this piece originated from the vivid atmosphere and imagery of numerous fairy tales and folklore that have captivated my imagination since my early years. In recent years I’ve been in love with the landscapes of John William Waterhouse and Edgar Maxence as they always remind me of the illustrated landscapes of fairy tales. Utilizing myself as a reference for the figure not only granted me a sense of liberation but also enabled me to effectively communicate the sensation of drifting away from my reality.
In my perception, this artwork does not qualify as a true self-portrait, as my primary aim was to convey the ethereal essence of my imagination rather than to portray myself as the artist. While my figure serves as the bridge connecting my reality to this dreamscape, my ultimate goal is to encourage viewers to feel how tangible your imagination can really be.
Miriam is a painter and draftsman based out of Toronto. She graduated from the Academy of Realist Art, and during her time studying she was awarded two scholarships from the ARA, as well as a highly regarded scholarship from the Art Renewal Center. Her work has been featured in multiple shows and is also now in a few private collections. Miriam has been instructing at the Academy of Realist Art for the past 5 years and runs frequent drawing and painting workshops through the year.
Alexis Viele
We Belong to Each Other No. 3 2025
Hand-cut paper, watercolor, gouache, adhesive
19″ x 25″ x 2.5″ (483 mm x 635 mm x 64 mm)
Artist’s Statement: I work with hand-cut, layered paper as a call to create in the ways we should live, with great attention, great care, and deep consideration of the finished work. It is a meticulous process rejecting capitalism’s false sense of urgency by inviting slowness as a means of deliberate action so that the needs of the work, the needs of our communities, may be met.
By working with a seemingly benign medium and on a scale that allows for great detail, I invite the viewer in to begin a much-needed conversation about the world in which we live, and what is truly possible when we recognize our responsibility to one another and the value each of us holds. It is a rejection of the limitations of our current systems and ways of being and an invitation to dream of something better. Small moments of tenderness invite the viewer to pause and step into the world we dream possible, so that they may take with them the inspiration to join the work of bringing it about.
As I envision these communities and reflect on the interconnectedness of it all, a canopy of massive trees is required as this future extends beyond care for human life, but includes all living things, plants, and animals: A deep care for the well-being of all. And, just as trees have been discovered to communicate and care for one another, may we take note and follow their lead in this new world we are creating, together.
Alexis Viele is a hand-cut, dimensional paper artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work explores the interconnectedness of the human experience and seeks to inspire change through meaningful conversations about our responsibility toward one another and the strengths that exist in our differences. She believes that we must first have the courage to envision the world we hope to exist, so that we may then take the action needed to bring it forth, together. Her newest collection, We Belong to Each Other, explores these themes by inviting the viewer into a thoughtfully and intricately created world in which communities are resourced, there is great care for one another, and true liberation for all is possible. She won first prize with Fiber Art Now’s second installment of Paper Made and has exhibited her work with Taber Gallery and the Women’s Caucus of the Arts D.C.
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Haoran Bie
Ladder Series 2025
Porcelain (slip-cast from PLA 3D printed made plaster moulds), transparent glaze
4 pieces; variable dimensions, up to 4.3” × 4.1′ × 11” (110mm × 105mm × 280 mm)
Artist’s Statement: The Ladder series explores how everyday functional forms can become carriers of narrative and aspiration. The works originate from the artist’s repeated encounter with industrial storage tanks topped with fixed ladders—structures designed purely for access and maintenance, yet visually suggestive of ascent and purpose.
Through porcelain vessels, this utilitarian gesture is translated into a domestic scale. The ladder is not decorative but structural: it interrupts the smooth continuity of the form and introduces a directional logic. What is usually a container becomes a site of imagined movement—between inside and outside, ground and height, use and pause.
The series is produced through a hybrid process that combines 3D modelling, 3D-printed plaster moulds, and slip-casting. This method allows precise repetition while preserving subtle variations between pieces, reinforcing the tension between industrial logic and handcrafted presence.
Porcelain’s fragility and durability hold a quiet contradiction that mirrors the conceptual framework of the work. The vessels function neither solely as sculpture nor purely as objects of use, but as thresholds between utility and metaphor. Together, the pieces propose that even the most ordinary structures can embody direction, effort, and the possibility of arrival—articulating a restrained but persistent idea of ascent.
Haoran Bie graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in 2024 with an MA in Designer Maker. During his postgraduate studies, he began working with ceramic materials, drawing on a background in product and industrial design. His practice integrates 3D modelling and 3D printing into the production of plaster moulds and ceramic forms, extending the technical and formal limits of traditional ceramic processes.
This hybrid approach is exemplified in the Ladder series, which applies product-oriented thinking to ceramic objects while maintaining a sculptural and narrative dimension.
He is a co-founder of 4AM Product Design, a London-based studio established with Debbie Wang, focusing on artist-led homeware and functional objects. Their work has been exhibited at Milan Design Week 2025 and Denmark’s 3 Days of Design. The Ladder series was represented exclusively by Mint Gallery, London, from August 2025 to January 2026.
Crystal Clarke
Fierce 2024
PanPastel and pastel pencil on Pastelmat paper
14″ x 11″ (356 mm x 279 mm)
Artist’s Statement: Strength doesn’t always roar. Sometimes it’s quiet. Steady. The kind of presence that holds the room without asking for permission. That’s what drew me to this grizzly. An animal of immense power who doesn’t need to prove anything. The eyes lock into yours and refuse to let go — magnetic, unreadable. You’re caught in the tension of not knowing whether the moment holds tenderness or threat. I was drawn to the contrast in the details: the short, dense fur of the face giving way to heavier, clumped, damp hair along the body and paws; the softness of the form set against formidable claws. The piece lives in that in-between space — where vulnerability and power coexist, and where strength is felt rather than declared.
Crystal Clarke’s pastel artwork captures the essence of the animals we love with remarkable softness and care. Working exclusively with PanPastel and pastel pencil, she builds portraits that feel intimate and alive. Her process is close and attentive, ranging from 70,000 to over 400,000 pastel strokes and unfolding through layers of trust and patience. Each piece becomes a quiet meeting between human and animal spirit.
Sharon Harms
The quest 2025
Oil on linen
60″ x 40″ (1524 mm x 1016 mm)
Raised in rural western Michigan, Sharon Harms demonstrated an early aptitude for drawing and painting. At sixteen, she began a career in graphic design that evolved into a decades-long practice as an award-winning advertising art director. In 2020, after a 47-year career in visual communication, she shifted her focus to painting full time.
Harms’ work is informed by her background in advertising, where she refined her ability to distill complex ideas into precise visual narratives. Though she completed an introductory college painting course, she is otherwise self-taught, developing a disciplined studio practice rooted in observation, intuition, and technical rigor. She lives and works in Nashville, Tennessee.
Known for hyper-realistic still life paintings, Harms integrates instinctive expression with meticulous realism. Rather than working from a predetermined plan, she allows feeling to guide the assembly of objects that evoke memory, emotion, and quiet psychological tension. Through exacting technique and restrained compositions, her work gives form to fleeting thoughts and subtle, unseen connections.
Her paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the International FiKVA Award for Painters, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Nashville, Manifest Gallery, and exhibitions with the American Women Artists Association. Her work has been featured in Artists Magazine, Create! Magazine, and Studio Visit Magazine, and is held in private collections.
Yoon Lee
Untitled 2025
Acrylics and color pencils on linen
30″ x 40″ (762 mm × 1016 mm)
Artist’s Statement: In my work, I explore the theme of maternal connection between mother and child, using traditional Korean painting (Minhwa), acrylic paintings, and ceramic sculptures. I weave images of nature with scenes from both historical and contemporary life, exploring how the human experience of caring and protection is mirrored in nature’s own cycles.
The lotus flower, born from the mud, is a central motif of this work, embodying sacrifice, resilience, and purity. In Korean folk stories (The Tale of Sim Cheong), the female figure often sacrifices herself for the benefit of the family and is reborn through the lotus, a transformation that reflects both suffering and renewal.
This classic fairy tale of female self-effacement bridges cultural memory with present realities, inviting viewers to reflect on how feminine love can endure, transform, and bloom across generations.
Yoon Lee is a Korean-born, Los Angeles–based interdisciplinary artist working primarily in painting, ceramics, and sculpture. Her practice explores feminine identity through themes of maternal protection, instinct, and love, grounded in her cultural background as a Korean woman. Lee examines the historical and ongoing discrimination women face in Korea, including the cultural preference for sons, the legacy of Comfort Women during World War II, and the self-sacrificial roles assigned to women in Korean folktales. Drawing from both historical and contemporary imagery, Lee often uses motifs from nature—such as cocoons, nests, and animals known for maternal care—to reflect how protection and nurturing are mirrored in natural cycles. She incorporates traditional materials such as Hanji, Hanbok, and Korean pigments to bridge cultural memory with present realities. Lee’s recent solo exhibitions include From Mud to Bloom (2025) at the USC Roski Lindhurst Gallery and Chrysalis (2024) at the USC Roski IFT Gallery. She is the recipient of the Macomber Travel Award and has received multiple Best of Show and First Place Awards.
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Gavin Libotte
Time To Serve Up The Moon, 2024
Photograph taken with Fujifilm X100V, 28mm wide lens converter, Godox off-camera flash
11.7″ × 16.5″ (297 mm × 420 mm)
Artist’s Statement: This surreal, playful image transforms a familiar game into something curious and otherworldly. From a ground-level perspective, the human world feels vast, exaggerated and slightly absurd. At first, the scene resists easy reading: a bright circular form hangs in the air, sharp and luminous, like a full moon brought impossibly close. Gradually, the moment comes into focus: a hand, a paddle, a ping pong ball caught mid-flight. The image toys with perception, slipping between the everyday and the celestial. What begins as a simple game becomes a strange, dreamlike pause, encouraging the viewer to look twice and let the imagination wander.
Gavin Libotte, originally from Kent, Sussex, England, is now based in Sydney, Australia. He developed a passion for photography in his teenage years by creating a darkroom. His education in Fine Art and Graphic Design equipped him with the visual skills necessary for photography, particularly in street photography, which captures everyday human stories. Influenced by notable photographers such as Ray K Metzker, Trent Parke, and Alex Webb, Libotte has received multiple accolades, including Reportage Photographer of the Year at the Australian Photographic Prize and runner-up for Australasia’s Emerging Top Photographer in 2023. His work has been exhibited internationally in countries including the US, Italy, Prague, Tokyo, and Brussels.
Christoph Mayr
L to R: Lugard Road #18, Harlech Road #5, Harlech Road #4, from Hong Kong Rocks series, 2026
Photographs as giclée prints on Hahnemühle Photorag paper, 308g/m2
15.7″ x 11.3″ (400 mm x 286 mm)
Artist’s Statement: Those who want to escape Hong Kong’s sweltering summer heat, or who long for a bit of greenery amid the tightly packed skyscrapers, climb or drive up to Victoria Peak. There, they can walk around it on a gently ascending and then gently descending path called Lugard Road (which merges into Harlech Road halfway along). Named after Sir Frederick Lugard, who was governor of the city at the beginning of the 20th century, the path offers cool, fresh air and, above all, impressive views of Victoria Harbor and the skyscrapers of the southern districts of Tai Ping Shan, Sheung Wan, Sai Ying Pun, and, on the other side of the harbor, Tsim Sha Tsui.
However, if you turn away from the city and pay attention to the rock formations along the path, you will discover a beauty that requires no spectacle. It is the beauty of the trivial and small, the beauty of stones. Nothing is added to this beauty in Hong Kong Rocks; no forms or colors are introduced. On the contrary, it merely brings out, emphasizes and highlights what is already there. Every color is present in the rock, every trace and every crack.
As so often, I deliberately turn my gaze to the unseen; my photography is devoted to the unnoticed. In this respect, climbing Victoria Peak is not only relaxing and breathtaking, but also comforting. After all, real beauty can be found almost everywhere and at any time.
Born in Tyrol, Austria, Christoph Mayr began taking photographs at the age of 16. He studied musicology in Innsbruck and Vienna. After completing the sound engineering course at the University of Music and Performing Arts, he worked as a lyricist and songwriter before becoming a photo assistant. From the late 1990s he traveled the world as a documentary cameraman, began directing and wrote concepts and screenplays for documentaries and feature films. Since 2019, he has been fully dedicated to photography again. Christoph Mayr lives and works in the south of Vienna.
kelogsloops (Hieu Nguyen)
Passing Hours 2025
Watercolor, ink, pencil, gouache, gold leaf on paper
16″ x 22″ (406 mm x 559 mm)
Hieu Nguyen, artistically known as kelogsloops, is an Australian artist who delves into introspective themes, exploring dreams, the subconscious and the surreal. Often emotively charged, his paintings are intended to feel like glimpses into intimate, fleeting moments of his subject matter. His works invite viewers to immerse themselves in the quiet narratives woven into his art, offering a view into an ethereal world.
Influenced by music, film, and video games, Hieu’s artistic journey began in childhood, where he often lost himself in sketchbooks, drawing inspiration from manga, video games and media shared by his older brothers. It wasn’t until late high school and early adulthood that he began refining his craft with greater intention, studying the works of masters such as Monet, Gustav Klimt, and Alphonse Mucha, alongside contemporary artists like Lois van Baarle, Yoshitaka Amano, Agnes Cecile, Anna Dittman, and James Jean.
Over time, Hieu developed a signature style that blends traditional and digital techniques, weaving dimensionality throughout his compositions. These works are often characterised by gilded gold leaf accents, flat graphic elements, stark negative space, expressive watercolour abstractions, and delicately rendered figures in soft realism. His paintings have been exhibited in both group and solo shows worldwide, with frequent showcases in Los Angeles, New York, and Melbourne. In recent years, his work has also entered the realm of Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering, contributing several artworks to the iconic franchise.
Beyond his own artistic practice, Hieu is a passionate advocate for art education. Since the early stages of his career, he has shared his creative journey transparently, offering in-depth process insights across his social media platforms, which have garnered a following of over two million. His commitment to education has expanded into global watercolour workshops, where he aims to challenge the perception of watercolour as merely a hobbyist’s medium. Through his teaching, he hopes to inspire both art enthusiasts and professionals alike, fostering a deeper appreciation for the medium. His artistic philosophy is embodied in his personal motto: “be right back, chasing dreams.”
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Ava Tesoriero
Blushing Moon (from Interstellar series) 2025
Saggar-fired ceramic
5″ x 5″ x 5″ (127 mm x 127 mm x 127 mm)
Artist’s Statement: My wheel-thrown ceramic work explores the bottleneck form as a metaphor for the unknown, balancing familiarity with uncertainty. The gentle tapering of this bottleneck profile serves as an invitation to contemplate what the vessel might hold, much like the mysteries of our universe. In this ongoing series, I strive to design pieces that will draw viewers in and urge them to engage with the narrow opening. This tightened entry point incites an element of curiosity, encouraging closer inspection and prompting thoughts of the unseen, the hidden, and the possibilities that are concealed within. It mirrors the way we approach the unknown in life: with a mix of intrigue and caution, wondering what lies just out of sight.
For creation to occur, there must be space, both physically within the vessel and conceptually within the viewer’s imagination. The interior void becomes as significant as the clay itself, acting as a site of potential rather than absence. This space of not-knowing, of uncertainty, is what fuels curiosity and invites reflection. By narrowing the neck, I aim to amplify the viewer’s desire to interact with the object—to lift it, peer through the opening, or even give it a shake—creating a personal moment of engagement as the spectator examines the vessel more closely. Through this exploration, I hope to blend form and function in ways that transform the vessel from a static sculpture into an experience. In embracing uncertainty as an essential component of my work, I acknowledge it as the foundation of my own artistic progress and growth. Although the unknown can be unsettling, it also carries the excitement of new possibilities: an energy I strive to encapsulate within each vessel.
Ava Tesoriero is a ceramic artist from Chatham, New Jersey. She earned a B.S. in Studio Art with a concentration in ceramics from Skidmore College, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2025. Her ceramic work has been featured in numerous gallery spaces, including the Tang Teaching Museum, Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council, Schacht Gallery, Main Street Arts, Spencertown Academy Arts Center, and Cooperstown Art Association. Tesoriero is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Saratoga Clay Arts Center in Schuylerville, NY, where she continues to explore the intricacies of the bottleneck form.
Jingyi Wu
Run (from Energy Flow series) 2024
Markers and colored pencil on paper
(270 mm x 190 mm)
Artist’s Statement: These images poetically visualize the energy flows that radiate through our bodies, during intense physical activity and movement, such as during sport and training. I drew inspiration from the natural world, abstract patterns, movement and human anatomy. My hobby is sports. I have been doing sports for six years, such as lifting, running, jumping rope and so on. Sports bring me infinite positive energy, so I hope to encourage more people, especially women, to try sports through illustrations.
My name is Jingyi Wu. My research direction is the expressiveness of colored pencils. I constantly explore colors, layers, and techniques. The small and ordinary daily life is the theme of my creation. I enjoy observing life truthfully and experiencing the universal emotions of human beings. I am exploring and developing my own talents. I hope to bring happiness to people through my art.