2023’s Valentines Exhibition was the first juried exhibition of artwork at Some Fools Gallery and showcased 10 total works from local artists. Selected artwork did not correspond with any one theme in particular, but overall represented each individual artists’ current work.
With the artists on display being recent graduates and current students of both MIAD and UW-Milwaukee, a broad network of emerging artists and creatives from varying neighborhoods within Milwaukee were in attendance for the show.
It is important to note that in preparation, the basement itself underwent a drastic renovation as a previously unused space. The gallery space was painted white and lights were installed to better display and document work.
1.
Penelope Dulce Padilla (any pronouns)
Lamb of ?, 2022
Additive print on Stonehenge
36” x 48”
Lamb of ? is in a sense a self portrait. Growing up Roman-Catholic, instead of feeling a sense of community , I felt isolated and afraid, and separated from what made me myself. I was a black sheep, yet still feel like I want to be a part of God’s flock.
2.
Dayana Trujillo (they/she)
Encuentro Familiar, 2022
Oil paint and mixed media
38” x 40”
This is an old family photo taken from one of the first times my mom came back to Cuba. Here in the photo is my grandma and another family member making tamales in the backyard for the whole family. I experimented and combined a lot of mediums in this piece like oil paint, molding paste, metal mesh, silver leaf, and puffy paint. It’s been one of my favorite paintings I’ve done so far since it’s so dear to me in my heart.
3.
Benji Hoffman (he/him)
Traveling Stinks, 2022
Fleece, felt, polyfil
26” x 13” x 4”
This work was inspired by my rural upbringing and how I’ve noticed the different reactions to roadkill once I moved to Milwaukee. After graduating, my trips to my hometown have become fewer and further between, and my anxiety got considerably worse. My anxiety was mainly focused around leaving the house and would make me nauseous to go anywhere- near or far. I realized while making this skunk that I started to sympathize with it as I too didn’t enjoy cars much anymore, and it seemed that they made us both spill our guts.
4.
Allux Arellano-Metoxen (they/them)
Summertime Blues, 2022
Acrylic on canvas
8” x 11”
My process for Summertime Blues took about 2 months. I painted and worked on it every time I felt my depression creeping up. It gave me an opportunity to work on how I was feeling and work out my thoughts visually. Its contrasting oranges and blues are how it feels when the seasons are changing and vibrant around us yet how we can feel so alone and sad in the chaos of it all. I used a lot of texture with acrylic paint to give it a lifelike feeling. I tend to draw inspiration from my emotions and the world around me in my artwork, even if those feelings are sadness, anxiety, or overwhelming.
5.
Emmanuel Guerra (he/they)
Act of Plucking: Reliquary, 2022
Brocade weaving with linen, bleached goose feathers
16” x 45”
My recent work has revolved around observing and documenting dead birds. My interest in the birds is that I feel as if they present themselves to me. I observe the mundane and the every day and try to layer all my experiences together to create my overlapping realities. With this piece specifically, I was thinking of the linen as a record of time and the feathers moments that had been captured or trapped. A lot of things inspire me, but I am consistently fueled by the sacrifices that have been made by my ancestors/family for me to be able to make artwork for a living.
6.
Diego Avila (he/him)
Bucks Win! (Selfie), 2021
Giclee print
8” x 10”
The process for my photography when I took this piece was to highlight the community joy of Milwaukee. With all eyes on the city, I wanted to show the excitement that we were all sharing in together. Although I love love street photography, my preferred photographic style has been urban landscape. So this was some of my first venture into photographing in this subject matter. My biggest inspirations for photography have been Daniel Arnold and Julian Master, two great street photographers.
7.
Hunter Louis (he/him)
Candles, 2022
Digital print
12” x 18”
My process at the moment is focused around figure-based composition. My current practice always starts without a clear plan and evolves along the way. I’m fond of using many reference images, combining them together as I seek characters and poses that fit with what's already there. I think of it as a puzzle’ trying pieces here and there until I’m able to find the full picture. With this approach, I don’t really try to inject meaning into the work. The story comes about itself for viewers, or it could be seen as an exercise in composition. I try not to take it too seriously and just enjoy what I’m doing as I do it. Candles are as it appears because it was something I was working on until its completion lined up around the time of my birthday.
8.
Ben Schuelke (he/him)
Sleeping in Starships, 2022
Pen drawing
10” x 8”
This drawing was very inspired by a sort of swirling texture I had in my head and a sort of far away feeling I had in the moment. In my creative outlets I mostly focus on making very textured art, and this one was made to feel a space texture with some areas seeming a little rougher and sort of building bridges between these places.
9.
Lauren Newby (she/her)
Squid Stand, 2021
Pine and ash
11” x 11” x 26”
The process of making the stool is inspired by a tradition of using what you have to make something you need. Using bits of a fallen Ash tree in the neighborhood, I slit it into four pieces. Those pieces may look like firewood to start, but was shaped into four legs with a draw knife and shave horse. I am inspired by traditional tools and skills in unison with found material and playful design.
10.
Margaret Griffin (she/her)
In a Womb (or a Home for Rats), 2022
Wire, kozo paper, clay, nylon, latex, hair, thread, molding paste
13” x 7” x 5”
In A Womb (or a Home for Rats), I am exploring ideas of safety, love, and vermin. I question what a womb could be, and how it could serve as a duplicate nesting space for what is considered lowly. Working with themes of the abject, this piece is composed of materials that are subject to decay. Latex, which changes in appearance and compositional makeup due to aging, coats the womb and acts to adhere hair to its surface. Red and beige strings are wrapped around the piece, nodding towards other bodily features, though the piece, while bodily and familiar, remains unnamable. A Womb (or a Home for Rats) works to identify where we may rest, where we may return to, and where we may have come from. I am asking what this space might hold now.