2026
Unfolding Remains
by Alicia Hindson
Best of Show — Abstract 2 (Jan 2026)
Constructed from photographs of the artist’s demolished home, Unfolding Remains transforms architectural fragments into a meditative system of infinite space. Through repetition and mirroring, corridors and exposed beams unfold into an impossible geometry—part blueprint, part memory map. Dust-toned browns carry both the weight of destruction and the quiet warmth of domestic life once lived. Along the upper edge, fractured columns take on the posture of robed figures, standing as silent witnesses to transition and loss. Rather than presenting infinity as something vast and distant, this work reveals it as an intimate process: the continual reshaping of what remains, where memory becomes structure and absence is given form.
2025
Me Myself and Oh… Me Again
by Justin Alsedek
Best of Show — “What Makes You, YOU” (December 2025)
In Me Myself and Oh… Me Again, Justin Alsedek turns the act of self-portraiture into a layered exploration of identity, repetition, and self-observation. The artist depicts himself mid-process, surrounded by personal artifacts—paint, instruments, books, and objects of daily life—each acting as a fragment of lived experience. The fractured portrait within the painting mirrors the way identity is constructed: never singular, always shifting between reflection, memory, and perception. By placing the artist both inside and outside the image, the work blurs the line between creator and subject, asking whether the self is something we define, perform, or endlessly reinterpret.
Confined
by Jessie Leasure
Best of Show — Figurative (November 2025)
SOLO Exhibition: January 1 – February 28, 2026
In Confined, Jessie Leasure presents the figure as both shelter and prison. The body folds inward, limbs compressing into themselves, while the obscured face intensifies a sense of isolation and internal tension. Vibrant, shifting color moves across the skin—at once luminous and unsettled—suggesting emotional states that cannot be contained by physical form alone. The circular posture creates a closed system, where vulnerability, protection, and restraint coexist. Rather than depicting confinement as purely external, this work reveals it as an intimate psychological space, where the body becomes the vessel through which emotion is held, resisted, and ultimately revealed.
Imposter
by Amanda Arroyo
Best of Show — DARK (October 2025)
Selected by Guest Judge Ashley Justiniano, Chief Arts Officer Brick City Center for the Arts/MCA
In Imposter, Amanda Arroyo gives form to the unsettling tension between visibility and concealment. The figure confronts the viewer directly, hands raised in a gesture that feels both defensive and revealing, while the surrounding eyes embedded in the hair suggest constant observation and internalized scrutiny. Stark contrasts and monochromatic restraint heighten the psychological intensity, turning the face into a fragile threshold between performance and truth. Rather than depicting fear alone, the work captures the moment of recognition—when the mask falters, identity fractures, and the cost of pretending becomes impossible to ignore.
Ravine Garden Reflections
by Nathan Leemis
Best of Show — Nature (September 2025)
In Ravine Garden Reflections, Nathan Leemis dissolves the boundary between landscape and perception. Branches, sky, and water merge into a shifting surface where reflection becomes the subject itself. The rhythmic ripples pull the composition inward, transforming the natural scene into a living abstraction shaped by motion, light, and time. Earthy reds and browns anchor the image, while flashes of blue and green suggest fleeting moments of clarity before dissolving again. Rather than offering a fixed view of nature, this work invites the viewer to linger in its instability—where the world is seen not as it is, but as it continually changes.
Bridal Dance
by O Yemi Tubi
Best of Show — Music (August 2025)
In Bridal Dance, O Yemi Tubi captures the rhythm, ceremony, and communal spirit of celebration through movement and color. Figures intertwine in a moment of shared joy as music, dance, and tradition merge into a single visual cadence. Bold hues and patterned textiles pulse across the composition, while floating currency and instruments emphasize the ritual exchange at the heart of the scene. Rather than portraying music as sound alone, this work translates it into motion—where culture, identity, and celebration are felt through the body, the crowd, and the collective beat.
A New Meter
by Cori Matyas
Best of Show — WATER (July 2025)
Selected by Guest Judge Geraldo Rodriguez
In A New Meter, Cori Matyas brings together ceramics and steel in a quietly kinetic meditation on water, measurement, and unseen systems. Suspended forms drip, funnel, and balance, suggesting both utility and ritual—an object that feels at once engineered and ceremonial. Guest Judge Geraldo Rodriguez described the work as “an expected/unexpected combination that makes you want to see more,” a sentiment echoed in the sculpture’s tension between industrial structure and organic material. Rooted in clay yet responsive to movement and gravity, A New Meter reimagines how we sense water and energy—not as static resources, but as rhythms continuously shaping the world around us.
Amazing Grace
by Jess Rodriguez-Marcano
Best of Show — Black & White (June 2025)
Upcoming SOLO Exhibition: July – August 2026
In Amazing Grace, Jess Rodriguez-Marcano presents a figure suspended between fragility and care. Rendered in stark black and white, the drawing relies on line, negative space, and gesture to convey tenderness without sentimentality. The elongated body appears weightless yet vulnerable, cradled by hands that suggest protection, guidance, or surrender. Flowing hair becomes both anchor and extension of the form, blurring where the figure ends and emotion begins. By stripping away color, the work distills its message to the essentials—grace not as perfection, but as a quiet act of holding, being held, and enduring.
Promesse Celate
by Pietro Capone
Rome, Italy
Best of Show — Portrait (May 2025)
SOLO Exhibition: August – September 2025
In Promesse Celate (“Hidden Promises”), Pietro Capone fuses classical portraiture with poetic symbolism and historical texture. The figure’s gaze is both intimate and distant, holding the viewer in a quiet psychological tension, while handwritten Italian script flows across the surface like memory, prayer, and confession. The layered text does not simply decorate the composition—it becomes part of the identity of the figure herself, embedding language into flesh, thought into form. Capone’s refined technique and luminous realism evoke Renaissance tradition, while the conceptual layering situates the work firmly in the contemporary moment. The result is a portrait that feels timeless yet personal—an image of inner life, hidden vows, and unspoken devotion rendered with elegance and restraint.
Team Spirit
by Sherese Mesko
Best of Show — Works on Paper (March 2025)
Juror: Ashley Justiniano
Chief Arts Officer, Marion Cultural Alliance
In Team Spirit, Sherese Mesko demonstrates exceptional technical mastery and emotional sensitivity, transforming paper into a space of quiet intensity and depth. The work’s meticulous attention to detail draws the viewer in gradually, rewarding close observation with subtle shifts in value, texture, and expression. Set against a dark ground, the side profile becomes both striking and contemplative—its restraint amplifying its emotional resonance.
Juror Ashley Justiniano noted:
“Have you ever seen a piece of art that just pulls you in? This image does just that. The meticulous attention to detail is truly impressive, rendering every nuance and shade on paper with such finesse. It’s the kind of work that contrasts beautifully, creating a stunning effect, making every detail stand out and inviting you to delve deeper. The side profile against the dark background adds a unique twist, engaging your senses and prompting your gaze to roam. It's more than just a portrait; it’s a visual dialogue that invites you to experience the subject’s emotion effortlessly captured on paper.”
The Red Priestess
by Christopher Hershberger
Best of Show — AMORE (February 2025)
This award was juried by Lisa Irwin, LILAC Foundation & Arts in Health Ocala Metro.
In The Red Priestess, Christopher Hershberger conjures a figure that feels both ancient and immediate—an embodiment of devotion, desire, and inner power. Saturated in deep crimsons and earthen reds, the composition radiates heat and intensity, pulling the viewer into a charged, almost ritualistic encounter. The figure’s direct gaze is unwavering, commanding attention while remaining inwardly focused, as if suspended between revelation and concealment.
The layered textures and fluid transitions between flesh, fabric, and atmosphere blur the boundary between body and environment, suggesting transformation rather than stasis. Red here becomes more than color—it functions as symbol: passion, sacrifice, love, and authority entwined. The priestess stands not as an object of longing, but as its source.
Awarded Best of Show for AMORE, The Red Priestess exemplifies the exhibition’s exploration of love in its most potent form—not sentimental, but elemental, fierce, and sacred.
The Petal Collection I
by Darina Palmire
Best of Show — ABSTRACT (January 2025)
In The Petal Collection I, Darina Palmire presents an abstract form that feels both organic and intentional—unfolding like a moment of arrested growth. Layered, rippling surfaces evoke petals, coral, or geological formations, inviting the viewer to experience the sculpture as something discovered rather than constructed. The work shifts subtly with perspective, revealing new rhythms of texture and shadow as one moves around it.
Palmire’s restrained palette allows form and surface to take center stage. The clustered markings and undulating contours suggest expansion and contraction, delicacy and strength held in balance. Though nonrepresentational, the piece carries a distinctly bodily presence, echoing natural processes of emergence, resilience, and transformation.
Awarded Best of Show for NOMA Gallery’s ABSTRACT exhibition, The Petal Collection I stood out for its refined material language and its ability to evoke nature without imitation—demonstrating abstraction as a living, breathing dialogue between form, movement, and perception.
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