Monsters brings together the visions of ten artists, each delving into the layered and often contradictory nature of the monstrous. From ancient myth to modern pop culture, monsters have occupied the edges of our imagination, straddling the line between fear and fascination. This exhibition captures that liminality, inviting artists to explore monstrosity in forms both literal and metaphorical—manifesting as grotesque figures, shadowy abstractions, or uncanny reflections of human nature.

Maria Dobbs

Never Grow Cold

Maria Dobbs, a Philadelphia-based painter, received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work explores the passage of time, the impermanence of existence, and the boundary between reality and imagination. Through depictions of sunlit interiors, Dobbs creates spaces where light casts haunting, unexpected shadows that obscure architecture and evoke a sense of eerie beauty. Exhibited in Baltimore and Philadelphia, her paintings capture the quiet drama of fleeting moments and emphasize the complex interplay between light and space, revealing the delicacy and transience of lived experience.

Frequency of Trouble

Leeay Aikawa

Wounded Healer 

Toronto-based artist Leeay Aikawa engages with interdisciplinary practices including paper mache, installation, and non-linear narrative. Her work, influenced by eco-spirituality and her background as a yoga instructor, seeks to connect with the divine and Earth’s spirit. Through her mantra, “Here x Now = How,” Aikawa crafts work that examines the intersection of ‘making,’ ‘knowing,’ and ‘being,’ often using found objects and natural materials. She has completed residencies at Paradise Air in Japan and was selected for MOCA’s Mentorship Program, building a practice that is both reflective and deeply interconnected with nature.

Awe Toad

Karl Baden

Contact Sheet Self-Portrait I

Photographer Karl Baden’s work has been exhibited at the Robert Mann Gallery, International Center of Photography, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Houston. Known for capturing the nuances of modern life and memory, his work is included in collections at MoMA, the Guggenheim, and more. Baden's photographic work, spanning decades, serves as a multifaceted exploration of time, identity, and the nature of photography itself. His commitment to long-term projects and consistent documentation has made him a notable figure in contemporary photography.

Contact Sheet Self-Portrait II

Contact Sheet Self-Portrait III

October Sharify

Benedetta

October Sharify channels a deep-rooted fascination with history and theology into their work, merging feminine aesthetics with spiritual motifs. With African American and Persian heritage, October often draws inspiration from the visual legacies of their cultural histories, weaving these influences into their artistic practice.

“My oil paintings serve as vessels for exploring reflections on the human soul and the liminal spaces that exist before birth and after death,” October notes. “I am fascinated by what generations of artists before me have discovered and crafted, and by the fates of those same molecules in our shared future.” In contrast to the muted tones of daily life, October journeys through vivid blues and luminous pinks, creating myth-infused, spiritually resonant scenes that evoke both mystery and transcendence—a fitting exploration into the monstrous and sublime edges of existence.

The Body Thief

Caitlin McCormack

Manicure at the End of the World

Caitlin McCormack (b. 1988) is a Philadelphia-based artist who utilizes textiles to explore queerness, isolation, loss, and existential dread through an uncanny, occasionally humorous lens. Their sculptures contemplate societal reluctance to view gendered craft as art and regard crochet as a behavioral response to apocalyptic conditions. Drawing inspiration from folklore, medieval botanical imagery, institutional osteological displays, science fiction and cinematic body horror, each object is an artifact of a memory, tethered to a surface and made viewable from a distance.  

McCormack has contributed works to solo and group exhibitions at Elijah Wheat Showroom, Hashimoto Contemporary, The Mütter Museum, Museum Rijswijk, and more. Their sculptures have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, Whitehot Magazine, Smithsonian, and Bust Magazine.

Never Let the Party Die

Elise Thompson

Flood

Elise Thompson is an American artist whose work primarily explores themes of transparency, disclosure, and interiority through abstract painting. Her artistic practice focuses on creating layered surfaces that delve into the complexities of communication and perception.

Elise holds a BFA from Northern Kentucky University (2010) and an MFA from Florida State University (2016). Her work has appeared in publications such as New American Paintings South #124, Friend of the Artist Vol. 8, VAST Magazine Vol. 1, Maake Magazine 14, and Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art. Past exhibitions include venues like The Spartanburg Art Museum (SC), The Wassaic Project (NY), and SPRING/BREAK Art Show (NYC). She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Crawl

Pool

Mono Feo

And What If Someone Stops You? (Adelaide)

Mono Feo, an interdisciplinary artist based in Charlotte, North Carolina, crafts a provocative body of work that challenges artistic norms through a distinctive “naive grotesque” style. Combining guerrilla performance with site-specific installations, Mono transforms unused spaces into living propaganda sites. With DIY methods and found materials, their sculptures, costumes, and paintings frequently feature in film and video work, celebrating underground and industrial culture while evoking a sense of familiarity tinged with unease.

Mono’s creative journey has been marked by accolades such as the 2024 ASC Artist Support Grant and a 2023 Goodyear Arts Residency. Their work has appeared in numerous shows and screenings, including “Hunnid Dolla Fair” at Camp North End, “Local Street ’23” at Mint Museum Uptown, and “THRIVE” at the Charlotte Art League. Additional highlights include the Goodyear Arts Summer Residency Showcase and “Doomsday and Night III.” Through their raw, immersive works, Mono Feo seeks to captivate everyday viewers and push boundaries, sparking dialogue and contemplation in unexpected spaces.

Terra Keck

Moon Resting in My Neighbors Trees 

Terra Keck, a Brooklyn-based artist and performer, explores the ontology of the universe and consciousness through the metaphor of the UFO, reimagining it as a symbol of cosmic benevolence rather than fear or conspiracy. Using a reductive technique of erasing layers of graphite and watercolor, her ethereal compositions emphasize what is revealed and what remains—a metaphor for hope and possibility amid uncertainty. Blending elements of printmaking, drawing, performance, video, and digital manipulation, her multidisciplinary practice invites viewers to reimagine the future.

Keck’s work has been featured in Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, and Oxford American Arts, with pieces in permanent collections worldwide. Recent exhibitions include a solo show at Spring Break Art Show and an upcoming debut at Maia Contemporary Gallery in Mexico City. She is a founding member of GRRIC Contemporary and has co-curated shows at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

The Moment

Carol Bruns

Goblin 

Carol Bruns, a Brooklyn-based artist born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1943, has dedicated six decades to exploring the human condition through sculpture and drawing. Her practice delves into masks, totems, and European figure forms, presenting non-gendered human figures that embody humor, the grotesque, political critique, and an inner psyche-spiritual dimension. Bruns’ works reflect both timely and archetypal themes, often rendered with unique materials like styrofoam packing, cardboard, and an inventive paper laminate technique that melds newspaper and rice paste into sculptural forms.

Bruns studied Fine Arts at NYU, later honing her craft at the Art Students League in NYC and Paris’ l’Academie de La Grande Chaumiere. She debuted at OK Harris Gallery in 1975 and has exhibited widely, including solo shows at White Columns in 2023 and ongoing displays at Zurcher Gallery. Her accolades include a Tree of Life grant and residencies at the Saltonstall Foundation and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Bruns is a past recipient of the myma artist grant.

Corporate State

Sherry Kerlin

High Tea with Death 

Sherry Kerlin’s abstract paintings are a testament to her mastery of color, composition, and energy. Her work, which fuses elements of abstraction with subtle references to the natural world, is characterized by bold brushstrokes and fluid forms that suggest movement and transformation. The dynamic quality of her paintings invites the viewer to engage with the emotional and physical undercurrents of the work, as forms blur and shift, evoking both the organic and the imagined. At once intimate and expansive, her canvases offer a visual language that oscillates between the chaotic and the controlled, between the known and the unknowable.

Since 1981, Kerlin has exhibited extensively across the U.S., including her recent solo show, A Small Dog’s Secret Life as an Abstract Expressionist, at Ethan Cohen Gallery. A recipient of the 1995 NYFA grant, her work continues to captivate collectors and curators, solidifying her standing in the contemporary art world.

Exhibitions