Shared State is one group exhibition made up of a series of seven smaller two-person exhibitions, each pairing artists with aligned material investigations, as well as likeminded conceptual interests. Curating under the moniker Co-Worker Gallery, Jordan Buschur and Natalie Lanese take turns leading each curatorial selection, while collaborating on all other aspects of bringing an exhibition to life. The dialogue that occurs in this back and forth process is mirrored in the dialogue that grows between each of the paired artworks as they exist side by side in the gallery.

The pairings are a way to open conversations between two kindred artists, each working independently across the same state. Much like two co-workers sharing an office or studio, these smaller exhibitions highlight similar ways of thinking and making artwork across Ohio. By positioning the exhibition as a site of overlap, new connections and possibilities can emerge.

Utilizing traditions of craft and ritual, Dana Lynn Harper and Josie Love Roebuck create artworks as acts of remembrance, healing, and connection.

For Hannah Parrett and Melissa Vogley Woods, the space between the authentic and the artificial becomes a site of transformation from nostalgia into inquiry and surface into depth.

Abby Cipar and Natalie Petrosky both work in assemblage—of materials and worlds—crafting spaces where transformation unfolds and renews.

Weaving thread, beads, and gesture, Akeylah Wellington and Jen P. Harris turn to the loom as a driver of inquiry, a structure through which new systems of seeing emerge.

Joan Clare Brown and Nicole Condon-Shih explore the delicate balance between fragility and endurance that defines both the human body and the natural world.

Creating works that meditate on reflection, Erika b Hess and Sarah Thomas challenge us to consider the interconnectedness of personal memory and environmental consequence.

Dragana Crnjak and Laura Truitt invite viewers to reconsider temporality and perception through use of color, light, fragmented imagery, and manipulated perspective.

Conversations between artworks create new sparks and growth into previously unimagined ideas. Connections between artists are a fundamental block of community building. A network of creative makers across our state gives vibrancy and vitality to our lived experience. We turn to art to help make sense of the world, to seek knowledge and challenge, to find joy and camaraderie. We ask ourselves what we can learn by inviting dialogue with others? We ask you to join in.

Please join us for the opening reception on Saturday, May 2 from 2-4pm.

Riffe Gallery - 77 South High Street - Columbus, OH

“Shared State” at Riffe Gallery

“From the Ground Up”