Enchanting Views
Solo Exhibition by Amber Keene
Exhibition Dates
Friday, Aug. 8th till Aug. 31st 2025
Friday, Aug. 8th till Aug. 31st 2025
Artist statement
My work explores the landscapes that I’ve encountered that resonated with me in some way. I am intrigued by the mood of both natural and human-made environments, and I aim is to create a sense of wonder in the viewer that encourages them to get lost in the feel these places. I accomplish this by creating oil paintings using a mixed media approach adding material such as resin, paper, and plaster to create a richness and texture that lends to the overall mood of the pieces.
I have a bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Art education and a Master’s of Fine Arts in Art Education both from the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign and I am a full time art teacher. I do private commissions and I have exhibited at the Leslie Wolf Gallery in Old Town, Chicago, and the Vibrant Cast Gallery in Lincoln Square, Chicago.
If you are interested in purchasing and/or want more information email Amber at [email protected].
My work explores the landscapes that I’ve encountered that resonated with me in some way. I am intrigued by the mood of both natural and human-made environments, and I aim is to create a sense of wonder in the viewer that encourages them to get lost in the feel these places. I accomplish this by creating oil paintings using a mixed media approach adding material such as resin, paper, and plaster to create a richness and texture that lends to the overall mood of the pieces.
I have a bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Art education and a Master’s of Fine Arts in Art Education both from the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign and I am a full time art teacher. I do private commissions and I have exhibited at the Leslie Wolf Gallery in Old Town, Chicago, and the Vibrant Cast Gallery in Lincoln Square, Chicago.
If you are interested in purchasing and/or want more information email Amber at [email protected].
Solo Exhibition
Fortitude
Exhibition Dates
Aug. 8th till Aug. 31st
Sena Clara Creston
Artist statement
Fortitude is a series of images of impromptu driftwood huts. The huts project security and fantasy, offset by precarious construction of dilapidated materials in an eroding landscape to create a sense of unease for environmental uncertainty. Fortitude displays the collective history of driftwood from familiar natural and manipulated sources, in a revolving collaboration between trees, ocean, sand, wind, weather, and strangers. Fortitude is a portmanteau of fort and attitude, and a word describing the resilience required to seek and sustain shelter and safety on this entropic planet. There is a secondary sad secret allusion to the fortitude required to keep building secure structures as they continuously get taken away. Soon after the huts get built, occupied, and enjoyed; they inevitably fall from tempestuous weather, rising tides, shifting sand, eroding coast, and the poaching of one hut’s wood for another. Fortitude displays the (un)natural and (de)constructive lives of large trees in this liminal landscape between where we were, where we are, and where we are going; inviting viewers to experience, empathize, and engage with their role in the imminent. These images of trees as (in)secure structures in a visibly deteriorating environment communicate their need to be protected to provide protection.
Fortitude is a series of images of impromptu driftwood huts. The huts project security and fantasy, offset by precarious construction of dilapidated materials in an eroding landscape to create a sense of unease for environmental uncertainty. Fortitude displays the collective history of driftwood from familiar natural and manipulated sources, in a revolving collaboration between trees, ocean, sand, wind, weather, and strangers. Fortitude is a portmanteau of fort and attitude, and a word describing the resilience required to seek and sustain shelter and safety on this entropic planet. There is a secondary sad secret allusion to the fortitude required to keep building secure structures as they continuously get taken away. Soon after the huts get built, occupied, and enjoyed; they inevitably fall from tempestuous weather, rising tides, shifting sand, eroding coast, and the poaching of one hut’s wood for another. Fortitude displays the (un)natural and (de)constructive lives of large trees in this liminal landscape between where we were, where we are, and where we are going; inviting viewers to experience, empathize, and engage with their role in the imminent. These images of trees as (in)secure structures in a visibly deteriorating environment communicate their need to be protected to provide protection.
Bio
Sena Clara Creston is an artist and educator. She learned to create personal space from repurposed material by growing up in an artist loft in New York City. Creston learned to use the power of the image while studying photography and imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she began using immersive light installations to create the feeling of “being there”. Creston went on to study electronic arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she animated interactive art machines to reflect environmental responses to viewers’ actions. Creston moved to the California coast in 2020 to work as a photography and media arts professor at Sonoma State University, where she fell in love with the feeling of freedom inspired by the open space of the Pacific Ocean. Creston has created robotic, light based, and photographic installations for galleries, museums, and festivals, and conferences including the Borealis Festival of Light, Treefort, Tri-Cities Airport, Museum of Sonoma County, EBCH Museum, Jundt Art Museum, CoCA Seattle, The Wassaic Project, and TEDx Richland.
Sena Clara Creston is an artist and educator. She learned to create personal space from repurposed material by growing up in an artist loft in New York City. Creston learned to use the power of the image while studying photography and imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she began using immersive light installations to create the feeling of “being there”. Creston went on to study electronic arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she animated interactive art machines to reflect environmental responses to viewers’ actions. Creston moved to the California coast in 2020 to work as a photography and media arts professor at Sonoma State University, where she fell in love with the feeling of freedom inspired by the open space of the Pacific Ocean. Creston has created robotic, light based, and photographic installations for galleries, museums, and festivals, and conferences including the Borealis Festival of Light, Treefort, Tri-Cities Airport, Museum of Sonoma County, EBCH Museum, Jundt Art Museum, CoCA Seattle, The Wassaic Project, and TEDx Richland.
The following are Silver Gelatin Prints in a variety of different sizes for Sale. Email at [email protected] or Sena at [email protected] for more information.
I AM Women Exhibition
Friday, March 14 TO Sunday, April 6, 2025
I AM Women Exhibition
Celebrate the power and creativity of women at our in-person exhibition! Join us! From paintings to sculptures, get ready to be inspired by the diversity and strength of women's voices in the art world: Adrienne Smith
Aerianah way, Allison Schmocker, Andrea Touché Morales, Annalise Messner, Ariana Macedo, Ashley Karls, Cherin Kim, Deborah Paige-Jackson, Emma Lyons, Emma MacLean, Emma Underwood, Jeein Kim, Jennifer Cano, Kai Shapiro, Kathleen Nesbitt, Kayla Macedo, Lisa Janus, Maggie Kamphausen, Marcia Biasiello, Marina Kuchinski, Max Bakk, Miriam Modena, Nicole Van Dyken, Samantha Villanueva, Sarah O'Neill, Sena Clara Creston, Victoria Park, Yuliya Klochan and Nicole Fuentes
Celebrate the power and creativity of women at our in-person exhibition! Join us! From paintings to sculptures, get ready to be inspired by the diversity and strength of women's voices in the art world: Adrienne Smith
Aerianah way, Allison Schmocker, Andrea Touché Morales, Annalise Messner, Ariana Macedo, Ashley Karls, Cherin Kim, Deborah Paige-Jackson, Emma Lyons, Emma MacLean, Emma Underwood, Jeein Kim, Jennifer Cano, Kai Shapiro, Kathleen Nesbitt, Kayla Macedo, Lisa Janus, Maggie Kamphausen, Marcia Biasiello, Marina Kuchinski, Max Bakk, Miriam Modena, Nicole Van Dyken, Samantha Villanueva, Sarah O'Neill, Sena Clara Creston, Victoria Park, Yuliya Klochan and Nicole Fuentes
Black Lives Matter Exhibition: A Reckoning
Exhibition Dates
Feb. 7 - March 2, 2025
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"This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts"
Dragonfly Gallery & Creative Spaces acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council
Friday, Feb. 7, 2025
6 pm till 9 pm
6 pm till 9 pm
Dragonfly Gallery & Creative Spaces proudly presents the 4th Annual Black Lives Matter Exhibition: A Reckoning. The exhibition will open on Friday, February 7th from 6 to 9 pm, showcasing the work of 24 remarkable artists. This year’s theme explores powerful concepts such as Beauty as resistance, memory, personification, and amplification.
For centuries, art has held transformative power, not just reflecting the world we inhabit but inspiring action to reshape it. The featured artists—Justice Plunkett, Samus Starbody, Jc Rodriguez, Deborah Paige-Jackson, Daya Tiye, Tamara Harris, Zsófia Ötvös, Kamaria Kali, Qyjon Clark, Isis Trebble, Jason Hayth, Damien James, Maryann Wattelle, Francisco R. Malave, Victoria Park, Lorenzo Medrano, Oriana Koren, Jada Russell, Seanice Lenay, Kennedy Free, Pat Battle, Jerome Thymes, Isaiah Rowsey, and Ivonne Cruz—offer thought-provoking works that push boundaries and invite reflection on the ongoing fight for justice and equality.
Join us for an evening of celebration and reflection, where art meets activism in a powerful call for change.
Special Performance by BlaacStar Bazaar!
For centuries, art has held transformative power, not just reflecting the world we inhabit but inspiring action to reshape it. The featured artists—Justice Plunkett, Samus Starbody, Jc Rodriguez, Deborah Paige-Jackson, Daya Tiye, Tamara Harris, Zsófia Ötvös, Kamaria Kali, Qyjon Clark, Isis Trebble, Jason Hayth, Damien James, Maryann Wattelle, Francisco R. Malave, Victoria Park, Lorenzo Medrano, Oriana Koren, Jada Russell, Seanice Lenay, Kennedy Free, Pat Battle, Jerome Thymes, Isaiah Rowsey, and Ivonne Cruz—offer thought-provoking works that push boundaries and invite reflection on the ongoing fight for justice and equality.
Join us for an evening of celebration and reflection, where art meets activism in a powerful call for change.
Special Performance by BlaacStar Bazaar!
Solo Exhibition
Charlotte Walsh
Charlotte Walsh is a painter and illustrator who lives in Chicago. She has been honing her skills as an oil painter for the past several years. Originally a college athlete, she began drawing and design classes at St. Norbert College. During the pandemic she furthered her studies at Palette & Chisel Fine Art Academy to focus on oil painting. Her work focuses on pushing the boundaries of everyday life to create a world of escapism. Charlotte Walsh, painter “My subject matter is otherworldly places. I take simple objects or people and create a world full of imagination and movement. My work could be found outside in nature or in a fantasy world. My goal is to inspire others to create their own dream world.”
For more information on Charlotte's work, you can visit her website at: charlottewalshart.com/
For more information on Charlotte's work, you can visit her website at: charlottewalshart.com/
Exhibition Dates
Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 till Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025
Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 till Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025
