Eric Tai’s art examines this period of time as an in-between space where imagination leads to reality, memories take shape to retell stories of the past, and life is the beauty between birth and death. Here, art is not merely material or content. It is the experience of beauty found in the mundane. His contemplative paintings invite viewers to continue the meditative, worshipful postures he’s begun through the moving of material on surface. The textures found in his paintings and drawings evoke landscapes from both the ethereal and the chaotic abyss. In essence, his art is an attempt at transcendence from the immanent frame beyond the self or the material, so that through means of making and experiencing, one may be tethered to the other.

He is interested in exploring the chaotic tensions that exist in our universe. We are simply treading terrains of malfunction and chaos while understanding that there are microscopic bonds that hold the universe together in the political, social, physical, metaphysical, and economic spheres. He has come to embrace the chaos and unexpected outcomes, all while looking for beauty that exists in the broken, chaotic slurry. Ideas of the sublime are almost always reoccurring in the narrative of his work, as he struggles with the natures of life, death, beauty, and grotesque.

Kieran Miles is a fiber artist and musician based in San Diego CA. While Kieran work in a variety of artistic mediums, he is most accomplished in his fiber arts creations with cut and sew/pattern work. He looks forward to the time and space to make and create during this residency at the Guild.

Mary Everitt (she/her) is a visual artist and massage therapist in Portland, OR. She was born in California and raised in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Her creative influences combine the physical and cultural landscape of her childhood and the human body within a story of belonging and becoming. Her artistic inspirations include Val Hubbard and Makoto Fujimura and her style is influenced by the colors and movement in post-impressionism. Mary had incredible art teachers and artistic role models in her childhood and teen years that supported her creative exploration of materials and expression. She taught art to elementary and middle school students and studied graphic design briefly before returning to the US to study massage. Following a desire to dive deeper into creating, she’s taken painting classes locally, gone to figure drawing workshops and continues to connect with local artists to develop her skills. She is trained in First Aid Arts arts-based tools for self-care; a set of resources to support community mental and emotional health.

She uses cold wax medium, oil and acrylic paints and other mixed media materials in her work. Her goal is to develop a body of work for healing and healthcare oriented spaces.

In her artwork, Amy Foster (she/her) explores the intersection of hospitality, nature, and spiritual relationship. With historic ties to iconography and botanical illustration, Amy finds that homemade egg tempera paint best allows her to express her unfolding understanding of God’s character. Amy is an active member of both the artistic community and, as a Christ follower, the faith community of her native city of Pittsburgh. She is a trained spiritual director with a particular interest in retreat leadership. Amy established Contempera Studio in 2020, and under that name, she practices visual hospitality through the artwork she produces for home and liturgical use.

Alicia O’Dell (she/her) is a multi-practice artist and curious explorer. She views her art practice as a meditation to expand her perception of self and the world. Alicia’s work explores the conversation between the natural world and the human experience.

A trained metalsmith, she spent a decade designing and fabricating jewelry under the brand of AEO designs, a line of contemporary wares inspired by the perpetual exploration of familiar and unknown landscapes. Recently, Alicia transitioned her practice to exploring fiber. The limitation of learning a new medium brings an open curiosity that has led her to also experiment with wood, sound, and video.

Alicia was born and raised in Wenatchee, Washington. She served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador and Malawi, completed a metalsmith residency in Portugal, and has lived in all four corners of the US. Her travels continue to be a great source of inspiration and learning.

Avery (he/him) moved to the U.S from England in 2004 at the age of 18 and found a surprising abundance of creative opportunities in the Twin Cities, MN. Before leaving England, he studied Drama, English Literature and General Studies, with additional work in Religious Studies (predominantly Christianity). He has since pursued painting, drawing and alternative photography as a profession, participating in several art fairs, shows, group exhibitions and his first solo exhibition “Finding Myself in Color”, displayed at the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain this past summer. Avery received his Associate of Fine Arts from Minneapolis Community and Technical College in 2010 and continued on to earn his Bachelor’s in Studio Arts from Metropolitan State University in 2021. As an artist, he has pursued different themes pertaining to his identity as a Jewish transman living with neurodevelopmental, psychological and physical disabilities. Avery is a husband, father to two children with special needs and currently working as a teaching artist through an organization that amplifies the voices of individuals with disabilities utilizing the creative arts.

Lauren (they/them) is a Southern California based artist and furniture maker. They received their AA in Arts and Humanities from Chaffey College in 2017 and in 2021, completed their BA in Applied Design at San Diego State University with an emphasis in Furniture Design and Woodworking. Lauren is an instructor at both The Maloof Foundation in Alta Loma, CA and Allied Woodshop in Los Angeles, CA. Lauren’s work ranges from furni­ture to sculp­ture with no limi­ta­tions on mixing media. Found objects, steel, wood and card­board are all in constant exper­i­men­ta­tion. They are a recip­i­ent of a 2020 Cali­for­nia Arts Council grant, an Art Council Award from the School of Art and Design at SDSU, and has been featured in various South­ern Cali­for­nia based art publi­ca­tions includ­ing Wood­worker West Magazine and Curious Publishing. Lauren was also featured in the Shaping Wood, Shaping Artists exhibit at the Chaffey Community Museum of Art in January 2020 and displayed their work most recently at the Ontario International Airport in Ontario, CA.

Shan (b. 2000, United States) received a B.F.A in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, GA) in 2022. She works with acrylic media as well as sculptural and functional ceramics. Shan exhibits her work in group exhibitions nationally. She has worked as an Education and Curatorial Intern at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (Washington, DC) to develop new educational resources. Her most recent exhibitions include The Figure: In Passing, in the spring of 2022 and GROWTH: Sculpting Memories, in the summer of 2022, both in Savannah, GA. She is currently living and working in Plain, Washington.

Magda Manning (they/them) is a queer writer, artist, and educator from Taos, New Mexico. They received their MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College in 2019. They’re interested in exploring how language expands, and/or limits identity, and how it functions as a process, rather than product, of self-making. They are a current Hugo House Fellow (2022-2023), work as a K1 teacher, play a lot of cribbage with their mom, and live in Seattle with their partner.

Ping Zheng (she/her) received MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 and a BFA in painting from the University College of London, Slade School of Fine Art in 2014.

Her works have been exhibited at Kristen Lorello Gallery, New York, NY, McClain Gallery, Houston, TX, Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY, the Chinese American Arts Council/Gallery 456, New York, NY, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY and DDP(Dongdaemun Design Plaza), Seoul, South Korean, “ASYAAF: Asian Students and Young Artists Festival” among other venues.

She has completed artist residencies at AADK Spain, in Blanca, Spain, Monson Arts, Monson, ME, the Rancho Linda Vista Arts Community, in Oracle, Arizona, and the Vermont Studio Center, in Johnson, Vermont among others.

Zheng was born in 1989 in Zhejiang, China and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.