Exhibition | Games We Play |

When we see the play bow of our canine companions or hear the urging of children to 'come & play' we are reminded to let go of our serious side for a time and let loose. For this exhibition we are giving you permission to ‘go play’ and free your imagination to express itself with creative abandon.

Don Bergland - Best in Show

Cherub Go-Round

pigment on paper

Canada

Artist Statement: I'm a theatrical surrealist who creates artwork that is strangely unsettling in an eerie and bemusing way. I pose puppet-like figures inside theatrical spaces and attempt to dramatically blur the boundaries between animate and inanimate, human and non-human, life and death. Walking a thin tightrope between the obvious and the absurd, I construct sets which host small dynamic dramas based on the mind’s ability to build meaningful narratives from enigmatic sources. Each artwork becomes a fraction of time when reality is breached and a frozen glimpse into the mental theatre of oddity is experienced, an opening when the viewer can catch the faint hint of cotton candy breezing in from the sideshow midway, the pastel moment of a lost memory, a slight reminder that the future is never absent, and that the past is always in front of us.

Ronald Walker - Director's Choice

The Discovery of the Primordial Doughnut

gouache on board

United States

Artist Statement:  Influenced by symbolism and primitive art I believe that we are not as civilized as we think. "Our relationships and habits have changed little over the last few thousand years. My work serves as a kind of metaphorical roadmap of my life, which explores the inner aspects of my habitation in ,and movement through the suburban experience."

Lydia Law Li - Honorable Mention

Farticles: Deck of Cards

permanent marker mixed media

Germany

Artist Statement: I realized that making art has been often enough a way for me to showcase my gratitude towards someone I love. This deck of cards is pretty much that. Each card represents either a memory of a time spent with my partner or some non-sensical absurd place or creature in this universe. Made with permanent alcohol markers and black ink pen. Inspired very much by Claire Scully’s Outer Wilderness.

|  Finalists  |

Aleksandra Paranchenko - Finalist

Between Heaven And Earth 

acrylic & oil on board

Ukraine

Alison Chamberlain - Finalist

Side Effects

mixed media

United States

Carina Imbrogno - Finalist

Mitchie In The Box 2 

pastel

United States

Don Bergland - Finalist

Brain Tac Toe

pigment on paper

United States

Alison Chamberlain - Finalist

M_croscopic

mixed media

United States

John Diephouse - Finalist

Play The Game

photography

United States

Hikari Igarashi - Finalist 

Toying Nostalgia

Digital

United States

Don Bergland - Finalist

Memory Coaster

pigment on paper

United States

Helene Barbagelata - Finalist

A Violet Tune

watercolour on canvas

Italy

Saule Beksultanova

Big Toys

linocut with digital colour

Kazakhstan

Michael Wagner - Finalist

Levels Dialogue

acrylic polystyrene digital graphic printed canvas

Germany

Saule Beksultanova - Finalist

Initiation 2

linocut with digital colour

Kazakhstan

Michele Walsh Gorres - Finalist

Golddigger

pen & ink

United States

Kasia Ozga - Finalist

Boys Will Be

Installation (Wall drawing with toy soldiers)

United States

Jiani Shan - Finalist

Sweet Childhood

oil

United States

Bobby Kim Ling Chen - Finalist

Boss Send Off At Red Planet

digital art, augmented reality

Hong Kong

Don Bergland - Finalist

Eden Apple Toss

pigment on paper

United States

Hikari Igarashi - Finalist

Beauty Of Childhood

Digital

United States

Ronald Walker - Director's Choice

The Discovery of the Primordial Doughnut

gouache on board

United States

Heidi Brueckner - Finalist

It's Raining Love

oil fabric beads sequins on recycled packaging

United States

Kris Kirwan - Finalist

Sneaky Cat 

acrylic dots on canvas

Ireland

Katrina Hosek - Finalist

The Playing of Piggies

acrylic

United States

Elizabeth Gorcey - Finalist

Rapture

oil

United States

Hammond Wong - Finalist

Tour de Champion 9

bronze

United States

Don Bergland - Best in Show

Cherub Go-Round

pigment on paper

United States

Elizabeth Gorcey - Finalist

Submerge

oil

United States

Piper Grant - Finalist

Play Fair

oil

United States

Aaron Krone - Finalist

Looking Out

acrylic

United States

Carina Imbrogno - Finalist

Violet Blowing Bubbles 

pastel

United States

Carina Imbrogno - Finalist

Bobby Valentine

pastel

United States

Don Bergland - Finalist

Kissing Booth

oil

United States

Carina Imbrogno - Finalist

Best Friends

oil

United States

Don Bergland - Finalist

Wisdom Pull

pigment on paper

United States

Carina Imbrogno - Finalist

Curious Butterscotch

pastel

United States

John Diephouse - Finalist

Playing Soldier Re-enactor

photography

United States

Saule Beksultanova - Finalist

 In Beginning There Sound

linocut with digital colour

Kazakhstan

Elizabeth Gorcey

Defiant

oil

United States

John Diephouse - Finalist

The Next Move

photography

United States

Carina Imbrogno - Finalist

Kevin In The Fall 1 

pastel

United States

Hikari Igarashi - Finalist

Playful Seasons

Digital

United States