HIGHLIGHTS

Out on the Main Line, the world of craft takes center stage at Wayne Art Center in two distinct but complementary shows. CraftForms 2024, 29th International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Fine Craft and Japandi Revisited: shared aesthetics and influences, together invite viewers to contemplate the power of form, material, and cultural aesthetics. In Old City, at the Museum for Art in Wood, Mark Sfirri explores the many definitions of family through his exquisite woodworking in La Famiglia. Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio in Center City pairs the dreamy drawings and paintings of two Philadelphia artists, Gary Grissom and Louise Vinueza, in A Day in The Life. Together, these four exhibitions offer a diverse range of artistic viewpoints from the global scope of contemporary craft to the exploration of family and nostalgia.
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CraftForms 2024, 29th International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Fine Craft at Wayne Art Center
@wayne_art_center
On view through January 25, 2025
Featuring: Artwork by 101 artists from 34 states and three countries, including
Canada, Japan and Taiwan

The artists selected by juror Jo Lauria for CraftForms at Wayne Art Center take traditional crafts to the next level using ceramics, fabric, wood, paper, metal, and other mixed media. Each piece demonstrates exceptional craftsmanship and innovative concepts, exploring the limits of its respective medium.
The exhibition features over one hundred objects to get lost in, from exquisitely constructed vases and intricately joined wooden tables to vibrant quilts with abstract and representational designs. Elaborate details, from a delicate filigree paper wasp nest to an imposing bust meticulously assembled from inlaid wood. The work in this show challenges the distinction between functional objects and artistic expression, creating what Lauria calls “exuberant hybrids of utility and sculpture.” I particularly enjoyed a beautifully crafted, non-functional double-handled broom and a remarkable wooden tea set made from Banksia seed pods and covered in small holes.
As I took my time appreciating all this exhibit has to offer, many of the works began to reveal their meanings in unexpected ways. Sophie Glenn’s seemingly worn wooden rocking chair, for example, is actually constructed from steel and hand-coiled bronze wool. I also observed humor and wit throughout this year’s selection, like Barbara Walker’s handmade basket with embedded potato masher and Han Wang’s porcelain roast chicken painted with an elegant blue underglaze. In all cases, the artist’s work reflects their unique backgrounds, the joys they have for their mediums, and their deep respect for process and craft.
Japandi Revisited: shared aesthetics and influences at Wayne Art Center @wayne_art_center
On view through January 25, 2025
Curated by: Tom Grotta and Rhonda Brown from browngrotta arts gallery
Featuring: Artwork by 42 artists from six countries, including Japan, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and the United states

Curators act as storytellers and guides for the viewer. Their selection and placement of artworks inspire associations to create new pathways between people, cultures, and ideas. This collection, curated by Tom Grotta and Rhonda Brown, illuminates some of the historical, aesthetic, and cultural similarities between Scandinavian and Japanese art.
The economical and harmonious design, natural materials, minimalist color palettes, and exceptional craftsmanship of these two regions’ artists will leave you feeling calm and contemplative. Sticks, natural fibers, bamboo, folded paper, and delicately woven steel filaments give each piece tactility, grounding it in the natural world. Embracing the inherent imperfections and variations of found and repurposed materials is a fundamental part of all the work on display. Naoko Serino’s Omoi box-shaped sculpture created from Jute is a marvel to behold, with its thin, delicate walls showing every strand of coarse fiber. Similarly, Gjertrud Hals’ spidery vessels – made from cotton, linen, and pigment – feel daring in their wiry construction, as if they might tip over if you moved too quickly. Harmonious forms repeat throughout this exhibition – circles gently spiral to create asymmetrical vessels, and fuzzy edges provide an ephemeral feel to wall hangings that are not quite square. This unadorned aesthetic creates meditative spaces that transcend the ordinary.
La Famiglia at the Museum for Art in Wood
@museumforartinwood
On view through February 16, 2025
Curated by: Jennifer-Navva Milliken
Featuring: Mark Sfirri

Mark Sfirri is a celebrated woodworker and educator who approaches his craft with enthusiasm and joy. He is known for his multi-axis woodturning, which yields mesmerizing results. In this long-awaited show at the Museum for Art in Wood, Sfirri presents multiple distinct bodies of work, all centered on what it means to be part of a “family.”
In several collections, cartoonish faces are stacked and turned to form pillars of fused heads with tight lips and slitted eyes. These caricatures seem both personal and generic. Together, these groupings are a reflection on Sfirri’s background as an immigrant and on all those who embark with their families to a new world.
Meditating on lineage and the heredity of trees, Sfirri’s “Tumblers” series takes on a magical and even gravity-defying feeling as thick discs of wood seem to be joined at unbelievable angles. These families of forms, inspired by the forest, range from one to five feet tall. My favorite part of Sfirris’s work is his use of multiple layers of paint to patina the wood’s surface, drawing attention to both natural and carved patterning to create an almost musical rhythm.
Along a long wall hangs a collaborative piece of 2-dimensional portraits containing the work of over 45 artists who were asked to make a portrait of an immigrant, whether factual or conceptual. This expansive show also includes groupings of colorful wooden portraits, wooden trays, and other sculptures with stylistic and thematic similarities from Sfirri’s prolific career.
A Day in the Life at Cerulean Art Gallery and Studio
@cerulean.arts
On view through January 26, 2025
Featuring: Gary Grissom, Louise Vinueza

The nostalgic and melancholy tones of Gary Grissom and Louise Vinueza’s paintings make for a contemplative show at Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio. Vinueza’s paintings have an ethereal, dream-like quality. It feels as if her vases and flowers might float away, the walls of her interiors might melt into another reality, and her landscapes might shift underfoot. These paintings leave you with a haunting feeling, as if memories and fantasy were fusing into one.
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Vinueza’s sense of humor is evident in several paintings, adding layers of unexpected levity and intrigue. At the same time, her portraits of Victorian women with elaborate dresses hint at mysterious and intimate narratives. Vinueza’s approach is intuitive, and her brushwork is loose and expressive. Her layers of thick and thin paint create surfaces that resonate with emotion, inviting the viewer to delve into the depths of her imagination.
In conversation with Vinueza, Gary Grissom’s imagery is directly inspired by his family and the landscapes near his home. His portraits, while rooted in observation, feel as if they are being viewed through a veil of memory and emotion. His figures, primarily of children and older adults in his family, exude a poignant vulnerability created through subtle exaggerations of asymmetry and imperfections. Their expressions are complicated and invite introspection. Are they content, weary, or perhaps uneasy?
Grissom’s style integrates flat patterning into three-dimensional space and multiple images and rendering styles in one composition. Throughout his paintings, the complicated textures of his tree bark and grass seem to morph into abstract patterns. Grissom’s profound appreciation for his family and the beauty of design can be seen throughout this show. Together, these two artists are a powerful pairing, exploring themes of memory, introspection, and the passage of time.
About the writer: Claire Haik is an artist and educator living in Philadelphia. Her work focuses on natural imagery and examines the hidden processes beneath the visual exterior of nature. You can see her work and learn more about her here.