Becca Hoffman

Becca Hoffman is Director of the Outsider Art Fair, New York and Paris, and the former Director of Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, one of the foremost galleries representing self-taught and so-called outsider artists. Hoffman is also a Foundwork Advisor. She remarks that "for my selections on Foundwork, I was inspired by the theme of my personal art collection—text based art. I find the intersection of the written word and visual artistic creation to embody the perfect balance of predictability and unpredictability. The dance between these two creative media has always struck my fancy—it inherently pushes the viewer's eye and brain to function on many distinct cylinders. Each of the three artists I have chosen combine text and artistic creation into diverse commentaries on our current climate."

Gabrielle Senza

Lives and works between the Berkshire Mountains, Massachusetts, and Berlin, Germany.

"Senza’s works are spot-on ephemeral and poetic commentaries on the current socio, political, economic, and cultural state of the world. They are delicate engagements in the service of furthering the global conversation—whether it's her Invisibility Lab jar where whispered names of things are stored or the personal tracing of hands which goes hand-in-hand with a sense of inherent interactive engagement of the self as viewed from the interior or exterior; her performative and text based works inspire the viewer to step back, evaluate, and reflect."

Artwork Image: Invisibility Lab: Specimen Jars, 2017. Glass jars, labels, texts, invisible things.

Chase Ferguson

Born 1988. Lives and works in New York, NY.

Represented by Pure Vision Arts, New York

"I love Chase’s transformation on an intimate scale of everyday vehicles—one part whimsy, one part social documentary. Whether it is a fire truck or a New York City taxi, looking at the works of Chase Ferguson, you feel as though you can hear the siren roaring in the background or the Taxi Tv screen—these sculptures truly come to life, a reflection of the 21st century society."

Artwork Image: Mac Cab Forward Tower Ladder, 2017. Mixed Media. 5 x 15 x 3 in.

Ilknur Demirkoparan

Born 1978, Ankara, Turkey. Lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

2006 MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California.

"Although hard to discern, I love how the subject hair becomes deconstructed Arabic text—self portraits exploring notions of identity, femininity, gender roles, the dynamic and distinctions between Eastern and Western cultures—a true window into contemporary Middle East and North African culture and female struggles. Demirkoparan manages to walk an elegant line between playful societal commentary and more weighty conversations of the role of gender identity in the 21st century."

Artwork Image: Hair Is A Woman's Glory (No: 1), 2018. Digital. Giclee on Cotton Rag. 24 x 42.72 x 0 in. Edition of 10.