About the Artists
Mem Lloyd is Mem Lloyd is an artist, teacher and community gardener who has been passionately involved in the East Side Arts Council since its beginning. Her early work with ESAC included the creation of an after-school program called East Side Art Kids, which engaged children with visual arts, music and movement.
She teaches art in schools, rec centers, and nursing homes to students of all ages. As a public artist for ESAC, Mem designed and helps to maintain Phalen Poetry Park, which includes a poet’s post and a flower garden in the shape of a dragon.
Artist Statement (partial, full version at ESAC gallery)
Her recent work is a small collection of abstract ceramic forms, sculptures that also serve as rattles. Hand-built from white earthenware clay, each one holds rhythms related to her love of dance, words and the natural world. She calls these pieces Caress-ibles. They invite the observer to touch them, hold them quietly. In the process of creating these sculptures, Mem wrote a poem describing her experience with the clay. The clay was caressed and in turn caressed the artist.
Sue Costello Sepulveda is an abstract artist residing in the land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota. Susan has always been a gifted artist and is consistently exploring different art mediums to elevate her artistic style. Her color palette is bright, yet soft, a harmony of color working simultaneously throughout the painting. The artist's aesthetic choices are intuitive rather than premeditated. Her style is nuanced by a range of inspiration derived through observations of nature and color. The personal edge that Susan brings to each painting alters and enhances recognizable subject matter, cultivating an imaginative, tranquil visual experience.
Artist Statement (partial, full version at ESAC gallery)
My work explores the beauty of nature with a mindful presence. While using my senses, I'm able to appreciate the color of the flowers, the Autumn foliage and the picturesque skies. To embrace the wind blowing through my hair and the sun kissing my face. Too be still and listen to the music that echoes through the trees as I walk the hillside or watering brook. It's through these observations I'm able to express my experiences. I use an intuitive approach to translate these experiences.
Layne Elliot is an artist, musician, and teacher from Saint Paul, Minnesota. They received their Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Art from MCAD in 2022, and have been teaching and creating ever since. Their signature art style uses renaissance painting techniques of applying many transparent layers of oil and egg tempera to make optical color mixtures. Besides painting, Layne’s favorite things are Pink Floyd, Animal Crossing, and pampering their two pet pigeons.
Artist Statement (partial, full version at ESAC gallery)
With these paintings, I was inspired to describe the ethereal magic that is ever present in the natural world. The celestial creatures depicted are a reflection of the connectedness between all beings. I am endlessly fascinated by the invisible mathematics of the universe and how it expresses itself in an infinite multitude of ways, sometimes referred to as sacred geometry. I tried to evoke these concepts by painting the inner experience of natural life- both as a literal appreciation of the anatomical structures which physically unite us as animals, and also as a metaphor.
Sophie Panetti is a current MFA student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is a former museum guide turned embroidery and fiber artist. Sophie’s work primarily centers on natural phenomena, mythology, and history. She enjoys experimenting with different materials to create textured, evocative works that draw attention to often-missed details of the natural world. Her other interests include birdwatching, getting lost in antique stores, and puns.
Artist Statement (partial, full version at ESAC gallery)
To create this mixed media series, I turned to my love of natural phenomena and the urge to preserve a fleeting, fragile moment in time. The images depicted in these pieces - a flock of geese, a murmuration of starlings, a spiderweb on a barren branch - are all ever-changing, delicate moments that cannot be replicated. My work aims to capture the beauty of this impermanence against the backdrop of a stark, melancholy landscape.