In the wing, Opatrny, Moak, Class of 1953, Schaenen, Gold, and Picket Family Video Galleries, Floor 2L
Here & Now showcases a selection of artists living and working in the Finger Lakes and Central New York regions. These artists engage, directly or obliquely, with the contradictions of this place: its layered histories, its shifting cultural and environmental landscapes, the tensions between rural and urban identities, and the negotiation between local and global narratives. It brings together a dynamic range of practices that reflect the vibrant and interconnected creative ecosystem surrounding Cornell and its communities.
Tyler Barker, Andrea Kastner, Mafalda Reis Moore, and Heather Swenson engage with the built environment, questioning traditional boundaries between landscape and architecture. Their works on view consider the complex interplay of natural and artificial systems, where place emerges through both physical and virtual realms, continually reshaped by human and environmental forces.
In contrast, Deale Hutton, Erik Lasky, Nathan Loda, Kari Varner, and Daisy Wiley focus on our relationship with the natural world, examining how extractive practices like forestry, fishing, and agriculture shape both our understanding of the environment and our growing dependence on it, calling into question the foundations of how we understand, relate to, and manipulate our surroundings.
Matthew Glaysher and Renqian Yang offer yet a different approach, focusing on materiality as both process and concept. Through the transformation of elemental or traditionally utilitarian materials, they push boundaries of perception, creating new ways to see and understand objects, their origins, and their potential meanings.
Finally, Maryam Adib, DeCarlo Logan, Emmalyn Pure, Cai Quirk, and Grace Sachi Troxell highlight the body as an inescapable site of experience and identity. Their works underscore how geography and social context shape our embodied encounters, where personal and collective histories converge to form a continually evolving sense of self.
This exhibition was guest curated by Rodrigo Guzman-Serrano and Camaron Cohen and supported in part by the Mary Hyde Field Endowment and the Donald and Maria Cox Exhibition Endowment.
Selected Artworks
Catalyst
Maryam Adib
Catalyst
Maryam Adib
Maryam Adib (born 1995; lives and works in Ithaca), Catalyst (2019). Oil and acrylic on canvas (56.5 × 56 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Untitled
Tyler Barker
Untitled
Tyler Barker
Tyler Barker (born 1991; lives and works in Ithaca), Untitled (2018). Photographic print and computer rendering (36 × 48 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Weep
Matthew Glaysher
Weep
Matthew Glaysher
Matthew Glaysher (born 1970; lives and works in Ithaca), Weep (detail, 2025). Fiber-reinforced cement. Courtesy of the artist.
Deer Skull
Deale Hutton
Deer Skull
Deale Hutton
Deale Hutton (born 1949; lives and works in Red Creek), Deer Skull (2017). Beeswax and oils (10 3/4 × 4 1/4 × 3 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Walking Distance
Andrea Kastner
Walking Distance
Andrea Kastner
Andrea Kastner (born 1984; lives and works in Binghamton), Walking Distance (2023). Oil on canvas (48 × 72 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Abattoir
Erik Lasky
Abattoir
Erik Lasky
Erik Lasky (born 1983; lives and works in Chenango Forks), Abattoir (2022–23). Oil on canvas (60 × 48 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Forest Chapel
Nathan Loda
Forest Chapel
Nathan Loda
Nathan Loda (born 1989; lives and works in Homer), Forest Chapel (2024). Oil on panel (30 × 24 inches). Courtesy of the artist and Adah Rose Gallery.
Space Suit Waltz
DeCarlo Logan
Space Suit Waltz
DeCarlo Logan
DeCarlo Logan (born 1991; lives and works in Binghamton), Space Suit Waltz (detail, 2025). Vinyl and silicon carbide tape (96 × 36 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Still Becoming
Emmalyn Pure
Still Becoming
Emmalyn Pure
Emmalyn Pure (born 1994; lives and works in Ithaca), detail from Still Becoming (2019–ongoing). Site-specific installation of photographic prints. Courtesy of the artist.
through dawn
Cai Quirk
through dawn
Cai Quirk
Cai Quirk (born 1996; lives and works in Ithaca), through dawn (2019). Inkjet print (40 × 30 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
grassroots
Mafalda Reis Moore
grassroots
Mafalda Reis Moore
Mafalda Reis Moore (born 1945; lives and works in Ithaca), grassroots, from Shortcuts series #12 (2024). Archival inkjet print (28 × 22 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Big Belly Deli Tentacular Tummy
Grace Sachi Troxell
Big Belly Deli Tentacular Tummy
Grace Sachi Troxell
Grace Sachi Troxell (born 1991; lives and works in Clinton), Big Belly Deli Tentacular Tummy (2023). Clay and steel (67 × 28 × 23 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Safeguard
Heather Swenson
Safeguard
Heather Swenson
Heather Swenson (born 1990; lives and works in Rochester), Partial Coverage, (at left, 2024), steel and digital print on silk; and Safeguard (at right, 2025), wood, vinyl, brass, and steel. Courtesy of the artist. (Photo: David O. Brown, Johnson Museum)
Monett & Sedalia
Kari Varner
Monett & Sedalia
Kari Varner
Kari Varner (born 1991; lives and works in Binghamton), Monett & Sedalia (detail, 2022). Archival pigment prints of photographed images grown in the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. Courtesy of the artist.
Imago River
Daisy Wiley
Imago River
Daisy Wiley
Daisy Wiley (born 1993; lives and works in New York State), Imago River (2023). Wood, steel, wool, silk, acetate, mylar, feathers, and fur (46 × 155 × 60 inches). Courtesy of the artist.
Urban Mindspace 6
Renqian Yang
Urban Mindspace 6
Renqian Yang
Renqian Yang (born 1987; lives and works in Oswego), Urban Mindspace 6 (2023). Porcelain with underglaze and glaze (10 × 9.5 × 11 inches). Courtesy of the artist.