June Gutman (b. 1996 Montreal)

June Gutman is a Jewish, self taught artist living in Montreal, Canada. Gutman’s artwork ranges in style, media, and subject matter becoming a vibrant forum for her to explore ideas about psychology, art history, self knowledge, and the ways “mental illness” - as defined by mainstream psychiatry - has caused her personal harm. 

Gutman is an unbelievably prolific artist whose work may be best defined by its focus on “The Terror” - a haunting psychological state that can produce a nightmarish sensation akin to psychedelia or mystical transcendentalism. Through her work, she attempts to relieve the pain of this “Unreality” while also exploring the opaque nature of thought and the human mind. 

Intuitive yet focused, horrible yet humorous, Gutman ventures into the deep recesses of the psyche finding delicate connections wedged in its corners like an archeologist dusting through the layers of a palimpsest. References run through art history with ventures into pop culture and even extraterrestrial beings. Works give the uncanny sensation of being anachronistic, complex, and radically unique.

Denver Ferguson (b.1985, Anse-La-Raye, St. Lucia)

Denver Ferguson is a self taught artist working in Vermont and New Hampshire. Ferguson moved to the Upper Connecticut River Valley (central Vermont and New Hampshire) from the US Virgin Islands following the devastation caused by Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017. Living in a new place and reeling from environmental exile, he began drawing as a way to alleviate culture shock and anxiety.
 

The pieces Ferguson created have become the basis of an incredible series. These works have been mostly executed during quiet moments at his job as a cashier at the Upper Valley Co-op in White River Junction, Vermont. Ferguson’s artistic background is entirely self-directed, mining an active imagination and pulling influence from sources as wide ranging as Caribbean / Yoruba culture, 20th century science fiction, and contemporary comic book characters.

Many of Ferguson’s drawings are made on scrap paper provided by the grocery for a cashier to use throughout the work day. Taking notice of Ferguson’s atypical art practice, customers began to drop off gifts of drawing materials which have helped to expand his creative vision. Denver currently lives with his girlfriend in West Lebanon, New Hampshire.