Author Archives: OpticVoid

Terrible Toy Fair VI

The Dollhaus II is bringing The Terrible Toy Fair VI back to the lower east side at the Satellite Gallery at 279 Broome St. TTTF is back for its sixth edition — a group exhibition celebrating the wonderfully dreadful, the beautifully broken, and the utterly terrible world of toys.

Curated by Dollhaus II, this exhibition will coincide with the official Toy Convention at the Javits Center (Feb 14–17, 2026). Expect a month-long explosion of warped nostalgia, twisted craftsmanship, and playthings gone wrong.

Opening night is February 6th from 6-9pm and will be on display in the Lower East Side for the month of February.

Gallery Space: 279 Broome Street, New York, NY
Opening Reception: Friday, February 6, 2026 6-9pm
Live Performers, DJ, ART!
https://www.dollhaus.org/doll-show


My latest piece Come Play With Me is part of The Terrible Toy Fair VI!

This piece lives in both my young and adult body. Childhood curiosities playing with toys, making music, crocheting long rope-like strings, wearing my hair in long braids tied with a red bow, paired with the physical realities of my adulthood: illness in the body, hair loss, and painful, sickly limbs.

Come Play With Me is my latest assemblage sculpture, titled from a phrase I repeated endlessly as a child, always asking my older sister, “Neen, come play with me.”

Latex runs through the work like skin and veins, collapsing the distance between sculpture and self. The work becomes an extension of my body, part memory, part presence, grounding the work in the body and making it feel physically connected to me.

🎃 Spooky Season Show Alert! 👻

I have 3 never exhibited works featured in Skeleton Crawl, a haunted art exhibition voted Best Halloween Event in Time Out NY (2023)!

🕯️ Opening Reception: Thursday, Oct 16 | 6–9PM

(Lights go off at 7PM — grab a flashlight and explore the dark!)

🩸 Creepy Karaoke: 9:30PM ‘til late + cash bar

💀 Exhibition Dates: Oct 16 – Nov 2 at @gallery198_brooklyn
🕰️ Gallery Hours: Mon–Fri: 6PM–Midnight, Sat & Sun: 2PM–Midnight

📍 198 24th St, Brooklyn

💡 100 works. 1 show. The creepiest fine art around.

🦇 Come wander the shadows — if you dare.

 

Embracing Fragments of Self

New painting titled “Embracing Fragments of Self” from the “Sin + Seek Truth” series.

Fragments, unraveling, dreams, whispers and splintered echoes are some concepts I’m thinking about. This piece is about self reflection. Feeling and experiencing the losses breaking and unraveling, but remaining passionate. Using these forces and fragments of colors in new ways and becoming the queen you know you are. Her crown, her golden arm symbolizing her strength. Her bleeding costume hat and broken pieces are reminders of her past challenges. Her top, a deep black quietly mourns her loss, her collar takes on new colors, those fragments have already begun to rebuild.

Hand-painted with a fusion of acrylic & watercolor atop a discovered image on paper. Priced at $300, this captivating piece awaits your personal collection. Reach out to make it yours today!

“Embracing Fragments of Self” – 2023, 12″ x 16″

Unleash Your Creativity: Dive into the Art of Printmaking!

Embark on an artistic adventure with me at Art Lab, where my printmaking workshop kicks off on January 29th. Immerse yourself in a 3-week journey through the mesmerizing world of printmaking, exploring everything from the tactile wonders of drypoint to the dynamic allure of collagraphs, monoprints, image transfers, and beyond.

Join me in unlocking the magic of printmaking, whether you’re wielding a press or embracing the hands-on approach. This workshop is not just about creating art; it’s about experiencing the transformative power of your own imagination.

Secure your spot now and let your creativity flow freely – all supplies are included! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to leave an indelible mark on your artistic journey.

See you at Art Lab!

Gatherings + Inspiration

I recently was part of a zoom artist roundtable with art advisor Maria Vogel from Rococo Art Advisory. I’ve had so many ideas along the years but never pulled the trigger on most of them.

I finally decided to start celebrating and focusing more on my accomplishments from the past 30 years in my field, rather than the goals not reached or missed opportunities. To push myself firmer on marketing strategies, as well as pursuing more of my ideas and implementing more of the advice from professionals in my specialized field.

Maria Vogel created an art gathering which also focuses on art gatherings and food.

This is what inspired me to begin my artist meet-up group which I now titled Artist Social Collective.

“Maria Vogel is taking the art world to dinner. The art advisor and writer recently launched Rococinco, a dinner party series that celebrates five emerging to mid-career artists through a five-course meal. These repasts are an extension of her art advisory firm Rococo, which seeks to build connections through unique modes of storytelling.”

During the discussion the Futurist Cookbook was also discussed when Vogel was taking about her inspiration.

“Part manifesto, part artistic joke, Fillippo Marinetti’s Futurist Cookbook is a provocative work about art disguised as an easy-to-read cookbook. Here are recipes for ice cream on the moon; candied atmospheric electricities; nocturnal love feasts; sculpted meats. Marinetti also sets out his argument for abolishing pasta as ill-suited to modernity and advocates a style of cuisine that will increase creativity. Although at times betraying its author’s nationalistic sympathies, The Futurist Cookbook is funny, provocative, whimsical, disdainful of sluggish traditions and delighted by the velocity and promise of modernity”

This post is from my Patreon page

Read more about Maria Vogel

Link to purchase the Futurist Cookbook