Jennifer Belair Sakarian

In the cosmic womb, all is possible

2025

Jennifer Belair Sakarian holds a BFA (2010) from Siena Heights University (Michigan) with concentration in printmaking and art history. Her MFA is from Wayne State University (2013)....

Cécile Reims (French, 1927–2020) Cécile Reims’s work is distinguished by its masterful technique, intricate detail, and deep engagement with themes of transformation and the natural ...

Genre: Latin American Subject: Abstract Medium: Mixed Media, Collage Country: Mexico Dimensions w/Frame: 16.75 x 16.5 Feliciano Béjar Ruíz (1920 – February 1, 2007) was a Mexican artist and artisan, best known for a style of sculpture called “magiscopios” which involved various materials along with crystals and/or lenses to play with light or create distorted visions. He was born in rural central Mexico and was completely self-taught as an artist. He was creative as a young child, drawing and creating his first sculpture like pieces from papier-mâché. His art career began in New York, where he had travelled and lived for a time in Hell’s Kitchen. His drawing the attention of Arthur Ewart and Frances Coleman, with the latter helping him have his first exhibition and whose husband helped sponsor his time in Europe. In his later life, Béjar withdrew from the art world for about sixteen years, disillusioned with it and retreating to his ranch in the State of Mexico. He returned in 1998, with a retrospective of his work in Mexico City and continued to show his work until shortly before his death. He worked as an assistant to a carpenter, sweeping out the shop in exchange for wood scraps. He used these to create toys and even large imaginary cities. When he was fifteen, he began to teach himself art using various scrap materials. At this time muralist José Clemente Orozco was in his town to paint scenes of the Mexican Revolution on the town library. Bejar brought him some drawings to show, he did not want to see them. Later in life he stated that he did not think well of the muralists and considered them false and frauds. He said that their work was supposedly for the people but they could not be understood without interpretation and the main ones (Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco) shut out other artists. When he got to New York in the 1940s, he was disappointed and thought it ugly. He wanted to return but had no money so he had to work menial jobs and live in Hell’s Kitchen. During this time in New York, he was put in touch with English painter Arthur Ewart who encouraged him to get back to art, particularly painting. He also met socialite Frances Colman, while copying paintings...

I am a multi-disciplinary artist who has professionally shown my work in dozens of galleries and museums since the late 1990s. But while my work can take many different forms, my practice is rooted in drawing. Whether I am working on the watercolor and acrylic pieces, or fiber-based pieces, every project and every idea begins with a drawing. Through that process I lay out my ideas, ask myself questions, experiment with different options, and try to resolve all the formal and conceptual issues I will attempt in my final piece. The themes I have explored in my work from 1999 on, and even before then, have remained the same even though my style has shifted radically. I have been interested in exploring self-portraiture, personal narratives, femininity, politics, and the use of text in art. I have remained constant in my exploration of critical theory and art history, and drawn influence from artists as diverse as Joseph Beuys, Henry Darger, and Adrian Piper...