IV

Women behind the lens

Cheraine Collette •

Lisa Stefanelli •

Michelle Dragonetti •

Maria Marriott •

Liese Ricketts •

Paula Boggust •

Cheraine Collette • Lisa Stefanelli • Michelle Dragonetti • Maria Marriott • Liese Ricketts • Paula Boggust •

Exhibition

YJ Contemporary Fine Art is proud to present "The Women Behind The Lens," our fourth annual exhibition, intentionally curated to coincide with the spirit of Women's History Month. This showcase diverges from the traditional celebration, offering a fresh and innovative perspective on the contributions of female artists to the fine art world. This year, we spotlight the works of seven exceptional women, each wielding her camera as a tool of artistic exploration and expression, breaking barriers and setting new standards in the industry.

Featuring Michele Dragonetti, Paula Boggust, Cheraine Collette, Lisa Stefanelli, Maria Marriott, and Liese Ricketts, the exhibition is a testament to the diversity and dynamism of female artistic voices. Each artist brings their unique style and voice to the fore, ranging from Dragonetti's vivid architectural abstractions to Ricketts' introspective and narrative-driven compositions. Boggust's work delves into the ethereal beauty of natural forms, while Collette's pieces are known for their meticulous detail and fantastical landscapes. Stefanelli's contributions stand out for their energetic and abstract expressions, and Marriott captivates with her deeply personal and evocative imagery.

What sets this exhibition apart is the range of subjects and styles and the innovative medium through which these visions are realized. Each artwork is produced on dye-sublimated aluminum by Blazing Editions. This cutting-edge process infuses the artwork directly onto metal, creating luminous, durable pieces that radiate vibrant colors and deep contrasts. The medium's durability and vibrancy echo women's enduring impact and vivid presence in art, making each piece a lasting tribute to its creator's vision and skill.

"The Women Behind The Lens" seeks to offer more than just a visual experience; it aims to ignite conversations about the role of women in the fine art industry, challenging perceptions and celebrating the rich, multifaceted contributions of female artists. By showcasing their work in such a striking and enduring medium, we honor the artists' journeys and achievements and underscore the collective force of women's creativity and resilience.

We invite you to immerse yourself in these remarkable artists' unique styles and voices, as encapsulated in their stunningly presented works. YJ Contemporary Fine Art celebrates the power, depth, and diversity of female artistic expression, making this exhibition a pivotal moment in our ongoing commitment to elevating and amplifying women's voices in fine art.

Artists

  • Cheraine Collette was born in 1993, in a forest-side town in the east of the Netherlands.

    From the age of 12, she started experimenting with one of the earliest Photoshop suites (CS1), accompanied by a digital painting tablet and brush, which were all introduced by her father. She instantly used it to paint, layer, and manipulate her photographs.

    She finished her education in photographic design at the Fotovakschool, the University of Applied Photography, in 2015 and worked under the pseudonym of LORLEON® until early 2020. Then, she continued her series and works under her name of Cheraine Collette.

    Cheraine’s work has been published by NG China Traveler twice in 2020 and is featured by FORBES, My Modern Met, National Geographic, The Wallace Collection Museum, and many more. She received over 300 prestigious juried international awards and honors since her first participation in 2019, immediately winning 1st place at the IPA and including two Golden Pangea Trophies at the prestigious Siena Awards and ‘Fine Art Photographer Of The Year’ from world-renowned institutions for her Photographic paintings and books.

    Cheraine's focus is on the untamed beauty of national parks, the dramatic vistasands, and the architectural splendor of Europe’s Palace of Volcanic Isls. This extensive journey to collect her visual materials is followed by a rigorous process of merging these photographs from diverse locations into cohesive artworks through the use of traditional painting methods.

    14 – Countries where Cheraine's work is collected.
    150 – The average number of layers to create an artwork.
    313 – Prestigious International Awards
    30 – Exhibitions and art fairs worldwide

  • Diana Cheren Nygren is a fine art photographer from Boston, Massachusetts. Her work explores the way people relate to each other and to their physical environment, be it urban, rural, or natural. She uses the ability of photography to give concrete form to ideas in order to envision family, future, and possibility. Diana’s photographs address serious social questions through a blend of documentary practice, invention, and humor.

    Diana obtained a B.A. in Fine Arts from Harvard University and a M.A. in Art History from UC Berkeley.  Her training as an art historian focused on modern art and the relationship of artistic production to its socio-political context. Her work as a photographer is the culmination of a life-long investment in the power of art and visual culture to shape and influence social change, addressing serious questions through a blend of documentary practice, invention, and humor. Her work has been exhibited around the globe and has won numerous awards, including TIFA Discovery of the Year, PX3 Best New Talent, and LICC Best in Shoot. Mother Earth was selected for the 2023 Critical Mass Top 50 and was selected for the shortlist in the 2024 Sony World Photography Awards.

    “I love an unpopulated landscape or a sky filled with nothing but light and color. I believe that both my landscape photographs and the urban ones are portraits. Portraits are not of individuals but of cities and locations, remarkable for their distinct character. The message in photography is to slow down and appreciate that character, to take it in thoughtfully, to wonder at the beauty of the dunes and how dramatically they capture light.”

  • Maria Marriott is a fine art photographer who dedicated her craft to telling visual stories about American wild horses.

    Maria earned her degree in Journalism in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and went on to graduate from the New York Institute of Photography. Her unique images celebrate the raw beauty, grace, wild spirit, and strength of the American mustangs in their natural habitat. Her art collections have been recognized for the emotional impact they convey in portraying these iconic creatures.

    Maria’s style incorporates striking compositions, intimate and minimalistic, and a primarily monochromatic color palette. Free of distractions, her work evokes strong emotions and tells compelling stories.

    Through her lens, Maria seeks to foster an appreciation for the untamed wilderness believing that the most persuasive form of advocacy can come through art.

    “From early on, my lens searched for the beauty and spirit of people and nature. Photojournalism assignments challenged me to create a language in visual storytelling, which felt more natural to me than writing.

    My love for horses led me to a years-long project tracking and photographing American mustangs throughout the West. In the heart of the American wilderness, I found my muse. Spending countless hours with wild horses, observing their dynamics and behavior, revealed to me a (hidden) world that most people don’t realize exists.

    I believe that there is a strong connection between wild horses and the American identity. As I travel the untamed landscapes of the American West, capturing the grace and beauty of wild mustangs, my aim is to create artwork and tell the stories that evoke that connection.

    To this end, my images have a sense of both the real and the mythological. They are visual narratives through which people can see the wild horses in a different way—and may actually see themselves more clearly in the process.”

  • Born in NYC and residing on the east end of Long Island, photographer Michele Dragonetti’s recent work has been focused primarily on her Boat Hulls series. This collection of images began in the marinas of Montauk, where she was drawn to boats that were out of the water and in need of repair. Dragonetti finds particular interest in the contrast between the abstract patterns of the hulls' structural and painted lines and colors and the evidence of their weather and age, which together create a unique interplay of textures.

    In her images, Dragonetti foregoes what has traditionally been the typical approach to nautical-inspired art. Literal depictions of ships, sails, and shores are foregone in favor of a clean, contemporary, and abstract vision that often does not hint at its actual origin but revels in the pure beauty of the form.

    The essential geometry of the images is highlighted by focusing the composition on the triangular patterns of the hulls in a square format. Photos in the ongoing series transform often humble vessels into abstract portraits, revealing their individual identity and experiences and celebrating their imperfect appeal.

    Described as a true modernist but with the soul of a maritime historian, Dragonetti applies an uncompromising journalistic eye to her subjects. She maintains an artistic discipline, demonstrating an exceptional and powerful graphic sensibility.

    The series has been expanded beyond domestic locales as Dragonetti seeks out what is both culturally unique and universal. Thus far, images have been taken in Portugal, Spain, England, Cuba, Argentina, Italy, Malta, Denmark, and Sweden.

  • Paula Boggust knew she wanted to be a photographer from the moment she got her first camera in 1975 at just eight years old, a “Kodak Instamatic” with a large blue flashcube. Since then, photography and the development of her craft have given her the most incredible creative outlet. She describes it as her source of happiness, and such joy can shine brightly through her body of work. Her style is bold, whimsical, humorous, and transports its viewers into another realm.

    Since the age of 16, Paula has been working in the photography world. Starting as a gopher for a local commercial photographer, she moved to intern with various photographers from Colorado to New York while attending college. She earned a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1989. She began working in London as a test photographer for Laraine Ashton Models. She was lucky enough to study with Douglas Kirkland at Palm Beach Photographic Centre and the Maine Media Workshops. In 1990, she returned home to Omaha, Nebraska to be a commercial photographer and finally opened her studio, Paula Friedland Studio, Inc.

    With her own space to experiment, she developed a unique lighting technique in 2000, which was published in Photo District News, Technically Speaking, by Jack Neubart. The article was entitled "Paula Friedland Unveils Her Masks," later, Medium Magazine published "She's Surreal: Paula Boggust" using the same technique. She published two children's books based on her own family, the first of which was Pup Puppelson, based on the sweet dog that ultimately brought her family together.

    In 2020, she began creating a fine art collection entitled Retrospection. This collection celebrates the classically unique “kitsch,” and all the word embodies. Kitsch is often used as ironic or distasteful, but Paula certainly knows how to emphasize the vibrancy, nostalgia, and playfulness that shines through her prints and subjects. WaresWell Series is a group of images in The Retrospection Collection. The series involves vintage ceramic cookware by CorningWare and Pyrex, reminding Paula of her mother’s excellent cooking throughout childhood.

    In 2020, she began creating a fine art collection entitled Retrospection. This collection celebrates the classically unique “kitsch,” and all the word embodies. Kitsch is often used as ironic or distasteful, but Paula certainly knows how to emphasize the vibrancy, nostalgia, and playfulness that shines through her prints and subjects. WaresWell Series is a group of images in The Retrospection Collection. The series involves vintage ceramic cookware by CorningWare and Pyrex, reminding Paula of her mother’s excellent cooking throughout childhood. 

  • Liese Ricketts, MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Faculty Emeritus from The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools’ Fine Art Department, has exhibited her work nationally and internationally for many years. In August 2024, she had a solo show in Cuzco, Peru in the world-famous Temple of the Sun, the Museum of Q’orikancha. Liese is the recipient of the 22nd Julia Margaret Cameron Award in Collage/DigitalManipulation. Liese's work will travel to FotoNostrum's international exhibition spaces in Barcelona, Spain, in December 2024 and April 2025.

    Her recent work includes her photographs, assemblages, and small sculptural pieces of her making, constructing 2D digital photographic collages from them. She reveals her constant investigation of physical materials and methods to integrate them back into the photograph.

    I recognize my personal steps from the blank canvas to a finished piece. I walk forward into my art, consciously and unconsciously, revealing the spirit of the moment. That moment changes every day, responding to an awareness of what is around me, what is happening, and how I feel.

    “I do not consider audience, marketing, or censure. Rather, I respond to an inner call to gather things together and to create something. I measure a piece with the eye of my inner critic (who can be harsh), but it is not allowed to prevent or obstruct my work.”

  • Lisa Stefanelli is an artist practicing in New York City and Easton, Pennsylvania. Primarily recognized for her early paintings of hardline, linear abstraction. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design and received her degree in 1989. Stefanelli then moved to Amsterdam to pursue her life as an artist. After returning to the States, she continued to work in the film industry as an art director and set designer.

    She has worked in the collections of the United States Department of State, Washington, DC, The West Collection, Oaks, PA, The Rose Art Museum, and Brandeis University, MA, The Mondstudio Collection at the Kunstmuseum, Berne, Switzerland, The Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY, and The Wynn Collection, Las Vegas, NV.

    She is currently represented by Robischon Gallery in Denver, Colorado, Mark Moore Fine Art in California, and occasionally by Joe Amrhien of Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn.

Video

Interactive Tour

Cheraine Collette

Diana Cheren Nygren

Maria Marriott

Liese RickettS

Paula Boggust

Michele Dragonetti

Lisa Stefanelli

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Women Behind The Lens III

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David Cluett • The Big Pictures