Chris Ballantyne’s work focuses on vernacular architecture and observation of the American landscape.  Banal features of suburban and industrial zones are sources for paintings that highlight the quirky and absurd.  Ballantyne states that, “Growing up in a military family and moving to different parts of the country, there was a certain familiarity to the kinds of houses and neighborhoods. They were a series of suburban developments built in separate regions of the country, always on the outskirts of larger cities, at the exit ramps of interstate highways, and all very similar in age and design.  My own notions of space developed out of this cultural landscape which was striving for an indidvidual sense of personal space,  consciously economic, and somewhere between urban and rural.” Dysfunctional structures are flawless in their strangeness, made beautiful through symmetry, simplified lines and flat, subdued colors. Ballantyne eliminates detail to emphasize the subtleties of the way we experience space and our attempts at containment. He extends these concepts further by expanding the imagery of his paintings beyond the picture plane and onto the surrounding walls. “Most of my works involve combinations of various places, drawn from memory. As well, my own interests in skateboarding and surfing altered how I saw  the use of these structures ranging from empty pools, sidewalk curbs, to ocean jetties in a way that tied in to my sense of this larger push and pull between culture and nature.” With shrewd restraint, Ballantyne accentuates the antisocial effects of our built environment with a hint of humor and plenty of ambiguity. A curious emptiness permeates the work of Chris Ballantyne. Graphically rendered buildings, pools, parking lots, and fences take on new meanings and amplified significance, isolated on flat fields of color.

Nate is an Animation Director and Designer in NYC.  His films which are at turns ethereal and poetic and then scientific and biographical, bring the intangible into focus. His short film Eli is playing at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, he has directed and executive produced an animated series for Facebook Watch, along with pieces for HBO, Adult Swim and NPR. Four of his short films are Vimeo Staff Picks. He is currently developing content for short and long form. Nate lives in Brooklyn.

Artist & Jeweler

Charlotte Strick is a principal at the multidisciplinary graphic design firm, Strick&Williams, founded in 2014 with her longtime friend and colleague, Claire Williams Martinez. The studio collaborates with cultural institutions and clients in the arts, publishing, education, non-profits and everything in-between. For 14 years prior, Strick was a designer turned art director at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, where she designed book covers for much-loved authors like Jonathan Franzen, Roberto Bolaño, and Lydia Davis. Her work has been featured in the AIGA 50 Books / 50 Covers show, the TDC Annual Exhibition, Print Magazine, and in many books about cover design. The proud owner of a coveted Silver Cube from The Art Directors Club, Charlotte is also Art Editor of the distinguished literary magazine, "The Paris Review". Her writings on art and design have been published by "The Paris Review", "The Atlantic", and "The Huffington Post". A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Charlotte lives with her husband and their twin boys in Brooklyn, New York.

Jessica Walsh is a NYC based designer, art director and illustrator. She worked as an art director at Print Magazine, and at design studios such as Pentagram Design and Sagmeister, Inc. Her work has won numerous awards from design magazines and competitions, including ADC's "Young Gun" award and Print's "New Visual Artist" award. She lives and works in Chelsea with her dog momo and a fridge filled with avocados.