Material Transformations
Mixed Media Space
North Adams, MA
April 25 – May 23, 2026
Opening Reception: April 25, 6–8 pm
Lightbox
Material Transformations brings together artists whose inventive practices deepen our understanding of material, memory, and our relationship to the natural world. Set in North Adams—a landscape shaped by forests, rivers, and a layered industrial history—the works on view echo the rhythms of nature itself: accumulation and erosion, growth and renewal. As winter gives way to spring, transformation emerges not only as a material process, but as a shared condition between environment and human experience.
The exhibition is housed in Mixed Media Space, a repurposed 1890s mill whose history of labor and production remains embedded in its structure. Much like the materials employed throughout the exhibition, the building itself has been reclaimed and reimagined—transformed from a site of industry into a space for reflection, creativity, and renewed purpose. This parallel underscores the exhibition’s central themes, where reuse and reinvention become acts of meaning-making.
As visitors move through Material Transformations, they are invited to consider their own connections to the environment and to the materials that shape everyday life. Through intention and experimentation, the artists reframe discarded or altered materials, opening conversations around sustainability, memory, and the interconnectedness of natural and cultural systems. In doing so, the exhibition honors the pioneering spirit of these
practices while affirming the potential for renewal—within materials, sites, and the landscapes we inhabit.
Curated by Cheryl Molnar, Material Transformations features work by Stephanie Beck, Valerie Hegarty, Hayoon Jay Lee, Sienna Martz, Christina Massey, Whitney Oldenburg, Sonjie Feliciano Solomon, Liselot van der Heijden, Yu-Wen Wu. Together, these artists present diverse approaches to material transformation, ranging from sculptural assemblage and textile-based practices to layered, collage-informed and materially driven investigations. Each brings a distinct sensibility shaped by personal histories, labor, and an attentiveness to place, forming a dialogue that reflects both individual and collective responses to the natural world.
Stephanie Beck
Stephanie Beck holds an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, a Post-Baccalaureate certificate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a BA in Art History from the University of Virginia. She has exhibited solo at Wave Hill and Philadelphia International Airport, and completed a public mosaic for Makerpark, Staten Island. Based in Queens, NY, she is a resident artist at ChaShaMa’s Space to Create in Brooklyn. Beck’s sculptures balance architecture and the human body, expressing frailty and tension with understated, meditative constructions that evoke both familiarity and delicacy.
Valerie Hegarty
Valerie Hegarty is a New York–based artist whose paintings, sculptures, and installations use “reverse archaeology” to examine memory, place, and history. She often reinterprets American art as fragmented or decayed works that question cultural narratives. Hegarty has held solo shows at the Brooklyn Museum, MCA Chicago, Marlborough Gallery, and the High Line, with group exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Artists Space, and The Drawing Center. She has received awards from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, NYFA, and the Rema Hort Mann Foundation, and earned her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Hayoon Jay Lee
Born in Daegu, South Korea, Hayoon Jay Lee holds a BFA and MFA in Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has received the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship and a Pollock-Krasner residency award, and has participated in international residencies in the U.S., China, and South Korea. Currently, she is an artist member at EFA (Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts). Lee works with sculpture, installation, performance, and video, often using rice and organic forms to explore vulnerability, sustenance, and interdependence. Her art is shown internationally, held in collections, and she is based in New York City.
Sienna Martz
Sienna Martz is an internationally acclaimed sculptor and fiber artist noted for her innovative use of sustainable materials. She creates immersive sculptures from plant fibers, reclaimed textiles, and upcycled materials, focusing on organic forms and ecological themes. Her work has been shown in major galleries and museums worldwide and featured in prominent publications like Architectural Digest and Elle Decor. Martz received the 2024 Sculptor of the Year Singulart Award.
Christina Massey
Christina Massey is a Brooklyn mixed-media artist known for transforming recycled materials, particularly aluminum craft-beer cans, into vibrant botanical abstractions. Raised in Northern California with an emphasis on environmental responsibility, she uses weaving, painting, and sculpture to examine sustainability, consumerism, and the intersection of nature and industry. Her sculptural works blur lines between craft and fine art, rendering industrial waste into organic forms.
Massey holds a BFA from California State University, Chico, and has received honors such as a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2023).
Whitney Oldenburg
Whitney Oldenburg is a New York artist whose work explores the relationship between people and their possessions through sculptural forms made from natural and domestic materials. Her art blends painting and sculpture, drawing on post-minimalist traditions, and encourages viewers to reflect on identity and vulnerability. Oldenburg earned her BFA at Cornell and MFA at RISD, has held residencies at Skowhegan and Atlantic Center for the Arts, and exhibits widely across the U.S. She is represented by CHART Gallery, with a solo show at MOCA Jacksonville, and is a member of the EFA.
Sonjie Feliciano Solomon
Solomon’s art focuses on material exploration, shaped by her industrial design background. She works with wood, resin, thread, and paint to create pieces reflecting emotion, memory, and time, emphasizing process as a record of introspection. Originally from Manila and raised in St. Louis, Solomon is now based in Brooklyn. She holds a BFA from RISD and a BSBA from Georgetown. Her work has appeared in solo and group exhibitions at venues including Causey Contemporary, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, and the Honolulu Museum of Art. In 2010, she received the Urban Artist Initiative/NYC Fellowship. Her practice centers on themes of ephemerality, transformation, and emotional resonance.
Liselot van der Heijden
Liselot van der Heijden is a Netherlands-born artist based in New York City and Haarlem. Her work in installations, video,
objects, and photography explores themes like the gaze, objectification, and nature as a cultural construct. She has exhibited extensively across Europe and the US at major venues including Palais de Tokyo, the New Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution. She is currently an EFA member artist.
Yu-Wen Wu
Yu-Wen Wu creates art that connects data, memory, and migration, drawing from her immigrant background. Her drawings and installations address the emotions of displacement and explore cultural roots, environmental shifts, and interconnectedness. Wu is known for Leavings/Belongings, where immigrants and refugees wrap bundles with personal meaning. She is represented by Praise Shadows Art Gallery and is a member artist at EFA (Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts).
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Wu moved to the U.S. as a child. She earned a BSc from Brown University and studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Her work ranges from large-scale drawings to site-based video, community projects, and public art.