Current Exhibition

Our ninth Art competition “Open” started in July 2025 and concluded on August 21, 2025. Art Room Gallery received entries from many countries around the world: Switzerland, France, South Korea, USA, Singapore, UK, Taiwan, Ireland, Canada, Serbia and Ukraine. The Open theme in this competition included a diversity in types, styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, steel, photography, digital art). The following evaluation criteria has been used for judging the artwork: creativity, interpretation of the theme, originality and quality of art, overall design, demonstration of artistic ability, and usage of medium. Jury decided to select 33 artworks for inclusion in the exhibition. Aside from First, Second, and Third place Jury also presented Merit awards and Honorable Mention awards.

Thank you, and enjoy the exhibition!

Statement:

Biography: Alyssa Grey works intuitively to create interdependent networks whereby units rely upon each other in order to function as a means of support for isolated moments in the work. She creates a conversation between the the work and the spaces in which they are residing. Grey experiments with industrial and organic materials to find new and unlikely combinations of both. Alyssa Grey attended University of Louisiana at Lafayette and received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Sculpture in 2020. She then went on to obtain her Master’s Degree in Sculpture at Boston University in 2024. Grey currently lives and works in Huntsville, AL where she is an Art Instructor at Alabama A&M University. As a sculptor interested in the formal language of materials and their interactions within space, my creative focus toggles be ween art objects and their modes of display. Drawing inspiration from traditional uses of pedestals, I create interdependent networks whereby units rely upon each other in order to function as a means of support for isolated moments in the work. Fueled by the never-ending question, “what if?” I experiment with industrial and organic materials to find new and unlikely combinations of both. These personally inflected and playful objects draw from the “do-it-yourself” expediency of lower-middle-class home projects which often entails crafting my own tools and equipment to jerry-rig problems. These soiled structures form quick-fix foundations while stubbornly (if tenuously) clinging to kindred objects that can only be described as coping mechanisms. I create double meanings and puns with my material choices in order to imbed poorly made jokes within the larger sculptural systems. These jokes always fall just short of a punchline - leaving them confused and alone; feelings that echo throughout the work, with each elaborate piece dismissed and left in silence.

Statement:

Shawna Hinkel is a Master Photographer and Certified Professional Photographer from Dallas, Texas. She has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Texas A&M University, and has been a professional photographer since 2004. She earned her PPA Certification in 2014 and PPA Master of Photography degree in 2019. She was awarded Life Membership in Dallas PPA in 2020, and earned her Accredited Professional of Animal Imagery degree in 2021. In 2023, she became the second Master of WPE from the United States, and also became a Master Photographer in Fine Art from MPI. Her work has been accepted in the PPA International Photographic Competition Annual Exhibition every year since 2016, with images published in the annual Showcase Collection and Loan Collection books as well. She was the Dallas Professional Photographers Association Photographer of the Year in 2017 and 2018, and was named as one of the Top 10 photographers in Texas in 2020. She also received the American Society of Photographers’ State Elite Award in 2020. She has won a variety of other awards, and has been featured in multiple art gallery exhibitions. She currently serves as 2025 President of Texas Professional Photographers Association and Co-Editor-in-Chief/Copy Editor of ASP Magazine.

Statement:

Jason Shih was born in 1972 in Taiwan. In 1991, he began to specialize in metal sculpture when he was a sophomore in the Fine Arts Dept. of Taipei National University of the Arts. In 2001, he graduated from School for American Crafts, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA, and majored in Metal Sculpture. And then, he served as the metal sculptor Albert Paley's assistant, involved in crafts and public art work practices. Furthermore, he earned his Art Ph. D. from China Academy of Art, China (2015). Now, he lives in Taiwan, and consistently engages in the both areas of sculpture and public art. Jason Shih’s artistic vision is shaped by a diverse array of influences, from contemporary dance to avant-garde fashion. He cites German choreographer Pina Bausch and British designer Alexander McQueen as significant inspirations. Bausch’s explorations of time and space resonate with Shih’s interest in sculpture’s capacity to embody kinetic energy and spatial imagination. McQueen’s innovative approach to contemporary imagery and themes provides Shih with a broad canvas for creative expression.