“Emerging Stories”

Step into a world where art comes alive with tales and imagination! This exhibit invites you to explore the captivating artwork of Jackie Cooper, Stephanie Rodigas, Amanda Lee Condict, and Kristine Izak. Below, read on for each artist's bio and what “Emerging Stories” means to them. Touring the exhibit, you will discover this in more depth, as your own story begins to emerge.

Jackie Cooper

As an artist I explore my spirituality and inner self through diverse mediums. One of the first mediums I fell in love with at a young age is clay. I quickly understood the healing powers the medium had and continued to explore it throughout my life. Clay tells a story and many believe it has a memory that comes through as you work with it. Digital photography has allowed me to view the world in a spiritual way. Photography is a way of reading the light around us and capturing the stories of the present moment.  Another medium that is very powerful for me is drawing. It connects me to my inner voice in an immediate way. It allows me to brainstorm, express and manifest the images I see within my soul. Energy fields often emerge from these drawings becoming a map of energy around me. When using paint I am allowing the paint to speak to me and discover worlds within worlds tapping into the subconscious and giving space for stories to emerge and flourish.

As I shift through creating art, I give the spectators the opportunity to discover a part of him or herself through these images that tell the stories of our inner worlds.

Since arriving on the scene in 1995 as a graduate of Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico, JCS Art has worked to capture and intrigue the art community with my beautiful work. I gather much of my inspiration from personal experiences, always seeking to find myself and heal through the materials I explore. My pieces embody some of their own life experiences, which has led her to show with leading artists and clients around the world.

Stephanie Rodigas

Stephanie’s fascination with authentic self-realization, and its potential for healing the relationship between humans and the natural world, is the foundation of her creative work.  When people begin tuning in and realizing they are nature, magic happens.  Through her journey of honing one-pointed awareness through various mind-body disciplines, such as Vipassana meditation, yoga, Qi Gong, and extended retreats into the wilderness, Stephanie has realized much healing and growth, leading to a more ease-filled, joyful life.  Through less “doing” and more “being”, we slow down just enough to begin to develop a more conscious awareness of our inner and outer worlds, leading to a greater sense of interconnectedness and contentment.  Through sincere, open, playful self-inquiry, which her art and storytelling aim to inspire, it is possible to not only become aware of the narratives and beliefs we hold to be true about Self, Other, and the world around and within, but also to challenge and reframe them, empowering us to shift our experience of reality, ourselves, and life for the better.

Stephanie grew up in Philadelphia, PA and Brussels, Belgium. She completed a BSc Human Sciences undergraduate degree in the UK in 2002. This interdisciplinary degree spanning biology, anthropology, and human geography launched her into a lifelong passion and study of people and nature. Working as an editor for a popular culture, global lifestyle magazine based in San Francisco, CA, she began a career in creative writing, editing, and journalism in the context of art, people, culture, and nature. She also worked extensively with young children, teaching, tutoring, and caretaking preschool and kindergarten-aged for many years. Since relocating to Philadelphia, in 2011, Stephanie has been making art, teaching yoga, and working in real estate more recently. She is increasingly focusing time and efforts developing art, stories, and collaborative work (including commissioned pieces) that encompass a broader range of her skills, talents, experience, and knowledge on creativity, nature, people, and authentic self-realization.

Amanda Lee Condict

My work is usually described as narrative art because it speaks of my everyday contact with people and positions them as subjects in their own lives, as well as subjects in my artwork. I don’t usually start out with any particular story in mind, just a figure or a face I find visually compelling, and as I start composing the scene, additional people, toys, clothing, and other random objects, might make their way into the composition until a story emerges.

While my technique and the media I employ vary greatly from one series to the next, my art has always been about people and their stories. Sometimes their stories are about their connections to me or to each other; sometimes their stories can be about their personal journey. But as diverse and unrelated as the work might appear, connections and relationships are the thread that weaves together this collection of portraits.

Amanda Lee Condict studied at Kutztown University, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Albright College, and Empire State College. An illustrator and designer, she has always worked in graphic arts and publishing– first as a product and fashion illustrator for Boscov’s department store, then as the art director at County Magazine, and finally operating Condict and Company, a design and illustration studio which grew to eight artists before she returned to her roots as a free lance illustrator while also teaching art and design in the fashion department at Albright College. 

Amanda recently retired from Albright and currently exhibits in local galleries, accepts portrait commissions, and teaches at several art centers and as a rostered residency artist with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She operates Vincent van BYO, a painting party studio and paints murals, mostly as community projects. She curates the traveling group show “The Female Gaze” and was a forensic sketch artist on an episode of “The Dead Files.” She was honored with the 2021 Coggins Award of Excellence for her creativity, innovation, and service to others. She serves on several area arts committees including Public Relations for Berks Art Alliance, Berks Arts Council’s Roundtable, administrator of the Sketching Workshop, an international organization of artists, and on the board of Clay on Main.

Kristine Izak

 “Emerging Stories” certainly exemplifies my personal painting process. I often begin my work with setting the intention, in marks or writing with a pen or paint. From there I allow my intuition, my “Muse” to lead, in choosing colors and washes and more marks. When layering color and choosing which lines or shapes to highlight, which to recess into the background - a story starts to appear. Whether it’s a figure or a symbol or a shape in the brushstrokes, I take these as guides for further contemplation.I look forward to sharing my paintings here, and even more so than telling my story, hearing what new stories the painting is inspiring in you! You can see more of my work at www.KristineIzak.com and also get more information on the paintings and how to order prints.