Meet the Artists:
What the Hands Remember
A Professor Emerita of Maryland Institute College of Art and former educator/director of MICA's MFA in Community Arts program, Paula Phillips engages art from a social justice perspective. She utilizes paints, fiber, glass and other materials to manifest her works' messages. The majority of her artworks' meanings are based upon experiences while working with the people and organizations of Baltimore City's communities.
Lolo Gem (b. 1995, Westchester County, NY) is a Baltimore-based artist and illustrator. She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2017 and her MFA from Towson University in 2025. Working with saturated acrylic paint, drawing materials, and imagery culled from vintage comic books & early animation, Gem creates playfully absurd work populated by fragmented figures, sentient calligraphic lines, exuberant motion, and personified objects. Fusing nostalgia and innovation, Gem’s work explores human vulnerability by engaging with the fragmented, hidden aspects of the self—those shaped by fear, anxiety, grief, and the desire for connection.
Janine D'Adamo is a multimedia artist and the Founder of Melko Designs. She works with cotton rope, fabric scraps, ribbon, thread, fibers and different color dyes to make handmade rope baskets. Each one is unique. Most baskets are made using an 85 year old antique Singer 107 G 103 industrial machine. Janine has a background in photography, ceramics and digital art. She has been making vessels of all sorts for 30 years.
Alfie Marsland is a queer graphic designer and artist living in Baltimore, MD. Much of their work explores the intersection of queer identity and design. They graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2017, with a BFA in Printmaking, and the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2023 with a MFA in Graphic Design. They are interested in rest, labor and slowing down a viewer's experience of visual communication. In addition to graphic design they practice fiber arts.
Keck studied at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA and the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH. She received a full fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, and worked in independent studio programs in MA and Italy. She was an artist in residence at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, Annapolis, MD for eight years. Keck exhibited at the Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington DC in 1998, the Trenton Art Museum, Trenton NJ and the DeLand Museum of Art, DeLand FL in 1999. She has had many one person shows and is included in many public and private collections.
Ringo Lisko (they/she) is an artist originally from Gallup, NM. They earned their Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture and drawing from the University of Alabama in 2020, and Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Rinehart School of Sculpture in 2024.
Lisko lives and works between Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C. Alongside their practice, Lisko is the founding director of spare room gallery, an artist-run collaborative in Baltimore, MD. They are currently Head of Facilities at the Kreeger Museum in Washington, D.C.
H.I. Green is a multidisciplinary artist from Madison, Mississippi known for bold work that spans across painting, sculpture, and mixed media. Drawing on a diverse range of influences, H.I. Green transforms everyday observations into thought-provoking art that challenges conventional perspectives. In their current practice they use a mix of cyanotype, paint, wood, and found objects to explore queerness and the antics of growing up in the Black Religious South.
As an avid knitter since learning in 3rd grade, Erika decided to try sewing. The month before COVID-19, she bought a used sewing machine with the help of her friend and colleague at MICA. Who knew this love for all things fiber, and this new machine would help her survive the quarantine? MICA's pandemic inspired quilt club is where she became obsessed with hand sewing and needlework. Erika's favorite method is the Kawandi quilt--a unique hand-stitched patchwork tradition from the Siddi community in western India.