Make | Believe

Group exhibition for Heuser and Hartmann Galleries, Bradley University, Peoria, IL

August 18 - October 3, 2025

Featuring work by artists Erin Holscher Almazan, Rachel Ferber, Craig Hill, Gracelee Lawrence, Kefa Memeh, Stephanie Rond, Leonard Suryajaya, Shea Wilt, and Emily Joy Zeller

The phrase make-believe embraces the power of fantasy to ultimately impact reality in ways that are uniquely creative, positive, and productive. In this exhibition, nine artists explore conceptual and visual ways that making can lead to believing, suggesting that belief is a system of construction. Utilizing diverse media such as painting, printmaking, 3-D printing, A.I. digital collaborations, and photography, the artists negotiate intersections between reality and fantasy. Synthesizing a make-believe imagination with idea-driven narratives and imagery, these artists employ metamorphosis and hybridity, and provocative mental role play. The artists in Make | Believe expand our openness to play, the sense of discovery, and growth potential.

Erin Holscher Almazan, Eat or Be Eaten, linoleum cut, 24 x 36 inches

 

Rachel Ferber, saying NO means saying YES to something else (Float Sequence), 11 archival pigment prints, 16 x 12 inches

 

Craig Hill, L: The Last Dissolve, R: Listening to the Voices with Delight, arcylic and paper collage on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

 

Gracelee Lawrence, L to R: Special Hungers, 5.75 x 5.5 x 4 inches; Think All-Softly, 8 x 8 x 4 inches; Floating Away Fully Loaded, 8.25 x 8 x 8 inches, Polylactic acid 3D prints

 

Kefa Memeh, Shine Ya Eyes #4 (detail), pigment print on Enhanced Adhesive Vinyl, 41 x 32 inches

 

Stephanie Rond, Recognition, Justice, & Belonging, hand-cut stencil, spray paint, marker, acrylic, paper on wood, 50 x 50 inches

 

Leonard Suryajaya, Communion, archival pigment print, 40 x 50 inches

 

Shea Wilt, Strups, archival pigment print, 24 x 17 inches

 

Emily Joy Zeller, Jellyfish, Artichoke, Disk Brake, Aircraft Carrier, Binder, Fiddler Crab, Gorilla, Cocktail Shaker, Sarong, Velvet, archival pigment print, 14 x 14 inches