Schweinfurth Art Center hosts Made in NY 2025 art exhibition

Auburn, N.Y. – When artist Stephen Carpenter of North Bay developed a scratch on the cornea of his right eye, his world changed.

A bacterial infection led him to a corneal specialist and two eye surgeries. The inability to perceive depth hampered his artwork.

“I tried watercolor and found, without the second eye, there was no way to be sure of where objects were in space relative to each other,” said Carpenter. “Half an hour later I quit in exhaustion with a headache.”

So he turned to digital artwork, where “the screen is flat and everything is at the same depth,” Carpenter said. “That idea became the catalyst I needed to move forward as an artist.”

His digital piece “Eye Sparkle – Retinal Apparitions” is one of 67 artworks by 66 artists included in “Made in NY 2025,” an annual juried exhibition at Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn that features artwork from artists across New York State. The show, selected by jurors David MacDonald and Sayward Schoonmaker, opened April 4 and runs through May 17, 2025.

“Eye Sparkle” comes from Carpenter’s fascination with retinal afterimages after losing his sight.

“If one looks at a bright color for a while and looks away, the complementary color appears to float in the eye,” he said.

He created different patterns to try to duplicate what he saw, while still trying to achieve some depth by his use of color.

“The hardest challenge is creating a ‘bright dark,’” he added.

Many artists in “Made in NY 2025” cite their experiences and personal stories in their work. Nancy Campbell of Saugerties enjoys painting scenes in the upper Hudson Valley, where she has lived most of her life. She prefers ordinary scenes from daily life, like her gouache painting “Tall Grasses and Shadows.”

Rachel Ivy Clarke of Syracuse, NY; “Systolic/Diastolic”Schweinfurth Art Center

Textile artist Rachel Ivy Clarke of Syracuse incorporated her life experience into her piece “Systolic/Diastolic,” using bargello needlepoint to communicate her blood pressure reading and platelet count at every Red Cross blood and platelet donation since she began donating in March 2020.

Brooklyn artist Melina Ahmad’s goal in their work is to find beauty in imperfect or unique bodies, which grew out of their diagnosis with a chronic illness when they were 15 years old that left them bed bound and unable to paint for over a year.

“The process of learning to live and create again has shaped my work in ways that will never change,” they said. “Art has become a way to honor my story and the stories of others who are learning to accept their bodies – whether they are disabled, queer, or face any other identity society arbitrarily labels as deviant, ugly, or shameful.”

Their watercolor painting in “Made in NY 2025,” “Q Train,” captures a moment they experienced during COVID riding the Q subway train when New York City was collectively grappling with trauma.

Melina Ahmad of Brooklyn, NY; “Q Train”Schweinfurth Art Center

“As a high school student newly diagnosed with a chronic illness, I saw in them the shared experience of learning to survive,” they said. “Looking at it now, I see a snapshot of that time when everyone was simply trying to live.”

Artist Emily Tironi of Saratoga Springs was born with a rare muscle disease that causes severe fatigue and muscle weakness. She uses a power wheelchair for any long distance.

“Growing up, I struggled to understand the way people treated me and the uncomfortableness I felt in public,” she said, which led her to major in disability studies in college.

“I embraced my disability identity and the disability community,” she said. “I wanted to be a better advocate for myself and my community and make the world a better place for people with disabilities like many other people had done before me.”

Her mixed media altered book “Some Kids Are Blind” is her attempt to both celebrate people with disabilities and challenge viewer’s perceptions of blind people.

“A book like this was and still is necessary, but can we also go beyond it?” she asked.

“I feel we are often unconsciously regarded as less than human, while disability is the most human experience,” Tironi said. “Twenty-five percent of adults in the U.S. have some type of disability, and it is the only minority group you can join at any time – and mostly likely will if you grow old enough.”