‘Overwintering’ Exhibits In Kingston

Nestled in the mountains of Kingston, The Women’s Studio Workshop is featuring their spring intern exhibition titled “Overwintering.” The studio, located at 722 Binnewater Ln. in Kingston, is featuring works by three artists: Gil Dickinson, Celia Shaheen and Julia Maisel-Berick. Although their initial opening ceremony was held on March 21, the exhibit will be on display in the studio through April 7.

Beautifully-laid wooden floors set the scene of the rustic studio atmosphere. Works by all three artists lined the walls of each hallway, allowing for a well-rounded experience throughout the entire gallery. 

“Through studies and meditations on local wildlife, domestic spaces, collecting and reliquaries, the three distinct bodies of work in ‘Overwintering’ hold the stillness and pensiveness of winter alongside the light and energy of a new spring.” As the studio’s website explains, “These artists took inspiration from steadfast creatures that use practices of ‘overwintering’ such as hibernation and migration to survive cold, icy conditions.”

Currently interning at the studio, Dickinson is a printmaker and book artist from southern Florida. Dickinson received their BFA in 2023 in printmaking and book arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. “This is like an after college continuation for me of my art practice, and also more like a professional step into the printmaking world,” Dickinson said. 

Much of Dickinson’s work is inspired by their interest in ecology and ornithology, and is primarily based in their research on both subjects. “This is all work that we were doing in the studios outside of the regular working hours we’re working around artists who are here, but we’re also working in tandem with them in the studios,” Dickinson said.

With their interests in consideration, a major theme in Dickinson’s work involves birds in their natural habitats. In their time spent at the studio, Dickinson said, “It’s been really exciting to be able to make work and also get feedback on it, and get the feedback of all these people that are coming through here. It’s also just a continuation of our own personal practices with access to these nicer facilities that I think most of us do not have access to at our homes.” 

Down the hall rests numerous art studios, including the intaglio room, the paper room and the print studio with the ceramics studio isolated downstairs in the basement.

Shaheen is a craftsperson and artist assistant studio manager from northern Texas. In 2020, she graduated with a BFA in studio art from the University of Texas at Austin. Her studio practice is “at the intersection of archiving and making, using materials across the spectrum of textiles, printmaking, papermaking and metals to investigate the shared language of textiles and storytelling, Lebanese culinary traditions, folklores of the animate and inanimate and webs of lineage and longing,” according to the studio’s website.

Shaheen said that she “originally heard about the studio when I was in college. I studied studio art and art history, and I did a lot of printmaking, and so even though it’s a small, intimate community around here, I feel like this place has a lot of reach.” Much of Shaheen’s work utilizes resources such as handmade paper, crocheted yarn and abaca, and involves vibrant hues of orange, purple and blue.

“We have access to the studio spaces outside of work hours, kind of contingent on what programming is going on with artists and residents. So we make work while we’re here, we have access to the studio space, but we’re primarily focused on being part of the operations of an artist residency,” Shaheen said. “So, in the studios, working closely with artists to help them meet their goals with their projects, studio upkeep and maintenance.” 

Originally from Los Angeles, Maisel-Berick is a nonprofit management intern at the studio. In 2024, Maisel-Berick graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie with a BA in American Studies, with concentrations in art history and urban studies.

Maisel-Berick is inspired by the “uncanny nature of the mid-century lifestyle magazines collected from antique malls, neighbors and street corners over the years.” Through her use of upcycled goods, such as old cookbooks or scraps of fabric, Maisel-Berick’s work is “rounded in a sense of nostalgia. Her work crosses disciplines to evoke both the familiar and the peculiar in domestic settings.”

In many of her pieces, Maisel-Berick uses scrap paper, pieces of fabric, glue and paint to create her artwork. Much of her work is “inspired by medical advertisements, Victorian scrap-book homes and the communal culture of quilting.” Maisel-Berick explained that her job at the studio is to “primarily work in the office, helping out with operations and marketing and a little bit of development to talk in art supplies.” 

The studio’s manager, Chris Petrone, is involved in all studio programming and projects in the printmaking and papermaking studios. Additionally, “she manages all technical aspects of the artists-in-residence opportunities, maintaining the studios’ equipment and leading artist book production.” Just one year after earning her degree in fine arts from SUNY Purchase, Petrone came to the workshop initially as a studio intern in 2004 and has been there ever since. 

Up a set of rustic stairs is home to the silkscreen studio, where Petrone fiddled around with a resident artists’ work in preparation for their arrival. “We have a resident that’s coming up who doesn’t normally work with silkscreen, but is coming to do a publication grant and print. So we’re trying to send her some trial runs with her drawings. These are her drawings and showing her what it’s going to look like before she gets here, so she can work on her imagery, knowing what to expect a little ahead of time,” Petrone said. 

If you would like to immerse yourself into the realm of “Overwintering,” you can visit the exhibit through April 7. To learn more about Women’s Studio Workshop’s services, you can check out their Instagram @wsworkshop or their website, https://wsworkshop.org/.