Sight Unseen OFFSITE

Ben Skinner (b.1977) is a Canadian artist who explores the nature of language through the use of text and materiality. His works often combine mechanical production methods common in sign making with traditional materials and techniques, such as hand-applied gold leaf and silk marbling. The phrases within the works seamlessly weave together humor and pain to explore the incongruities of daily life. He graduated with a BFA in Interdisciplinary Fine Art from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax in 2000, and with an MFA in Art and Technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003.

Chad Kouri (b. 1985) is a Chicago, Illinois-based artist known for his intuitive, vibrant compositions that utilize the holistic properties of color and abstraction. His mixed-race identity is mirrored by his multidisciplinary studio practice, focusing broadly on visual art, music, and design while considering theories based in minimalism, color theory, semiotics, improvisation, and radical joy. Utilizing a wide range of skillsets and strategies, Kouri reminds us to stay curious and make time for play, rest, and introspection, enabling us more bandwidth for mutual aid and collective community care.

Dana Bechert (b. 1990) is a Conestoga, Pennsylvania-based ceramicist who creates functional art objects. Her hand-thrown pottery is often adorned with sgraffito pictographs etched into the object’s pigmented surface before firing to reveal a contrasting layer of white porcelain underneath. Dana's graphic patterns reference nature, Native American pottery, and Japanese textiles. The resulting designs range from geometrically complex patterns to playful, improvisational doodles.