Durand-Hedden is pleased to host Columbia High School Accomplishing Artists on April 14 from 1 pm to 4 pm for an exhibit of their works. This will be held in conjunctions with Maplewood in the Ice Age, a lecture by Dr. Gregory Pope, which will be held at the main house. Registration for both events is free and available at DurandHedden.org.
Meet the artists of CHS Accomplishing Artists
Jordan Kinley is an upcoming artist currently studying at Columbia High School, deeply involved in the world of art. Currently enrolled in AP Studio Art classes, Jordan uses the medium of painting to create colorful and expressive artworks with bold and captivating brush strokes. As an artist, Jordan aims to translate his thoughts and imagination onto canvas, turning abstract concepts into tangible and evocative artworks. His goal is to evoke a myriad of emotions through his art—whether it be thought-provoking, perplexing, emotional, or inspiring.
Sam Taber-Kewen is a local artist in Maplewood, NJ and a senior at Columbia High School. He works primarily in oil paint on canvas, using a layering method where he cuts and distresses loose canvas scraps and pastes them onto stretched canvas to create his desired effect. Many of his recent pieces portray overlapping figures to represent ideas of change within self and vulnerability. “Over the past two years, my art has become a lucid representation of my thoughts, many of them expressing things I am curious about, my personal beliefs and values, and my own observations from life. I am curious about and exploring themes of rebirth, naturally occurring cycles, connection, existentialism and the potential of the connectivity between our bodies and minds. My color palettes, featuring warm light and teal shadows, are reflective of the way I understand memories, ideas, and feelings– ideas I portray to be real outside our physical reality.” Sam has been a member of the Accomplishing Artists club since 2023 and has been doing private commissions since he was 13.
Ike Hempstead lives in Maplewood, NJ and is a senior at Columbia High School. Ike is president and founder of the CHS Accomplishing Artists collective, a club advised by AP Art History teacher, Ms. Stewart, which includes students with varying art experience as well as students who serve as art handlers and promoters (@chs.accomplishing.artists). Ike works principally with glass, wood, and metal. Ike was introduced to fusing glass through SOMA Adult School Camp classes and then moved on to other forms of glasswork including bead making and glassblowing as a student at Glassroots in Newark, and later becoming a Glassroots volunteer and intern. Ike has sold his fused-glass earrings and accessories at arts events in Maplewood, South Orange, and Millburn, getting his start at the 2018 Bizarre Bazaar at the age of 13. Ike is also a self-taught wood turner and sold his hand-turned wood and acrylic pens at the Maplewood General Store during the pandemic. For over a year Ike has studied under the tutelage of Lisa Lofdahl, a South Orange blacksmith and proprietor of LL Metalworks based in Irvington (@llmetalworks).
Aster Gosselink lives in Maplewood, New Jersey and is a junior at Columbia High School. Aster is president of Columbia's GSA.
She works primarily with clay, metal and found objects in order to create sculptural portraits. Her pieces focus on concepts of beauty and gender, as well as the sometimes violent symbiosis of one’s body and mind.
Mainly inspired by the grotesque works of HR Giger as well as the films of Andrzej Żuławski, Gaspar Noe, David Cronenberg and Jane Arden, Aster aims to disturb and sicken viewers with her examination of the self and its complexities.
Regie Deeble Jackson is an artist based in Maplewood, NJ and is a senior at Columbia High School.
She has been working primarily with acrylic paint but also enjoys oil paint and mixed media projects. She has had multiple art shows in the New Jersey area and has done exhibitions within Columbia High School.
She primarily works with figures and bright colors, drawing from 'urban' art styles with loose brush strokes and transparent layering.
Corinne Jin-Hendel is a senior at Columbia High School and TA for AP Studio Art. Corinne is primarily a painter working in oil, guache, and acrylic paint.
Siena Andreini lives in Maplewood NJ and is a senior at Columbia High school. Siena has been working primarily with ceramics for the past two years.
She got into ceramics in her high school art room, and continued her learning as a work-study student with artist Mimi Stadler at @mimistadlerpottery.
Siena sells her work at various art events across Maplewood and South Orange with the Accomplishing Artists club at her school. Siena continues her craft in her home studio, which she built out of her garage a year ago, and she is a teacher's assistant at her high school ceramics studio.
Ravi Vivian Kurland is currently a senior at Columbia High School and a resident of Maplewood, New Jersey. He is a founding member of the the CHS Accomplishing Artists club, a student collective that offers opportunities to display and sell artwork, as well as actively involved in other student art activities like Beatfest.
Growing up as a music passionate, Ravi was originally a guitar player. Through the end of elementary school and the start of high school they took weekly lessons. However, he always had a high appreciation for the cultural aspect that was associated with music. The spectacularly decrepit fashion of Nirvana as well as the Burroughs-influenced avant-garde aspect - especially present in the music video for “Heart-Shaped Box” by Nirvana fascinated him from an early age.
Following the end of quarantine, he began to incorporate these qualities into their own personal style. Eventually this meant adopting the punk tradition of sewing personal garments. Through this sewing process, Ravi began to take increased interest in fashion and design. Alongside this, they also began producing experimental films, taking 2 years of the School of Creative and Performing Arts summer program.
Ezra Kaminsky is a Junior at Columbia High school. He is the leader of the spectrum club and has been involved in art for his entire life.
His art changes medium consistently as he finds new ways to tell a similar story. With a focus in charcoal and oil pastel, the influence of the horror genre has greatly impacted his creative process.
Ciara Navan is a New Jersey based artist who specializes in mixed media paintings, with an emphasis on the female identity.
She is a current senior at Columbia High School and has been featured in local new publications such as the “Village Green.”
Ciara aims to use mixed media to convey themes of nature in relation to the human condition.