InLiquid Gallery

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Make-it-Pop! highlights and celebrates everything Pop Art. From the use of pop culture, bold colors, and mass-produced artwork to graphic styles and ironic subjects, we dive into what “makes it Pop” in our artist members' portfolios. 

Drawing on nostalgia and the use of timeless iconography, artists bring in the fun and playfulness to the gallery. Beginning with the 1920s, Jasmine Allegar’s Ring Magazine Series is inspired by Muhammad Ali’s iconic quote, “Float like a butterfly sting like a bee”. Mathew Borgen’s mid-twentieth-century comic book-inspired print, Lupien Mountain’s found media from personal archives, Alex Spalding’s 1990s cartoons and comics references, and Pete Sparber’s drawings portraying renowned artists, all evoke memories and prompt reflection on diverse perspectives of contemporary society. 

Pop Art was known for challenging themes of consumerism, power, and privilege. Ernesto Beckford creates dynamic and provocative collages that blend elements of advertising and art. At the same time, Lori Evensen and Zach Mellman Carsey create commentary on wealth and class through jewelry and sculptural work. Deanna McLaughlin presents us with a literal shopping cart reinterpreted into a child seat from her series ”Cartregeous”.

Finally, reminding us that “the personal is political,” John Y. Wind's message pins call to action through gems, buttons, and other findings from John Wind Jewelry. Wendee Yudis explores gender power dynamics by superimposing “pop culture icons across shifting contexts” and vivid colors. Carlotta Schiavo, also known as YaYaTii Talisman, creates large-scale, colorful paintings that convey a message of peace and climate awareness. 

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Jasmine Alleger

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Artist Bio

Jasmine Alleger is a Philadelphia-based artist originally from California. She received her bachelor’s degree in drawing and painting from Portland State University in 2010 and her Master's of Fine Art from Moore College of Art & Design in 2013. She has participated in an international artist residency at the Burren College of Art in County Clair, Ireland, and worked for the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and The Sol LeWitt Estate. Her work has been featured in numerous venues, including exhibitions at Site: Brooklyn in Brooklyn, NY, The Blue Line Gallery in Sacramento, CA, and James Oliver Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. In 2017, she was awarded a solo exhibition and honorarium at North Charleston City Hall from the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department. Her work is included in the corporate collection at Capitol One, Wilmington, DE, and she has exhibited at the Philadelphia International Airport. 

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Statement

Jasmine’s work represents love on many levels. At its very core, it is a love of moving color across the canvas and the visual language that it creates.  She works with imagery representing her love and appreciation for mundane routine and curiosity, covering topics of everyday foods and furniture, travel, city living, and music.  Her current series, “Float & Sting”  represents her love for the sport of boxing. This series uses pages from 1920’s Ring Magazine combined with paintings of butterflies and bees, a nod toward the famous Muhammad Ali quote, “Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee.”

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Ernesto Beckford

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Artist Bio

Ernesto Raúl Beckford is a Hispanic American collage artist, born in Buenos Aires and now based in Pennsylvania. An emerging artist, he turned to visual art after retiring from a 40-year legal career in Washington, D.C. Since then, his collages have been featured in juried exhibitions across the United States, including the Susquehanna Art Museum, Hudson Valley MOCA, Brand Library & Art Center, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, and the Royal Nebeker Art Gallery. He was awarded Best in Show at Proud 2025 (The Studio Door, San Diego).

Beckford creates mixed-media collages with paper, watercolor, and pastels. His practice layers cultural memory with references to art history, drawing on spirituality, immigrant experience, and queer identity while engaging with contemporary visual culture. His work bridges past and present, weaving ritual and personal history into complex narratives.

He holds degrees in English and Spanish Literature from Columbia College and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. Although never formally trained, he has been an artist at heart his entire life, bringing that lifelong sensibility fully into the studio after retirement.

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Statement

"The collages presented here use the flat, saturated look of posters and advertising to transform everyday scenes into icons of contemporary Pop. Built from paper, watercolor, and pastels, these works exaggerate color, flatten surfaces, and stage encounters where tradition collides with consumer culture.

Logos, fashion poses, and staged domestic scenes appear alongside echoes of art history. A Gucci emblem glows like a Christmas star; a man in a tailored suit wears the face of a Japanese ink figure; a Hollywood bathing beauty strides across water, her black-and-white glamour set against bursts of color like a hand-tinted film. Even the cover of a real estate magazine, with a man and his dog at rest, becomes a kitschy tableau where companionship is staged to sell houses.

These juxtapositions are playful but also revealing. They show how advertising and popular imagery borrow the language of reverence, glamour, and desire to shape the way we see ourselves. By exaggerating the color, borrowing the flatness of posters, and placing tradition next to the commercial, the collages highlight the strange ways culture is packaged for consumption.

The works are not meant as parody but as a mirror of the world we already inhabit—one where memory, glamour, and branding are inseparable. They invite viewers to pause in the glossy surface, to notice how much of daily life is staged like a poster, and to find in that surface both humor and critique."

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Matthew Borgen

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Artist Bio

Matthew Borgen is a native of Akron, Ohio. He holds a BFA in drawing from the University of Akron and an MFA in painting from the University of Minnesota.

Since moving to Philadelphia in 2003, Borgen has presented his work in regional venues including The Woodmere Art Museum, The Fleisher Art Memorial (Wind Challenge), The Abington Art Center; The Barbara Crawford Gallery at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy; Inliquid Gallery; Mt. Airy Contemporary; James Oliver Gallery; The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Trenton, New Jersey; and The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, New Jersey.

Nationally, he has been included in exhibitions at The Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, Michigan; The 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida; The Arlington Center for the Arts, Arlington, Massachusetts; H Gallery, Ventura, California; and Target Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia.

Borgen currently serves as the Director of Exhibitions at Arcadia University.

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Statement

“In creating my prints and installations, I borrow heavily from comic books produced during the mid-twentieth century, both as a source of imagery, and for the variety of compositional strategies the genre’s narrative structure suggests. I often infuse these elements with themes, compositions, or references borrowed from across the western art historical canon. 

These combinations and manipulations result in new, sometimes satiric narratives that critique the original sources’ problematic ideals of Western culture. Through this process I am also confronting my own privilege. My intention is to mine new value from these source materials and contribute to a broader conversation in which long-held, and seemingly intractable, social ideas are being re-examined."

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Lori Evensen

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Artist Bio

Born and raised in central Pennsylvania, Lori Evensen has been creating art since she was under the age of two.  While studying at Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Lori spent a semester studying abroad in Rome and Tunisia, an experience which significantly refined her artistic vision. She graduated with a BFA in painting in 2011 and has gone on to sell and exhibit in numerous galleries, cafe's, nightspots, science centers and other venues in Philadelphia, Rome, and State College. Mrs. Evensen currently lives and works in Philadelphia PA. 

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Statement

“There is a stubborn tendency to use life’s responsibilities and entrenched traditions as excuses to suppress unique viewpoints and innovative ways of perceiving the world. But it is within bold, raw creativity that we can set our spirits free from the banality of the everyday and step out of ourselves to appreciate fantastic wonder. The vivid colors and eccentric patterns of my art seeks to do precisely that by abstracting non-representational forms and shapes into wistful parallel universes begging to be explored. The painstaking level of detail unearths new revelations with each viewing.  Rather than stem from a deep dark place, my artwork originates from a quirky and optimistic choice to regard the world as vibrant, detailed, and gorgeous. I want viewers to understand that the world is not merely a banal and depressing place, but a complex labyrinth of beauty ready to inspire."

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Lupien LaMountain

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Artist Bio

Jeremy “Lupien” LaMountain is a self-taught artist based in Philadelphia, PA. Born in 1997 in New Haven, CT, he discovered his passion for art early in life, inspired by his grandmothers who pushed him to explore art through multiple mediums. His work primarily incorporates acrylic paint, collage, and mixed media, exploring themes of contrast and popular culture, particularly through the lens of cartoons, advertisements, and urban life.

Lupien’s artistic development has been shaped by his experiences living in Baltimore, New York City, and Philadelphia—cities that influenced the rhythm, energy, and intensity of his work. His time creating art alongside college students and graffiti artists in Baltimore encouraged him to embrace both traditional and nontraditional materials and techniques.

His work has been exhibited in four group shows and one duo show in Baltimore and New York, and he has completed large-scale public murals, including a commissioned original piece painted directly onto a living room wall in a New York City loft.

Currently, Lupien is developing a new collection that further explores the interplay between pop culture and material experimentation, resulting in pieces that are simultaneously refined and raw. These works are equally at home in a gallery or an underground space.

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Statement

"My work merges painting and collage to explore themes of intensity, transformation, and popular culture. I’m drawn to the contrast and constant motion that defines contemporary life, nothing stays still for long. Through my practice, I aim to capture that energy and remind viewers that life is fluid, layered, and ever-changing.

I frequently incorporate imagery from my childhood, old textbooks, and found media to evoke nostalgia and provoke reflection. These elements help bridge the personal and the collective, inviting the viewer to engage with both memory and cultural memory. My process is deeply rooted in mixed media; I intentionally avoid limiting myself to a single medium, instead layering materials in a way that is both intuitive and archival.

The structure and rhythm of my compositions are influenced by my experiences living in multiple cities, which inform the vibrant, sometimes chaotic energy in my work. I’m interested in the dualities present in society, humor and darkness, precision and roughness, order and disruption. These tensions emerge through my use of vivid color, juxtaposed imagery, and the interplay between clean and raw details.

My influences range from street artists like Rammellzee and OSGEMEOS to commercial advertising and graphic design. The raw immediacy of graffiti and the refined clarity of typography both serve as ongoing inspiration, reflecting the push and pull of cultural noise and personal narrative that defines my artistic practice."

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Deanna McLaughlin

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Artist Bio

Deanna began exhibiting her work in 1985. An east coast transplant from the Midwest, Deanna has a BS in Art Therapy from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, and an MA and MAT from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has the highest level of certification from the National Yoga Alliance for whom she is also a continuing education provider. Deanna worked several years as an art therapist in state mental hospitals and for over two decades as a public school art educator

She has won numerous awards and has been granted many opportunities both nationally and internationally, including her acceptance as one of five Americans to participate in the First Artist Exchange with the Union of Artists of St. Petersburg, Russia. An insatiable thirst to learn new skills while working with a variety of media sustains her never-ending inspiration to create. Studying people of other places and cultures has greatly influenced her approach to looking at life with an ever-fresh perspective.

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Statement

“The shopping cart is the most iconic image of our consumer-based culture. The “Cartrageous” furniture series originally intended to visually challenge the viewer to question and assess individual ideas about consumerism, power, and privilege. After the first pieces were shown, friends and strangers began bringing me abandoned carts. I’ve enjoyed the design challenge of taking one object and continually asking what else it could be. Repurposed materials are frequently used to add to the FUNctionality of each piece. Audiences are encouraged to interact with and sit in each work.”

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Zach Mellman-Carsey

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Artist Bio

Zach Mellman-Carsey is a visual artist living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Zach received his Master’s degree in Fine Art Jewelry and Metal-smithing at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Zach’s work explores the use of technology embedded into wearable jewelry using computer-aided design and digital fabrication to further concepts of identity, place, and mourning."

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Statement

Zach’s work explores the personal need for ritual in times of instability and grief. By re-contextualizing an ancient method of offering to the dead, Zach is exploring an interesting glimpse into their adverse past. A desire for wealth to escape the false promise of class mobility becomes a theme of moral impasse.

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Carlotta Schiavio aka YaTii Talisman

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Artist Bio

Carlotta Schiavio aka YaTii Talisman, is an artist with a diverse heritage. Born in Italy and raised in Africa, her cultural background has deeply influenced her artistic journey. Carlotta began her creative path in jewelry design before transitioning to painting in 1998.

Her work spans continents and explores various artistic expressions, culminating in a permanent exhibition at the National Library ""Abrehot"" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2022. Today, Carlotta is a full-time artist and recipient of ""The Extraordinary Talent in the Arts Visa"". Her latest creation, “The Bugibatuki,” inhabitants of planet YaTii Talisman, where peace and harmony reign. 

Carlotta has now entered the literary world - The first book, Bugibatuki Watershed Awareness, is now available online. 

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Alex Spalding

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Artist Bio

Alex Spalding (b. 1985, Springfield, MO) is a self-taught figurative painter specializing in vibrant, stylized work. Before dedicating himself to painting in 2023, Alex was immersed in a diverse range of other creative pursuits, including dance music, music journalism, screenwriting, and caricature. This multidisciplinary background continues to inform the eclectic style of his work today. Alex lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.

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Statement

“This body of work is inspired by animated cartoons and comics from the '90s, with techniques borrowed from the cel painting process. Flashe, a vinyl-based acrylic, is applied to large-format plexiglass sheets in multiple layers on the back, while line work was completed on the front, giving each piece a dimensional look.”

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Pete Sparber

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Artist Bio

Pete lives, paints, draws, and writes about art in Philadelphia.  He’s led an eclectic life, living in cities across the U.S., as well as Tokyo and Shanghai.  He holds an MFA from Cornell, is a martial arts black belt, and has recently concluded a career as a senior business executive.  He and his wife, Karen, live in Center City. Pete has written extensively for Artblog, publishing interviews with artists, gallerists, and collectors.

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Statement

"Lichtenstein may have jolted postmodernism by recycling “low” comic imagery into “high” art, but he was extending ground already broken by Duchamp who redefined a urinal as high concept. Warhol then expanded Pop’s reach by elevating consumer packaging and celebrity icons into the realm of fine art. With their work—and that of others—the entire visual field from high art to mass culture became fair game.

My work lives in that world: a landscape where art, culture and media images circulate as a shared vocabulary of archetypes. These drawings toy with the figure of the artist, their processes and their artifacts, blurring them until meaning seeps out. They rely on a touch of humor and inauthenticity not as evasions but as strategies—to disarm to reframe and to make what is often unsettling into something at once engaging and consumable."

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John Wind

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Artist Bio

John Y. Wind is a mixed media artist, creating narrative portraits, assemblages, and installations. His art explores the intersection of art, commerce, portraiture, and history. It is fabricated with ephemera and objects collected from his own life and inspired by his obsessions. Wind is also the co-founder of Maximal Art Inc., known for 'Modern Vintage' fashion jewelry and gifts, and sold internationally under the John Wind brand. Symbiotically, the language and materials of jewelry often find their way into his fine art. ‍

He has exhibited his artwork in solo and group shows in Philadelphia, New York, Miami, and London, and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.‍

John Y. Wind was born in Israel, raised in Philadelphia, and studied at the University of Pennsylvania and the Slade School of Fine Art, London. He has been active in Philadelphia's art scene for many years, serving in leadership roles at ICA, Vox Populi, Arts + Business Council, Fleisher Art Memorial, InLiquid, and now as President of the Dina Wind Art Foundation.

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Statement

“This one-of-a-kind wearable art is inspired by the message pins and charms worn by the figurative decanters in my exhibition, Whiskey Rebellion, displayed at the Museum of the American Revolution in 2024. Each collage mixes social action buttons with vintage brooches, jewels, and findings from my well-known fashion jewelry brand, John Wind Jewelry.”

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Wendee Yudis

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Artist Bio

Featured in Philly Style Magazine and CBS Philly online in April 2024, Wendee Yudis is a Painter/Printmaker whose mixed media paintings/silkscreens have been exhibited in solo and group shows in galleries in NYC, Chicago, and Philadelphia since the mid-1990s. Solo exhibitions include James Oliver Gallery, HMVC Gallery, New York Times Square, Ceres Gallery NYC, Black Moth Gallery, and Gallery 1633 Chicago. A selection of group exhibitions includes The Albright/Knox Museum, Manhattan Graphics Center, Philadelphia Art Alliance, James Oliver Gallery, Penn Medicine, CFEVA, InLiquid, DaVinci Art Alliance, and The Trenton Museum. Select work was in a national juried competition in the Phoenix Gallery in NYC by Thelma Golden, then curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Wendee Yudis received an MFA in Printmaking and Painting from Pratt Institute and a BFA in Printmaking and Photography from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also studied archaeology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and photography at Richmond College in London. 

In addition to being a visual artist, Wendee works as a commercial artist. Since the mid-1990s, she has worked as a Graphic Designer & Art Director for advertising agencies and non-profits in NYC, Philadelphia, and remotely. 

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Statement

"My art turns the definition of femininity on its head, challenging unconscious gender bias, sexuality, objectification, and body image. I question the roles imposed on women—both those assigned to us (child, wife, daughter) and those we embrace (boss, lover, vixen). Why must we be vixens or victims? Can we be both?

Through a playful yet provocative lens, my work explores power dynamics, layering females as symbols and recognizable pop culture icons across shifting contexts; silkscreened transparencies create physical layers that generate multiple dimensions of meaning. I use typography to highlight gendered language—why is a bossy man a leader while a bossy woman is a bitch?

Influenced by Warhol and Pop Art, I merge feminist themes with a bold, retro aesthetic that critiques cultural norms while celebrating women’s agency. My work is deeply influenced by my experiences as a woman, a lover, a mother, a sister, a daughter, and as a professional Designer. Using photo-silkscreen, painting, and spray paint, I layer, juxtapose, and overlap images to create new definitions of old ideas, creating visual narratives. My silkscreen process mimics a paintbrush, producing originals that explore translucency, opacity, and pattern—revealing both seen and unseen relationships."

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