Angela Behrens (b. 2003): A Woman Is a Butterfly (2025) addresses the comparisons between a woman and a butterfly and their overlapping perceptions of worth deemed by their fragility, persistence, beauty, and growth.

Brooke Marcélle Carpenter (b. 1993): Panic Disorder 1 (2024) is an individual illustration showcasing a person who experiences sudden episodes of intense fear when there is usually no threat. Experiences of fear vary from person to person, but in this case, the person feels that they are being pulled into and falling down a deep hole. It is the same rush one would experience while sky diving except it happens at unpredicted times. The hole in the illustration symbolizes a visual representation of the panic disorder appearing at random.

Chloe Hoffschneider (b. 2001): Somebody's Watching (2025) is intended to be a personification of anxiety. The color choices and patterns are reminiscent of my own childhood memories, showing how deeply rooted anxiety can be.

Hayden Johnson (b. 2002): The Routine (2024) addresses the overlooked process and efforts made to maintain the standards of womanly beauty. Break a Leg (2024) is a large-scale oil painting illustrating the performance of femininity women put on to be a part of society. To speak sweetly, sit like a lady, be kind: all formalities women must bear day-to-day.

Kae Northrup (b. 2004): Hidden in Plain Sight (2025) I grew up on I-Spy books, spending hours trying to find all the objects that are not on the task page. I do not know if I found all the pony beads, but I did find all the dice that had the same number. This prompted me to look at the small things, to find all the meaning in complex compositions where you might just find yourself. Skeletal Beauty (2024) As a Queer woman I find myself in the constant struggle of what I should and should not look like. Society brings along a whole other aspect, be the skinniest and prettiest. Skeletal Beauty is what it feels like to be a woman, dying just to wear what the world wants. Present (2025) I find nature relaxing, being able to breathe and stand still in a constantly moving world. I have a hard time not imagining and planning out every part of my life and getting it crushed down by the continual changing of politics. As a reminder, we as humans need to walk down a path, close our eyes, and just be in the present.

Toni Parker (b. 1996): A Transference Pt. 2 (2025) This watercolor portrait of artist and son captures a moment of lethargy and embrace. The intimacy and poignancy of the mother and child relationship is present but opens conversations on the complex role of “the mother” in contemporary society and the double bind of working while caring for another. A Mother at Rest (2025) Through layered processes of acrylic pours, expressive gestural drawing, and decisive rendering of the body, these embodied processes speak to the complexities of an artist/mother’s task. Largely autobiographical, this drawing speaks to the quiet pull between worlds of mothering and artmaking.