Leigh Barbier, Jessika Cadkin, Laura Malone, Christine Meuris: Material Differences

The four artists featured in Material Differences work in painting, sculpture, and weaving. Considered together, their works draw attention to the ways texture, material choice, and scale shape the dynamics of the exhibition. Leigh Barbier’s series Under the Influence features ceramic heads informed by her intuitive drawing process: pieces created during moments of inspiration, anxiety, or relief. They capture glimpses of an idea, feeling, or dream; fragments of her imagination. Jessica Cadkin’s sculpture, Cavity, depicts a large‑scale molar, reflecting a lifelong fascination with her teeth and her aversion to dentist visits. Her work explores the tension between attraction and repulsion, presenting the tooth as something both familiar and unsettling. Examining human subjectivity, Laura Malone’s paintings traverse a range of emotional landscapes. From jubilant bursts of vermilion in one piece to gentle splashes of gray in another, Malone invites viewers to gambol here, only to rest in stillness there. Christine Meuris’s pieces are examples of overshot weaving, in which a contrasting pattern thread is interwoven with the structural plain weave threads; and the process of inlay, in which areas of pattern are placed only where the weaver wants them. For Meuris, making them was an experiment in layering structures of form and pattern. Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment) Artists’ Reception: Saturday, April 11, 3 – 5 pm Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, April 3, May 1, 5 – 9 pm Image: Left to right, Laura Malone, Fire Season, Oil on Linen, 40″x40″, 2026; Christine Meuris, Balance, Woven Cotton, 2 panels at 48″x19″ each, 2024; Leigh Barbier, Under the Influence (WIP), Ceramics, 5″x5″x3″, 2026; all photos courtesy of the artists