Artist Talks with Benny Eichert, Carmen Lizardo, Daniel Lopez Venture, and Sikena Khadija

Benny Eichert is a Queer Hudson Valley-based artist who first started taking self-portraits as a therapeutic outlet. Eichert made their photographic debut at the Lace Mill in January 2020 and has continued to participate in exhibitions since. In an interview with the Chronogram, Eichert says, “Our world tells us to feel ashamed. We need to share the stuff that makes us feel like we’re alone because we’re really not alone”.

Carmen Lizardo is a photographer and multi-media artist who was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to New York City in her early 20s. Lizardo approaches her work by creating thematic photo series. She manipulates her appearance across various images like struggling with her hair or stuffing her mouth with unidentifiable objects to intentionally disturb the work’s function as a portrait. The aim is to disrupt how others see her and draw conclusions about her identity.

Daniel Lopez Venture is a mixed-media artist. His artistry addresses the human perception of reality. Through art appropriation and painting, images have been organized in a new space that describes a world beyond the realm of comfortable realities or conventional appropriateness. The layering of images has become the visual vocabulary and emotional language. The artist’s work highlights an obsession with the unexpected and passionate wonders that lie deep within.

Sikena Khadija is a gifted self-taught photographer well-known among artists in the Hudson Valley. After years of sharing her images only among friends and relatives, she began participating in public exhibitions in 2016. The significance of place and time is fundamental to Khadija’s photo images. Some of her photographs are composite created to fit together that tell a larger story. Her night images create a sense of mystery and allude to surreal tranquility. She is inspired by nature, the Hudson River, and the landscape surrounding her.