Dialogues in Layers

Harriet Lesser & Sue Bikoff

Curated by Adah Rose Bitterbaum

January 18th - February 21st, 2026

This exhibition presents the collaborative woodcarvings by Sue Bikoff and Harriet Lesser, merging traditions of printmaking and painting in richly layered reliefs. Imagery develops from photographs and preparatory drawings of tropical vegetation.

The wood, carved by Bikoff, who focuses on fine detail and texture. Lesser continues with layers of acrylic glazes, alcohol inks, and colored pencils. Mixed media photo transfers are frequently integrated into the relief.

Their process is free-associative and improvisational, each stage of carving and painting informing the next. The resulting works blur the boundaries between sculpture and painting, realism and abstraction, handcraft and conceptual art. The artists’ distinct styles—Bikoff’s structural intricacy and Lesser’s painterly depth—intertwine in works that evoke imagined ecologies and tactile atmospheres. Rooted in collaboration, their practice reflects the interdependence found in natural systems, artistic traditions, and human relationships. The journey itself becomes the medium, transforming process into a dynamic visual language.