2024 Detroit Artist Spotlight
2024 Detroit Artist Spotlight
As an interior design firm deeply connected to Detroit’s creative pulse, we are committed to supporting the city’s thriving art scene. Detroit is home to an array of talented artists who draw from the city’s rich cultural history, as well as their own personal narratives, to create powerful works of art. We believe that integrating local artistry into our designs adds a unique and authentic layer to the spaces we craft. By collaborating with a wide range of Detroit-based artists—working in mediums from fiber arts to sculpture to abstract painting—we aim to celebrate the community’s creative spirit while bringing fresh, meaningful perspectives into each of our projects. We aim to partner with local galleries such as Library Street Collective, Playground Detroit, and I.M. Weiss Gallery to curate Detroit artists for the spaces we design.
Tyrell Winston is recognized for creating artwork through the process of gathering, sorting, and transforming discarded objects. His practice involves reconfiguring found objects, a process he views as both a public service and a deeper exploration of the significance these objects carry. Winston’s work draws attention to the absurdity found in the symbolic contrast between disparate items, using this juxtaposition to explore themes like hope and hopelessness, resurrection and decay, and vitality alongside recklessness. Best known for his sculptural wall pieces made from found basketballs, Winston’s work probes the idea of embedded history—how an object’s past can evolve into something abstract. These basketballs, all found on city streets, are reimagined into intricate sculptural forms, often woven into predetermined patterns. In an era where human connections feel increasingly immaterial, Winston’s sculptures serve as a poignant reminder that the physical remnants of our existence persist even after we’ve moved on. Winston’s work was featured in Rock Ventures in an executive suite.
Martyna Alexander is a Detroit-based artist who transitioned from a decade-long career as a corporate designer to pursuing art after experiencing burnout and rejecting the rigid structure of her former profession. Drawing on her design background, she now creates non-practical works that often explore the tension between strict, systematic elements and expressive, organic forms. This contrast mirrors her personal and artistic interests, as well as the complexities of modern life. Alexander’s work engages with the duality of contemporary culture, reflecting both a fascination with technology and a yearning for more traditional, anti-tech approaches. These contradictions, emblematic of her generation, are expressed in her art as a way of examining how we navigate labor, time, and survival in today’s world. Alexander’s exploration of the modern world through art resonates with a generation trying to balance the allure of tech innovations with the desire to maintain a grounded, healthier connection to more traditional practices. Alexander’s work was featured in the private offices of Roland Berger.
Jason REVOK, a renowned Detroit-based artist who began his career in graffiti, is celebrated for pushing creative boundaries both in the streets and in the studio. While graffiti was his entry point into the art world, over the past decade, he has shifted his focus to a more refined studio practice, concentrating on the evolution of process and conceptual exploration. Although his graffiti roots continue to influence certain aspects of his work—such as his use of industrial materials, tools, and the repetition of his name—his current focus is on minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. REVOK is particularly interested in examining the question of authorship in his work, often using custom-made tools that are systematic yet embrace imperfection. This balance between industrial precision and the tactile imperfections of manual labor has led to the creation of a distinct and unmistakable body of work. Beyond his origins in street art, REVOK has become a prominent figure in contemporary abstraction, with his works featured in exhibitions at major galleries and institutions. His art was featured in our Rock Ventures project through Library Street Collective.
Carole Harris is a celebrated fiber artist known for redefining and expanding the traditional boundaries of quilting. Through improvisation, she blends diverse patterns, textures, shapes, and materials to create dynamic, rhythmic compositions. Her work is deeply inspired by the energy, movement, and color of ethnographic textiles, as well as the evolving rhythms of her home city, Detroit. Introduced to needle arts at an early age, Harris mastered embroidery and crocheting, honing her skills through sewing classes in elementary school. Her quilts often reflect architectural and geometric themes, influenced by her extensive career as an interior designer, which spanned over 45 years. Harris’ travels to Europe, China, Japan, and the Caribbean have also enriched her artistic perspective, leading her to explore how time impacts and transforms both natural and human-made environments. Her pieces celebrate the beauty in aged and decaying surfaces, telling stories of history through creative stitching, layering, and the use of colorful, textured fabrics. By incorporating nicks, scratches, and other marks left by nature and humans, her works narrate the stories of time, place, and people. Harris’ work is featured in one of the meeting rooms at our studio, sourced through Library Street Collective. View the full project here.
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