The Yeiser Art Center’s annual Members Exhibition has once again brought together an inspiring collection of work from local artists across a variety of mediums. This show not only highlights the incredible talent within the YAC community but also provides vital support for the gallery through memberships, sponsorships, submissions, and sales. It’s always an honor to have my work included alongside such a diverse group of creatives.
This year, I exhibited a piece titled ‘Expiration Dates,’ continuing my exploration of beauty’s fleeting nature. Last year’s work, ‘As Within, So Without,’ touched on a different but related concept—how our external image mirrors our inner world. See the piece here.
In a world where preservation is an illusion, beauty and life share the same grim reality: both come with an expiration date. The melted red lipstick, slouching in the candlestick holder like an embalmed relic, reflects the desperate attempts to hold onto youth and vitality. Like a candle burning down to nothing, beauty inevitably melts and withers, no matter how we try to preserve it. The extinguished match, resting inside the lipstick tube, represents the brief flicker of youth—a flame we try desperately to reignite before it burns out, or worse, gets blown out by forces beyond our control. Red, the signature shade of cosmetics, the color of life’s pulse, blood, and desire, once a symbol of power and allure, now melts and drains away—a reminder that time spares nothing, not even what we define ourselves by.
As time strips away our carefully constructed images, we delay confronting the harsh truth: no matter how perfectly we present ourselves, time will always expose our inevitable expiration. Beauty, like life, is a performance—one that ends with the lights out.
In the face of inevitable decay, what is it we’re really trying to preserve?
Being part of this exhibition is always a meaningful experience, not just as a chance to display work, but to open up conversations about beauty, time, and identity. As a makeup artist, my work goes beyond application—it’s about storytelling, transformation, and sustainability, whether through enhancing the human canvas or refurbishing vintage compacts to give beauty a new life.
This year’s show features incredible works! Some of my favorites were “meurtrière” by Ginny Harris of Imagine Images Photo, “Haunted Past” by Jason Bailey, and “Mardi Gras” by Christy Ross, and many more making it a truly inspiring collection of diverse creative voices.
You can view all the lovely art on display from February 3rd, 2025 – March 16th, 2025.
Extra thanks to OutFit Inc. for attending and recognizing F.A.C.E. during this event.
