Arguably one of the purposes of creating art is to push the viewer out of their comfort zone and encourage them to take on a new, previously unknown perspective.
ArtServe’s “Ready-Made: Celebrating Business, Art and Community” has done just that by subverting our views of artistic expression. The exhibit, which opened on Friday, July 19 and runs through Friday, Sept. 6, is dedicated to artists who create non-traditional works. It’s a chance for them to be celebrated for their creations while encouraging viewers to reconsider what qualifies something as art.
“I think we all want to be appreciated,” says Sue Thomas, one of the 14 artists selected to be part of the exhibition. “Being an artist is very solitary. So, to be able to meet other artists who do stuff like you do and to have people appreciate the work you put into your art is incredible,” she says. Thomas’ discipline is mixed media but specifically upholstery, “You could look at one of my chairs and think that might have taken two hours (to create), but actually one of them took just about a year.”
Before moving to Fort Lauderdale from rural upstate New York ten years ago, Thomas’ focus was on quilt making. But when she couldn’t find any fellow quilters locally, she discovered mixed media art classes where she found a passion for repurposing and giving new life to damaged chairs.
“I painted for a while . . . but then I started seeing these art chairs online and they were just the most bizarre but wonderful things. So, I took an online class called the ‘Artful Chair,’ and I made my first chair,” she says.
Three of Thomas’ creations are included in “Ready-Made,” which were all created using old, discarded chairs that she refurbished and reupholstered with new intricate designs.
Alongside Thomas’ “Jester Chair” and “Queen’s Chair” are Lauderdale-by-the-Sea artist Chelsea Rousso’s “glasskinis”, bikinis made from blown glass. Rousso got her start as a fashion designer in New York and says she never imagined that she would be in South Florida creating blown glass art.
“A few years ago, I went back to grad school so that I could teach fashion at a college level. I already had a long career in fashion, so the idea of going back to school to get a master’s in more fashion made no sense to me,” she says, adding that she took a different route and “decided to do an interdisciplinary program,” where she ended up getting a Master of Fine Arts in interdisciplinary art from Goddard College. It was in that program that Rousso says she was encouraged to explore different art practices. “I chose glass blowing.”
What started as a hobby quickly transitioned into a new creative endeavor for the artist. “It was something I could do just to feed my own creativity,” she says.
By the end of her master’s program studies, she began to ponder how glass and her fashion background might fit together.
“For most of my career, my main muse was a mannequin so then it became a question of, ‘How can I make wearable glass?’” she says. This experimentation ultimately led to her glasskinis – a term Rousso coined to describe her creations. She combined her newfound knowledge of glass blowing with her years of experience in clothing design.
The designs are created using a style of glass blowing called fused glass, which refers to any piece of glass formed after heating two or more pieces of glass together in a kiln.
After that process is complete, Rousso cuts the pieces into the desired patterns just like someone would cut fabric. Lastly, they are placed over the top of a mold to create the finished glasskini.
Currently on display are two glasskini designs including “Everyone Needs a Job (Shopping Bag Lady)” which features a mannequin sporting a lime green glasskini and matching green Publix bag as well as “The Queen of Hearts” whose mannequin is wearing a leopard glasskini with red trim paired with a red silk skirt and matching crown fit for a queen.
The glasskinis aren’t the only glass-themed pieces that Rousso creates. Another is titled “Everyone Needs a Job (Lamp Lady)” – the mannequin is literally a standing lamp wearing a checkered black and white dress with glass accents.
Rousso and Thomas aren’t the only featured artists taking part in “Ready-Made” who are using their talents to challenge and reimagine certain traditional art mediums.
Photographer Alyssa Lapidus found her artistic calling early in childhood during what she refers to as “photo adventures” with her father, who she says taught her a lot about cameras and photography, while growing up in New York. “.. We had a dark room in my house. So, my dad and I would take his motorcycle out early on Sunday mornings to go on photo adventures. . .”
Lapidus, who lives in West Palm Beach, has continued the tradition by photographing her adventures of tropical life in Florida, along with scenic photography from hiking trips in New York’s Hudson Valley and excursions to Europe.
But it’s what she adds to her pieces that make them stand out among other traditional photography. “I’ve just kind of always been a hoarder and a collector, and I love photography on its own but then those two worlds kind of just came together,” she says.
Whether it’s at the beach or in the woods, Lapidus is always on the lookout for natural elements that she can collect to combine with her photographs.
Among the pieces on display at ArtServe, the photographs incorporate finds like driftwood, netting, sea grape leaves, monstera leaves, and other materials found in nature.
“I try to repurpose and use things that people don’t necessarily want to use, or usually just throw out and make something pretty out of those simple things,” says Lapidus.
She uses leaves, netting, and branches in place of traditional picture frames and matting that transports the viewer directly to the scene where the photographs were taken. “I love creating these pieces because when I’m out in nature I can see a masterpiece from this little broken piece of wood but not everyone sees that,” she says.
The “Ready-Made” exhibit was curated by ArtServe’s gallery manager Finn Casson. It opens in conjunction with a year-long national initiative “Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026,” which focuses on craft-centric and handmade works.
“(‘Ready-Made’) really speaks to artists who don’t fit into the traditional categories or who can be labeled as a painter or a sculptor,” says Rousso. “The type of art that I and these other artists do have been in areas where they weren’t always acknowledged as fine art. Until now, that is.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: ““Ready-Made: Celebrating Business, Art and Community.”
WHERE: ArtServe, 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday through Friday, Sept. 6.
TICKETS: Free
INFORMATION: Call 954-462-8190 or http://www.artserve.org
