Square/Cubic Art Exhibition

AiPP - Square/Cubic Art Exhibition

The Starkville Area Arts Council is excited to announce our next AiPP Group Exhibit of 2025, Square/Cubic Art.

This exhibit was set to be on display in-person and online from September 9 - November 4, 2025, in the Starkville Area Arts Council's gallery in downtown Starkville (109 W Main Street). However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the in-person portion of this exhibit has been closed.

Please keep supporting our artists by viewing the online exhibit below.

Join us for an opening reception on Tuesday, Sept 16, from 5:30-7 pm at SAAC. (109 W Main St).

Works may be for sale. If you are interested in purchasing any of these works, please continue reading below.

About the Exhibit

This exhibition explores the beauty and creative potential of squares, cubes, and other geometric forms across a variety of styles and media. Featuring 29 pieces by 15 artists from the Golden Triangle Area and beyond.

Works on display until November 4, 2025.

Hover or click on images below to view title, medium, and pricing. Click image to view fullscreen.
Please CALL OR EMAIL SAAC (info at bottom of this page) if interested in purchasing available works.

Marika Dunn

In my current series of oil paintings, I focus on themes and narratives related to my experience and observations as a modern American in a time of great transition in our culture and global environment. I am interested in exploring the influx of advanced technology and its effect on the individual and society, through my own personal experiences. The isolation we all face on a daily basis has surfaced as a theme in my artwork, as well as the feeling of disassociation or disconnection experienced when smart technology drags us away from more warm and social environments. I have been experimenting with contrasts in light, tone and layering with oil paint to better signify this emotional dialogue in my paintings. Similarly, I have begun to explore my personal experiences as a graduate student attempting to create art in a over-stimulating world filled with anxiety and noise. Shifting societal norms, American consumerism, our increasing attachment to modern technology, and the legacy of our cultural identity are all topics which speak to most everyone living in the United States today. I explore my own perspective and questions on these themes to better understand this ever-changing world and our collective place in it.

https://marikadunne.myportfolio.com/

Blank Spaces
Oil
20" x 20"
NFS

This painting portrays the artist’s initial moment of creative inspiration. The perfection of a blank canvas expresses ultimate potential. The simplicity of the white square is juxtaposed against the sheer enormity of endless input and imagination. That artistic freedom can be at times overwhelming as the mind switches through endless interpretations of what could be, until the moment the brush marks the canvas.

Leslie Brown

Leslie Brown is now 70 years old, and has been creating since she was a kid, when she would ride her bike to the summer water color classes at the park. She graduated with a photojournalism degree at the University of Texas, but years of life passed with few outlets for her visual creativity. She reconnected with her creative muses in the early 2000s, and has been happily creating ever since. Leslie has worked in photography, painting and mosaics. She hope her works will inspire you to pursue your own creativity, and find delight in the joy of the process.

The Illusion of Light
Photography
14" x 16" (framed)
$400

"Real lines, reflected lines, all intersecting in the illusion."

Abstract-1
Photography
14" x 16" (framed)
$250

"This piece is a study in weight and lightness. Parallel lines and rounded edges. Diffusion and precision."

Maine Angles
Photography
14" x 16" (framed)
$250

"The details are there when we pay attention."

Walter Diehl

Walter J. Diehl is an avid world traveler and amateur photographer. He hopes that his photographs both provide viewers a glimpse into those places that he has been privileged to visit and inspire them to travel and experience the cultures and beauty of new places. Diehl does not try to be the typical travel photographer, and he probably breaks most of the ‘rules’ of travel photography. Rather, he is a traveler first who tries to take the most inspiring photographs that he can under the conditions that exist at the time. His travel habits rarely allow him to sit in one place very long or take advantage of the best light for chosen scenes or subjects. Depending on the trip, he may focus on photographing nature, architecture, culture, and occasionally people. In his world, scenes and lighting are rarely perfect, and so he is constantly challenged to make the most of this reality. Diehl enjoys the reactions of people viewing his photographs. In an admittedly selfish sense, their reactions allow him to enjoy his travels all over again. But only for a while, because now he is already thinking about how to photograph his next trip(s).

Norna's Court
Photography
27" x 21"
$125

"On a cruise to the Shetland Islands, I captured this image of a covered alley paved with color-ful stones leading to a mysterious stairway in the distance. Where was the Lady in Red go-ing? Home? Shopping? Or was she just visiting a friend? (Canon EOS 5Dm3, 26 mm, 1/160 sec, f/13, ISO1000)"

Trajan's Weed
Photography
27" x 21"
$125

"While wandering down the Via dei Fori Imperiali across from the Roman Forum, I was drawn to some weeds growing out of a gap between the ornate blue tiles and gray cobblestones lining Emperor Trajan’s Forum. (Canon EOS 5Dm3, 105 mm, 1/125 sec, f/22, ISO 400)."

Dance of the Auroras
Photography
21" x 27"
$125

"Over 2 nights in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, I shot several sequences of the spectacular and dynamic Aurora Borealis. Each of the sequences in this composite image lasted no more than 1 minute, showing how Auroras constantly dance and shimmer across the frigid night sky. (Canon EOS R5m2, 15 mm, 5 sec, f/2.8, ISO 5000)."

Brooke Pettit

Brooke Pettit is a local artist who enjoys creating bright colored art inspired by nature. She paints as a hobby using different techniques and mixed media but often using acrylic paint on canvas. She is a graduate of Mississippi State University and works as a physical therapist. She finds great joy and relaxation in the art of painting.

Fun With Shapes
Acrylic
16" x 20"
$100

"Using only a spackling tool, shapes of different colors were created to be precise. However, not to precise in the name of creativity and imagination."

Four Sided Florals
Acrylic
24" x 36"
$300

"Every inch of this painting features a square. Using only a spackling tool, the background and flowers were created to be square and precise, but still loose."

Brad James

Brad O'Neil James Jr is a traditional mixed media artist who does graphic illustrations and non-representational paintings. Most of James' artwork starts with a layer of watercolor to establish a color palette and general composition, and from there he builds up the surface with several layers of other traditional materials such as acrylic ink, acrylic paint, charcoal, colored pencil, ink pen, gouache, and more watercolor. James' main form of inspiration for his illustration work comes from his love of animation, books, comics, graphic novels, and manga. With his recent exploration of abstract work, James tends to find inspiration for such pieces from day-to-day life instances.

https://www.instagram.com/bojj_art/

Blocked Out
Mixed Media
9" x 12"
$300

"Blocked Out" is made up of mostly freehanded squares and cubic shapes.

Square's Space
Acrylic
11" x 14"
$200

"Square's Space" uses a series of warm squares and structures to give the painting multiple points of spatial depth."

William Weathers

William Donovan Weathers II is a mixed-media painter creating surreal landscapes. Traditionally merging digital and physical spaces, his work explores our various methods of archiving information to reignite distant memories, feelings, and sensations. Each painting is a physical expression of the ephemeral human experiences we preserve over time. Existing as a window into the transient gap between any two moments, an action and reaction, the time between the seen and the forgotten.

https://wdw-arts.com/

Waste :: Sanctuary
Mixed Media
15" x 21.5"
$600

Obsession in Waves
Mixed Media
9.5" x 9.5"
$450

"With Obsession in Waves, I wanted to create a piece looking back on the peculiarities of the older domestic spaces I used to shift between as a child. They each had staples of geometric decoration such as the gem-like faucet knobs and blocks that shifted between presentation and obfuscation on a whim. This piece joins these intricate interior furnishings into a bathroom to complicate the relationship of glass as a tool for privacy."

M. Hakima

http://www.facebook.com/WiseAngelGallery

Rooms
Oil
24" x 24"
$500

"'Rooms" is a two-dimensional exploration of linear boxes and cubby holes. "Rooms" explores cells, confinement, and relationships limiting existence with the delusion of freedom."

Lesia Ervin

Lesia Ervin has worked as an auditor for 25 years, including 20 years as an internal auditor at Mississippi State University. In 2023, she began taking art classes and discovered a strong interest in 3D art, particularly ceramics. She enjoys making functional pottery—pieces that are both useful and visually appealing.

Working with clay provides a creative outlet that contrasts with her structured professional life. She is drawn to the hands-on process and the balance between form and function, finding in ceramics a way to explore creativity with purpose and intention.

Square Teapots
Ceramic
6.5" x 10" x 6"
$250

"This pair of salt-fired teapots explores the square/cubic theme through form, texture, and construction. One teapot is sliced and reassembled with each section slightly offset, creating movement within a cubic shape. The second remains whole, with a clean rectangular body and a cube-shaped lid handle. Together, they show two approaches to working with cubic forms—one dynamic, one minimal—while staying connected through their shared texture and shape."

Lidded Boxes
Ceramic
6" x 9" x 5"
$250

"This pair of lidded boxes explores the square/cubic theme through sliced, block-like forms. Both are cut and reassembled with slight offsets, creating movement within a geometric structure. The salt-fired box, glazed in yellow shino, has looped feet and a curved handle. The gas-fired blue box features a rectangular handle and feet. Though differing in finish and detail, both pieces reflect the same approach to form—altering and rebuilding the cube."

Gary Ervin

Gary Ervin is a wetland ecologist and professor at Mississippi State University. He has been studying ceramics since early 2023, often combining natural materials, shapes, and textures into his ceramic works. The synergy of clay and plant materials in his art mirrors his professional experience as a plant ecologist studying wetland ecosystems, where key ecological processes are driven by clay-dominated soils and the presence or absence of water. He recently wrote, illustrated, and published an upper-level university textbook on the biology of aquatic and wetland plants that has seen use throughout the Americas. In addition to ceramics, Gary and his wife, Lesia, enjoy hiking and traveling, having spent time in Mexico, multiple countries in Europe and South America.

http://garyervin.com

Green Tatami Box
Ceramic
4" x 7" x 3"
$150

"This ceramic, tatami-textured box was hand-built from an extruded hollow square tube, with coil lugs added as handles and feet. Small, thin slabs were used to add square-design relief to the front and back. It was gas fired to cone 10 (reduction) with an amber celadon glaze."

Gray Tatami Box
Ceramic
5" x 4" x 4"
$150

"This ceramic, tatami-textured box was hand-built from an extruded hollow square tube, with coil lugs added as handles and feet. Small, thin clay slabs were textured with tatami mat material for the lid and front/back decoration. It was gas-fired to cone 10 (reduction) with a simulated ash glaze."

Paisley Hamilton

Paisley’s creative vision is a celebration of color, texture, culture, and natural elements aligned to unbridle emotion and illuminate the spirit moving through all things, with the intention of pollinating a deeper connection and understanding within ourselves and each other.

http://www.serendipityhippie.com/

Your Chakra System
Hand-dyed Textile
24" x 24"
$175

"This piece honors the natural rainbow that lives within us all. It represents the beauty and depth that can exist through dedication, balance, and belief."

Jane Dill

Jane is a multimedia artist who dabbled in pottery for ten years. She is currently working on her PhD in French literature at the University of Alabama. She has a Fine Arts degree from MUW, and degrees in French from MSU. She travels to Paris often.

http://substack.com/@seriousjane

Pottery Squares
Ceramic
11" x 11"
$50

"This is an exploration of square forms, layered and multi colored, meant to be a decorative work with dynamic elements."

T.K. Lee

With the assertion that all art is an act of confession, Lee subscribes to the philosophy that art, then, is redemptive in nature and as such, in conversation with all other forms of artistry as a collective measure of accountability.

Writers Block
Mixed Media
26" x 36"
NFS

"On the surface, this is a literal, if abstracted, interpretation of the theme of “squares,” but it’s also a bit of clever, ironic “wordplay” as the artist is a writer. With this painting, he offers tongue-in-cheek hope by reimagining what it means to have “writer’s block.'"

Anatomy of a Deadline
Mixed Media
36" x 36"
$300

"This piece derives from actual procrastination. The more the deadline approaches, the more detailed this piece became. It started with general freehanding square and rectangular shapes, etc. and gradually became more complicated the closer the deadline."

Square Rooted
Mixed Media
16" x 24"
$75

"This smaller piece, entitled “Square Rooted,” continues in the same playful vein as the artist’s other pieces which seek to highlight simple intersections that enjoy blending ironic interpretation with visual representation of common wordplay."

Britney McDonald

Britney McDonald is an artist from Mississippi with a passion for upcycling, ceramics, painting, and more. With over ten years of professional art training and three years of experience of art show vending, she continues to follow her passion while pushing the boundaries of traditional Mississippian arts. Her efforts within the local art community don't go unnoticed, providing vending advice to those with the ear to listen.

www.instagram.com/sixth__dimension/

ModriFace
Mixed Media
4.5" x 4.5"
$111

"ModriFace" is a playful yet introspective remix of Piet Mondrian’s iconic grid-based abstraction. Embedding a three-dimensional face into the rigid structure of De Stijl, the piece explores the tension between order and identity & logic. The human form disrupts the harmony of the primary-colored planes, suggesting that beneath every structure. No matter how balanced or minimal it is, there is a hidden expression waiting to emerge."

Self, Mended
Mixed Media
12" x 12"
NFS

"Self, Mended” is a mixed-media self-portrait using collage, paint, and embroidery to explore identity through the lens of structure and fragmentation. Square and block-like elements represent compartments of memory and self, slowly fading or breaking away. Cut canvas is stitched back together, symbolizing healing and resilience. The geometric forms evoke order, while the thread introduces vulnerability and care."

Pete Melby

I am drawn to share the maritime culture and natural landscape of the Mississippi Gulf Coast through my artwork and writing.

Catboats on Biloxi Bay off Deer Island
Watercolor
21" x 28"
$900

"This natural maritime scene punctuated with triangular shaped sailboats native to coastal Mississippi, illustrates how the human eye is first drawn to the angular form of the catboats and then to the natural forms of Longleaf pine trees and marsh edges. Mankind's geometric forms can dominate nature in a pleasing way."

Anne Louise Phillips

Anne Louise Phillips is a writer and photographer from the Deep South, and is currently a student at Mississippi State University. In her work, she explores the strange, the individual, and the unexpected. When she isn't writing or taking photos, she can be found perusing record stores and hanging out with her pet snail, Sheldon. Her poetry collection, Freak of Nature, was published in 2024.

https://www.instagram.com/caught.daydreaming.photos/

Urban Sentinel
Photography
8" x 10"
$25

"A lone observer enters the scene, natural shape juxtaposed with man-made angles."

About AiPP

As part of SAAC's AiPP series, works may be listed for sale, including framed and unframed pieces. SAAC collects and pays sales taxes on behalf of the artist for any work sold, and the artist keeps 80% of the proceeds.

Please CALL or EMAIL SAAC if you are interested in purchasing any of these works.