Hearth
Kai Boone, Carmen Casillas, Fatimah Farooqi, Beck Lech, and Maddalena Piazza

Opening Reception
Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
Join us afterwards for a Private Cocktail Hour at the Quincy Street Distillery

Artist Talk: Saturday, May 16, 2026, 3:00 pm

Exhibition Dates: April 19 – May 23, 2026
Gallery Hours: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 1:00 – 5:00 pm

The Riverside Arts Center’s FlexSpace is pleased to present Hearth: Kai Boone, Carmen Casillas, Fatimah Farooqi, Beck Lech, and Maddalena Piazza, guest curated by Madelyn Roldan. Please join us for a reception for the artists on Sunday, April 19th from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public with light refreshments served. Stay late for a private cocktail hour across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery. An artist talk will be held on Saturday, May 16th at 3pm. The exhibition will be on view Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 1 to 5pm through May 23, 2026.

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Hearth, brings together a group of contemporary artists whose works collectively explore the intimate spaces of home, memory, and belonging. Through painting, sculpture, collage, and textile-based practices, artists Beck Lech, Fatimah Farooqi, Carmen Casillas, Kai Boone, and Maddalena Piazza investigate the emotional and symbolic dimensions of domestic life. The exhibition centers on the idea of the “Hearth” not only as a physical site of warmth and shelter, but as a metaphor for connection, resilience, and personal history.

At the core of the exhibition is a deep attention to everyday moments; those often overlooked fragments of life that quietly shape identity. Beck Lech’s The sacred bond between a twenty-something year old girl and her cat captures an intimate, almost humorous closeness between human and animal, emphasizing comfort, companionship, and the quiet emotional bonds formed within domestic spaces. Three’s a Company also captures the closeness yet intimate spaces we hold for each other. In contrast, Lech’s DCIM004 fragments memory into layered images of interiors, windows, and personal artifacts, suggesting how the home is constructed not just physically, but through accumulated experiences and recollections.

Carmen Casillas sculptural works, including El Nopal de Michoacán and A Little Piece of Mexico, extend this dialogue into cultural memory and heritage. Her vibrant, intricately detailed forms present the home as a living archive. An archive that holds traditions, celebrations, and generational knowledge. The cactus, growing in multiple directions, becomes a symbol of resilience and possibility, while embedded scenes of community life reflect the richness of cultural identity. Casillas’ work reminds us that the hearth is not static, but continually shaped by movement, growth, and lived experience.

Fatimah Farooqi’s series of painted vases further explores interiority by translating rooms into delicate, intimate forms. Her pieces such as Our Mornings, Living Room, Parents’ Room, and Bedroom capture fleeting moments of light, color, and stillness. Her use of soft, almost translucent surfaces evokes the fragility of memory, while the recurring presence of windows suggests a quiet dialogue between interior and exterior worlds. These compositions emphasize the home as a site of reflection, rest, and emotional grounding.

Kai Boone’s Elizabeth and Dorothy introduces a sense of companionship and shared presence. Through warm tones and gentle gestures, Boone captures a moment of togetherness that reinforces the exhibition’s emphasis on human connection. This sense of relational warmth is echoed in Maddalena Piazza’s Wall of Evil Eyes, where protective symbols form a vibrant, abstract field. Drawing on spiritual traditions, Piazza’s work highlights the need for protection and care within both personal and collective spaces.

Across Hearth, recurring motifs; windows, plants, domestic objects, and circular forms create a visual language of comfort and continuity. These elements reflect how the home functions as both a physical refuge and an emotional anchor. Simultaneously, the exhibition acknowledges the complexities of contemporary life, suggesting that the act of creating and sustaining a “Hearth” requires resilience, intention, and care.

Ultimately, Hearth is an invitation to reflect on the spaces we inhabit and the memories we carry. It affirms the importance of familiarity, culture, and connection, reminding us that even in an uncertain world, the concept of home remains a vital source of warmth, identity, and renewal.

– Madelyn Roldan, Guest Curator

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Kai Boone is also known as Knowledge Art Studios, a creative space built on the belief that art is both expression and awareness. Rooted in intention and individuality, the studio explores visual storytelling through original works that blend emotion, symbolism, and lived experience. Driven by a commitment to growth and authenticity, Knowledge Art Studios is not just about creating art, but about building a body of work that evolves alongside the artist.
Website: www.knowledgeartstudios.us
Instagram: @Knowledgeart_studios

Carmen Casillas is an emerging artist currently studying at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is inspired by her Mexican heritage and the influence of family. She explores memories and everyday experiences through a whimsical lens. Carmen enjoys working with acrylic paint and ceramic sculptures, and she is open to commissions. She aspires to one day open her own studio and gallery space that uplifts community and creative voices.
Website: www.carmencasillas.com
Instagram: @catmansart

Fatimah Farooqi is a Pakistani American artist and graduating senior at Elmhurst University, getting her BFA in studio arts. She was born, raised and currently lives in the Chicago suburbs. Farooqi has taught art workshops at local mosques to increase Muslim women’s interest in the arts. She has amassed a following on social media (Instagram) sharing the process and thoughts behind her work and has been featured on the cover of the MiddleWestern Voice magazine (2024).
Instagram: @fatimahfarooqi.art

Beck Lech is a multidisciplinary artist and educator working in painting, drawing, and collage. Born in Wheaton, Illinois, and currently completing her BFAAE at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, her practice is situated within the suburban and urban Midwest that has shaped her lived experience. Her work is guided by a hyper‐awareness of self and surroundings that become both the catalyst and content.
Instagram: @becklech__art

Maddalena Piazza is a Chicago-based multimedia artist working in painting, photography, and fibers with a focus on embroidery and fashion. Growing up in the diaspora as a SWANA (South West Asian and North African) and Sicilian queer woman, her work aims to show the unique and plentiful experiences of her communities. Currently working towards a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, her work has been featured in exhibitions nationally.
Instagram: @inmygutfeelings

Madelyn Roldan is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist currently pursuing her BFA at the School of the Art Institute, Chicago with a concentration in both painting and fiber arts. Her works delve into identity, culture, queerness, ailments, memory and dream sequences. Her body of work focuses on a sense of surrealism to abstraction. A push and pull relationship between the art movements. She has served as the Gallery Assistant for the Riverside Arts Center since 2021. This is the second exhibition she has curated.
Instagram: @madelynril

Riverside Arts Center
32 East Quincy Street
Riverside, IL 60546

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Tags: Beck Lech, Carmen Casillas, Fatimah Farooqi, Kai Boone, Maddalena Piazza, Riverside, Riverside Arts Center