I am pleased to announce that I will be exhibiting along with Laura Sanders at the 15th Spring/Break Art Show in New York City, September 23 - 28, 2026. The theme of the show is "Hide N' Seek". Our project is titled "Lost N' Found" and is curated by Ingrid Dinter of DFA Curatorial.

Click HERE to purchase tickets to the fair!

SPRING BREAK 2026

Theme: HIDE N SEEK

Location: 555 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019

(CBS Television Studios + Offices)

Booth A27

SHOW DATES

September 23 - 28, 2026

PLEASE NOTE: ARTISTS TALK next Sunday at 3pm

a conversation with Artists Daina Higgins and Laura Sanders

together with Curator Ingrid Dinter

on the topic of "What Did We Lose, What Did We Find"

Collector's First Look Preview

Wednesday, September 23rd 12:00 - 5:00PM

OPENING NIGHT

Wednesday, September 23rd 5:00 - 8:00PM

Public Show Days

Thursday, September 24th - Monday, September 28th 12:00 - 7:00PM

Independent Curator: Ingrid Dinter

Artists: Daina Higgins, Laura Sanders

Theme: LOST N FOUND

Curatorial Statement:

Hide n Seek or Lost n Found, both evoke actions of withdrawal and redemption. To hide something could be considered losing it, as well seeking implies eventually finding what had been lost or hidden.

Typically hide and seek is the name of a fun and lighthearted children’s game. A form of make believe, it involves choosing a person who then hides while the rest stand still and cover their eyes. When called upon they open their eyes and run around looking to find the spot where the person is hiding. Usually, great hilarity ensues and the next round starts.

Lost and found suggests a more serious set of circumstances: something of great value is misplaced, or displaced, or disappears, sometimes forever – and sometimes, to enormous relief, it is recovered, found.

Though two unique and highly skilled artists, each on their own individual path, the work of Daina Higgins and Laura Sanders reflects both of these themes.

In Daina Higgins work we see her reaching into her own personal past and history, including her experiences in the graffiti world. From her family’s flight as refugees and immigrants from Lithuania, leaving behind the old world for the new, to her own experiences growing up in Columbus Ohio, and finding herself in the graffiti world, trading the loss for the found.

“In The Blood Bowl” is the real name of a real place, a culvert that crosses under a highway, mostly empty but providing flood relief if called for. It was a perfect place for skateboarders to practice their runs and jumps, and for graffiti artists to leave their tags, and for best friends to hang out away from adult supervision. In this depiction we see a couple of teenage friends, with ghostly figures drifting and floating in the trees above. This evokes haunted memories of the transition from losing the innocence of childhood to gaining the knowingness of adulthood.

Higgins four smaller works are titled “Pensive Christ”, which are depicted in each of the four seasons. They are renderings from actual photographs taken while visiting Lithuania in recent years. (By chance her mother had taken similar photographs while on an earlier visit.)

It is typical, particularly in parts of rural Europe, to encounter these small shrines along roadways. They are lovingly maintained, and indicate there is a church or chapel close by. They offer spiritual protection, to those lost and hiding, guidance for those who seek, and comfort to those who find.

Laura Sanders works, though visually on a different wavelength, share similarities with Higgins.

The depictions, each showing a young woman in an outdoor setting, have a pervasive sense of urgency to them. “Cloud Formation” shows a woman reclining in what might have been a leisurely visit to a park, seeming to sit up in alertness to something happening in the surroundings. We, like her, don’t quite know what it might be.

Hovering just over her head is a floating silver pillow-size balloon – referencing Andy Warhols inflated clouds which he famously floated in his studio. Reflected on the balloons surface is a distorted image of something behind the viewer – we get to see something normally hidden.

The three smaller portraits of women, two with whistles, suggests that something more menacing than simply enjoying some time outdoors is taking place, or about to happen. Perhaps the fear of some threat lurking close by has them on edge, about to resort to a call for help. But their demeanor also suggests that they are ready to take care of themselves.

If you go out to the woods today don’t forget to pack your rescue howler. You never know what unexpected, unwanted, and unwelcome, situations may arise.

The loss of innocence. The hidden danger. Seeking safety. Finding security, especially within the self.

Both artists share a meticulous and unhurried painting technique. The depictions are realistic representations, finely rendered. The work is deeply considered and personal.

On the hunt for hidden gems, or stumbling upon mysterious circumstances, finding what one thought was lost, comes full circle.

DAINA HIGGINS

DAINA HIGGINS