Fresh Take
Beatrice Modisett, Julia Norton, Mónica Palma and Zuriel Waters 
On view at Turley Gallery, Hudson, NY
September 20 - November 2, 2025
Opening Reception: September 20th 3-5pm

Deanna Evans Projects is excited to present a group exhibition, Fresh Take, at Turley Gallery in Hudson, NY with Beatrice Modisett, Julia Norton, Mónica Palma and Zuriel Waters from September 20th to November 2nd. All four artists use materials in their practice that have been given a second life. Whether found in nature or city life, each work has at least one element that has been given a fresh purpose.

Beatrice Modisett’s drawings, photographs and assemblages explore the moments of overlap between human and non-human systems, her relationship to non-humancentric places, memory and (be)longing. Her imagery, process and materials contribute to the creation of meaning and all work to embody, rather than depict, terrain and all of its emotional and physical complexities. The frames in Modisett’s work are made from downed trees and branches she collects during the summer upstate. Using a chainsaw, axe and knife she processes these trees into portions of wood that she transforms into homes - nests - for the drawings. After this, she heavily chars the frames with a blowtorch. 

Julia Norton’s assemblage-style, three dimensional wall works are inspired by creation stories, landscape iconography, and human anatomy. Within each piece, paper-wrapped forms and assorted objects are carefully positioned and arranged. Round shapes may symbolize planets, suns, eggs, or cells. The circular, undulating, and tunnel-like shapes suggest landscapes of the earth as well as structural elements within our bodies, and represent the life-giving potential of both the exterior world and interior self.

Mónica Palma’s works are centered on actions and processes where materials hold an essential symbolic and structural role. Paper, metal, encaustic, tar, and obsidian share mutable characteristics to a body, more specifically, her own. Paper’s fragility, aluminum sheet’s pliability. Tar and encaustic as viscous materials that never dry living in a half point between solids and liquids, close to blood and saliva. These groups and combinations of materials connect Palma with her place of origin, Mexico; if the materials resist the connection, she forces them to leave an imprint, resulting in objects that look somehow molded.

Zuriel Waters’s work is created in an iterative process, which retains traces of time of year as well as the artist’s temporal psychological condition. Because they are so rooted in seasonality they can be thought of as a form of fashion design, trawling the artist's neighborhood for color information from daily walks. In this way, the work also participates in a constructivist reduction of the urban environment, a kind of futurist landscape painting.

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Beatrice Modisett creates two and three-dimensional works with primarily found and biodegradable materials. She lives and works in Ridgewood, Queens and is hand-building her version of utopia with her partner the percussionist Ellery Trafford on their piece of land in Upstate NY. While populating the property with wildflowers, conifer trees and semi-permanent eco-friendly shelters, they also operate a residency and welcome artists, writers, musicians and composers to the property annually. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions at the Queens Museum (Queens, NY), Maier Musuem of Art (Lynchburg, VA), Analog Diary (Beacon, NY), Assembly Room (New York, NY), HallSpace (Boston, MA) and others. She has participated in residencies around the world including Wave Hill Winter Workspace (Bronx, NY), SIM (Reykjavík, Iceland) and Palazzo Monti (Brescia, Italy). She was named by Artsy’s Alina Cohen as one of “11 Emerging Artists Redefining Abstract Painting”. Modisett earned a BFA in Painting from Montserrat College of Art and an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Julia Norton is a multimedia artist and educator with a primary focus on natural materials. She holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, an MFA from SUNY Purchase, and an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her work has been exhibited at Praise Shadows Art Gallery, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, and The Wassaic Project, and she has participated in residencies at The Wassaic Project, Mass MoCA, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and Pocoapoco in Oaxaca, Mexico. She currently works as an arts educator at Swiss Institute, Dia Art Foundation, and The Noguchi Museum, in addition to teaching independent workshops at a variety of community spaces, schools, and universities.

Mónica Palma was born in Mexico City and studied visual art at the Universidad Veracruzana in Xalapa, Veracruz.  She received her MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University.  She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.  Her work has been shown at TSA (NYC), Deanna Evans Projects (NYC), Ortega y Gasset Projects (NYC), the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City),  Soloway Gallery (NYC), Underdonk Gallery (NYC), and Essex Flowers (NYC), My Pet Ram (NYC), Tang Teaching Museum (NY), Klaus von Nichtssagend (NYC).  Mónica was the 2022 AIR spring resident at UTK in Tennessee. Currently, she is an adjunct lecturer at Lehman College and LaGuardia Community College, CUNY.

Zuriel Waters was born in 1984 in Philadelphia, PA, and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Received an MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2010 and a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from San Diego State University in 2007. Has shown work in group exhibitions throughout New York City at galleries such as Underdonk, CANADA, Tappeto Volante and others and has recently had a solo shows at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts and My Pet Ram.