Current Featured Artists

Constellations: A Collective Installation by IFA Artists

Spotlight Artist: Jim Cain, Guest Artists: Sylvia Vander Sluis and Jonathan Garcia

On view October 9 – November 15 | Reception Saturday, October 11, 5–8 PM | Music by Erin & Paul Dube

Installation view

See Imago exhibiting artists' work in a new light. “Constellations,” offers a rare opportunity to experience the richness and variety of work produced by IFA artists presented as if in dialog on a single wall.

“Each artist’s piece is a distinct presence within our creative universe, yet together they form a constellation — a shared vision greater than the sum of its parts.”
— Exhibition Facilitator Mary Dondero

The exhibition includes a focus on IFA Spotlight Artist Jim Cain, two guest artists—Sylvia Vander Sluis who transforms materials into immersive experiences and painter Jonathan Garcia, who creates evocative scenes infused with light and atmosphere, and other artworks by IFA exhibiting artists on display throughout the gallery.

Jim Cain
IFA Spotlight Artist

Jim Cain, Inclined to Yellow, acrylic on panel, 24"x48", 2025

Biography

Cain has exhibited throughout New England and Pennsylvania, which includes the Berkshire Art Museum, Pittsfield, MA; the Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA; and the Hood Art Museum, Hanover, NH; as well as the Cataurano Gallery, Bentley College, Waltham, MA; Harbor Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA; the Boston Architectural Center, Boston, MA; Mobius Gallery, Boston, MA, the Mills Gallery, Boston, MA and the Third Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.He received an award from the Berkshire Artist Foundation for achievement in the visual arts, was selected as a finalist for the Fine Arts World Center in Provincetown, MA and nominated for a Tiffany Fellowship. He received a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Boston University, Boston, MA and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Artist Statement

IFA Exhibiting Artist Jim Cain’s paintings create a visual dialogue, one that works with color-to-color relationships, compositional harmony, balance, depth, and the geometric austerity of squares, rectangles and lines, to reveal an animated, illuminated awareness of interrelated connections.

He writes, “We are connected in so many ways with lines, squares and rectangles. In today’s geographic and socio-economic spaces, geometric patterns and shapes are prevalent in technology, urban planning, architecture, infrastructure and agriculture. By creating a visual dialogue, my paintings seek to reveal an animated, illuminated awareness of our sometimes unrecognized yet interrelated connections.”

Jim Cain, Suspend, acrylic on panel, 53 X 43", 2024

Guest Artist
Sylvia Vander Sluis

Artist Statement

"Serious Make Believe" creates a dynamic space where imagination and gravity collide. The sculptures draw from the visual language of play—a towering arch, theatrical head, and monster-like figure—yet spring from lived experience. The work treats play as a way to hold both joy and grief at the same time. This imagined world made from common domestic and commercial materials becomes a stage for transformation.

The source of my recent work was a long caregiving journey, during which my studio became a place to process grief while holding onto playfulness. This exhibit reflects my passage from that chapter into one of redefinition. Though rooted in the personal, the installation speaks to the universal poignancy of human life, where beauty and decay live side by side.

Biography

Sylvia Vander Sluis graduated with an MFA from Western Michigan University and BFA cum laude from Syracuse University. In 2025, her work was featured on GBH’s Community Canvas, a public digital mural in Boston.

She has been a Core Member of Fountain Street Gallery in Boston, an associate member of Boston Sculptors Gallery, and an artist resident at Vermont Studio Center. Vander Sluis has exhibited in Hudson Valley MOCA, Equity Gallery in NYC, and many New England galleries and museums. She works from her studio in Rochdale, Massachusetts.

Syliva Vander Sluis, Herald of the Dawn, 22 x 21 x 2"

Syliva Vander Sluis, Installation view

Jonathan Garcia, Wings Neck Trick or Treaters

Guest Artist
Jonathan Garcia

Artist Statement

My work is rooted in the landscapes of the New England coastline, where I strive to capture the atmosphere, light, and character of familiar and historic landmarks. Painting in oils, I blend realism with a touch of impressionism—creating works that appear lifelike from a distance yet reveal expressive brushwork and mark-making up close.

Through this approach, I aim to share not just the appearance of the coast, but its charm and enduring spirit as I experience it. My hope is that each painting invites viewers into the scene, sparking connections to their own memories and experiences of similar places in life.

Jonathan Garcia-Nobska Trick or Treaters.jpeg

Biography

Jonathan Garcia (b. 1996) is an oil painter based on the southcoast of Massachusetts. He began painting in 2018 and has since focused on depicting the New England coastline, drawing inspiration from its working harbors, historic landmarks, and shifting light.

He paints both in the studio and plein air. Garcia’s paintings balance realism and impressionism, reflecting both careful observation and expressive mark-making. His work has developed around a deep appreciation for place, memory, and the unique character of the New England landscape and coastline.

Jonathan Garcia, Trick or Treating at Nobska Lighthouse