The Purposeful Mayonnaise

Oliver Hoffmeister

Oliver Hoffmeister (b.1995 Chesterfield) is aNewcastle based painter-printmaker. His work focuses upon the obscure nature ofthe imagined image, with particular reference to the artist's conceivedimagery. Attempting to create works that could be seen as ‘oddities’, he wishesto conjure a sense of uncertainty that leaves the viewer in a state of flux.

Since graduating in 2018 from NewcastleUniversity with a first-class BA Hons in Fine art, he has shown work in amultitude of shows including ‘The Ingram Collection Young Contemporary TalentAward’, Cello Factory,London, UK (2018); ‘The Middlesborough Art weekender’,MIMA, Middlesborough, UK (2018); ‘Ghosts That Live Amongst Us’, The WarblingCollective, 155a Gallery, London, UK (2020). Alongside this Hoffmeister hasundertaken multiple residencies including a commission in conjunction withKielder Arts and Architecture, and was awarded The Hatton Prize (2018) for theexcellence of his work in the ‘Newcastle degree show’.

In 2019, he was gifted a Bursary from NorthernPrint Studio Ltd to help further his printmaking practice. Northern PrintStudio Ltd also commissioned Hoffmeister to create a series of etching thatwere shown alongside two other artists in an exhibition called 'Glossary ofEtching’ (2020).

More recently he has collaborated with BerwickVisual Arts to produce his first solo show, outside of Newcastle upon Tyne,titled 'Hide and Seek’ (2021). Alongside this, Hoffmeister has co-foundedMinutes Exchange, a by-post charitable project in which art is auctioned from aplethora of artists from all over the UK. 

Website: www.oliverhoffmeister.co.uk   Instagram: @oliverhoffmeisterart

write for —

when he asks me who i write for i hesitate to say i write for him 

because i could only explain such reasoning thru poetry 

i think maybe i write for them to hear me write for him 

i know i don’t write for me because that would be far too generous to myself 

i ask him why he must know who i’m writing for. 

he says he tries to write for me too 

Jenna Fliesen

Located in New York City, but born and raised in Las Vegas, Jenna is a 20 year old poet who has been writing for 5 years. Her poetry tends to take a focus on her experiences as a Tunisian American. Specifically she writes to make sense of the clash between mental health and culture. You can find more of her work at her very own poetry Instagram @jennaspoemz.

Cecilia Battaini 

Cecilia Battaini is an artist, illustrator and surface designer based in Milan, Italy. She calls herself a flower in the midst of flowers because they are the main subject of her patterns and illustrations. She calls her art the expression of her inner garden and both works on commissions and licenses her flowers to many brands. 
Drawing flowers started as a therapy. When she was a teenager, she spent several months in hospital, recovering from mental and eating disorders. Bad thoughts haunted her. Drawing was the only thing able to keep them at bay. The only safe place she knew. She realized flowers may seem delicate and vulnerable, yet they are incredibly strong and resistant. They can grow and bloom everywhere. And she could do the same.
Since then she never stopped. Her gardens have grown with her, becoming something more than just a safe place. Sharing them with others, she hopes that they can find in her flowers the same peacefulness and positivity she finds while drawing them and, why not, that they can be able to grow their own inner gardens as well.  
Inspired by the flora she meets during her travels or while walking through the city she lives in, Milan, she hand-draws flowers and plants with colored pencils, then scans them on her laptop and through Photoshop polishes them and creates her gardens. These are usually patterns, a technique she developed while studying fashion and specializing in textile design between Istituto Marangoni in Milan and Central Saint Martins in London. She enjoys this form of art for its perfect combination between hand-drawn and digital and because, being seamless, a pattern can be played with in many different ways.
She makes and sells paintings made with fabrics featuring her flowers, as well as calendars, t-shirts and art prints; creates illustrations for books, social media and many others; works on commission and licenses original patterns for textiles, clothing, home decor, stationery, magazines and wallpapers; holds exhibitions of her artworks for museums, art galleries and street markets, and even workshops. You can also find her designs on many print-on-demand websites.

Website: https://ceciliabattaini.com Social links & current projects: https://linktr.ee/ceciliabattaini