SURFACE TENSION
Jana Cariddi, Carlos Rosales-Silva, Trish Tillman, and Ben Tollefson
Opens April 18, 2026
This exhibition brings together works by Jana Cariddi, Carlos Rosales-Silva, Trish Tillman, and Ben Tollefson, four artists who approach the surface of their work as an active site where play and experimentation give way to deeper social and psychological inquiry. Whether activating formal qualities like texture, finish, and color or mobilizing the narrative potential of illusion and artifice, these artists engage both the material and conceptual dimensions of "surface," locating meaning in the tension between what is seen and what lies beneath.
Jana Marie Cariddi is an artist whose practice moves between painting, drawing, and sculpture. She earned her MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her BFA in from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). Cariddi’s work has been exhibited internationally and across North America, including Pamplemousse Gallery, Richmond, VA; La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angles, CA; Bellevue Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Artipoeus Salon, Berlin; and the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA, among others. She recently participated in the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency (Granville, NY), in addition to past residencies in Berlin, Germany; Kumamoto, Japan; and Savanna, GA. She will be a 2027 fellow at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. Cariddi is currently a Windgate Visiting Artist Fellow in Jackson, Mississippi.
Carlos Rosales-Silva was born on the border of the United States and Mexico in El Paso, Texas. He holds an MFA from The School of Visual Arts, NY, and a BFA from the University of Texas Austin. Rosales-Silva has been an artist-in-residence at Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (2024); Abrons Art Center in New York, NY (2021); Residency Unlimited in New York, NY (2020); Artpace in San Antonio, Texas (2018); and at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY (2017). Recent exhibitions include Sargent’s Daughters (Los Angeles, CA) and Ruiz Healy Art (New York, NY), The School of Visual Arts (New York, NY), Sadie Halie Projects (Minneapolis, MN), North Loop (Williamstown, MA), Seasons LA (Los Angeles, CA), Latinx Project at NYU (New York, NY), White Columns (New York, NY), Ruiz Healy Art (San Antonio, TX),the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (Omaha, NE), University of Kentucky Art Museum (Lexington, KY),among others.
Trish Tillman lives in and works in Brooklyn, NY. She holds an MFA from School of Visual Arts. Recent exhibitions include Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC; Andrew Rafacz, Chicago, IL; Good Naked, NYC; Bravin Lee Projects, NYC; COUNTY, Palm Beach, FL; Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE; VisArts, Richmond, VA; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, VA. Tillman is a recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, the Hopper Prize, Fountainhead Residency, The Mildred Thompson Residency and the VisArts + Quirk Residency. She has been featured in UNTITLED, NADA and Future Art Fairs. Her work has been reviewed in ARTFORUM, Sculpture Magazine, Vogue and Juxtapose, among others. She is a 2026 Artist-in-Residence at the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans.
Ben Tollefson is an artist and curator in Savannah, Georgia. After receiving his painting MFA from the Savannah College of Art & Design (2014), Tollefson has shown his work in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States, including at Laney Contemporary, Savannah, GA; Brintz-County Gallery, Palm Beach, FL; Cleo the Project Space, Savannah, GA; and Spring Break Art Show in New York. His work has been featured in IMPACT Magazine and Burnaway Magazine. He currently serves as Curator at the SCAD Museum of Art, where he has organized exhibitions by Zanele Muholi, Nina Chanel Abney, Marcel Dzama, Roxy Paine, and others.
RELATED PROGRAMMING + EVENTS
Panel Discussion + Exhibition Reception
6:00 to 7:00 PM: Artists Jana Cariddi, Carlos Rosales-Silva, Ben Tollefson, and Trish Tillman in conversation.
Reception with light refreshments to follow.