Presented in collaboration with Oscar Galleri (Norway) and supported by the Norwegian Consulate General in New York, Villa Isis: A Nordic–New York Immersive Art Experience brings together artists from Scandinavia and New York working across film, sculpture, sound, installation, and craft. Conceived as a living gallery, the exhibition unfolds throughout Villa Isis and its two-acre Hudson Valley property, where indoor and outdoor installations create a dialogue between art, landscape, mythology, and lived space.
Highlights include site-responsive works by Anki King, Lisa Saeboe, Eva Davidova, Avani Patel, and Yasmeen Abdallah; and a special outdoor film program on Saturday evening featuring artist films and short works by Anja Breien, Tatiana Florival, Eliza Lu Doyle, Lise Ellingsen, Shayna Strype, and Jens Lien.
Following sunset on June 27, light installations, illuminated sculptures, and video works will transform the property into an outdoor cinema and immersive nighttime experience. Daytime programming includes sculpture workshops presented by Sculpture School, a lace-making workshop inspired by Nordic craft traditions, a lower-level exhibition of selected Sculpture School student works, and Saturday evening barbecue and Nordic flatbread provided by Norwegian Baked.
✨ OPEN HOURS ✨
Thursday, June 25 | By Appointment
Friday, June 26 | 1 PM – 7 PM
Sculptural Experiments (Free Workshop) | 1 PM – 5 PM
Saturday, June 27 | 1 PM – 10 PM
Outdoor Hands-On Workshop | 1 PM – 4 PM
NYC shuttle to Villa Isis (80 miles):
Departure from Manhattan at 3:30 PM
Arrival at Villa Isis: Approximately 5:30 PM
Return Departure: 10:30 PM
Outdoor Film Program & Open-Air Cinema | 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Light Installations & Illuminated Sculptures | Dusk – 10 PM
Sunday, June 28 | 12 PM – 7 PM
Live Bobbin Lace Demo (Free) | 1 PM – 5 PM
Throughout the Weekend
Sculpture School Student Exhibition (Lower Level)
Monday, June 29 | By Appointment
Free and open to the public.
WHERE:
618 Plutarch Road, New Paltz, NY 12528
(Comes up as Highland, but it’s located in New Paltz Village)
Participating Artists
-
Shayna Strype
-
Chris Lewis
-
Avani Patel
-
Anki King
-
Lisa Saeboe
-
Tine Surel Lange
-
Lise Ellingsen
-
Kristin Jacobsen
-
Karine Ruud
-
Yasmeen Abdallah
-
Katerina Sokolovskaya
-
Belinda Yangm
-
Caroline Newton
-
Diana Haro
-
Irina Kosheleva
-
Will Kaplan
Workshops and Demos
Open Session:
Sculptural Experiments (Free)
June 26 — from 1 PM to 5 PMThis free open session invites participants to engage with sculptural materials in an intuitive and accessible way. Working in dialogue with the surrounding environment, we will explore how simple gestures can transform into form. This free open session invites participants to engage with sculptural materials in an intuitive and accessible way. Working in dialogue with the surrounding environment, we will explore how simple gestures can transform into form.
Participants will create small individual elements that will become part of a collective installation. The final work will be assembled and presented in the basement of the house — bringing together multiple contributions into a shared spatial composition.
The session is open to all levels and encourages curiosity, experimentation, and a direct connection between making and place. No prior experience is needed.
Instructor: Katerina Sokolovskaya
Living Forms: Sculpture in Dialogue with Nature
June 27 — from 1 PM to 4 PM2-hour outdoor hands-on workshop — $110 (materials included)
Plaster + Nature-Based Sculptural Experiments
In this site-responsive workshop, participants will explore plaster as a fast, tactile sculptural material — working outdoors and responding to the surrounding landscape. We will learn the essentials of mixing and pouring plaster, and experiment with plaster bandages, imprinting, and surface building.
Participants will create small sculptural forms using a combination of plaster and mixed materials, including fabric, clay, and found natural elements such as leaves, bark, stones, and branches (optional). Through guided exercises, we will focus on texture, casting from nature, and intuitive form-making — embracing chance, imperfection, and the material’s transformative qualities.
The workshop is open to all levels and encourages playful experimentation, process-based thinking, and a direct connection between sculpture and place.
Instructor: Katerina Sokolovskaya
Learn about the history and craft of lacemaking through a live bobbin lace demonstration by a member of the Brooklyn Lace Guild. Once a major women-led industry, handmade lace continues to be practiced today as a form of art, income, and community connection.
Instructor: Ellyane Hutchinson
June 28 — Timing TBD