Ronnie Lukasiewicz Gallery

April 2, 2026 – June 27, 2026  

The Lyndon House Arts Center is thrilled to be a participating institution in Craft in America’s nationwide initiative Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, a year-long program honoring the handmade as part of the U.S. Semiquincentennial. This celebration brings together makers, museums, and organizations across the country to showcase the craft traditions that define and connect America. 

Our accompanying exhibition, Surface Tension, brings together two individuals whose paths toward creation emerge from distinctly different fields. Erika Diamond is a textile-based artist, curator, and educator with a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her studio practice lies within the world of fine art. Chelsea Lillo is a third-generation, Board-Certified Anaplastologist who creates custom prosthetic devices for patients who experience loss or alteration of facial or bodily anatomy resulting from disease, trauma, or congenital conditions. With a BA in Psychology from Appalachian State University, Lillo’s studio practice resides within the medical field. 

Both artists employ methods of craft and handwork—sewing, weaving, sculpting, precision, and close observation—to create objects that offer protection and care for their communities. Their work is of the body and for the body, expressing its physical fragility, the means for its protection, visibility, and reformation. 

Erika Diamond’s Imminent Peril – Queer Collection series of safety vests are tailored and designed to protect specific members of her queer community, inspired by their individual personalities and styles. Made from bulletproof Kevlar material, the vests were initially created in response to the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. This series questions who is valued in contemporary American society and who holds the privilege of being both seen and protected. 

More delicate coverings appear in Diamond’s Eggshell Miniquilts and Eggshell Garments. These hand-quilted works repurpose the protective casing of one species for another, addressing vulnerability and self-preservation. The garments convey both the potential risk of physical touch and the protective layers—literal and emotional—that we all wear. 

Lillo’s craft operates within the medical realm, as she sculpts ocular, facial, and somatic prostheses to restore appearance and function for those living with disfigurement. Her custom forms are painstakingly fabricated to match each client’s skin tone, eye color, bone structure, and overall appearance. Integrating such prostheses allows clients to re-enter their communities with confidence and a renewed sense of belonging, diminishing the feeling of being “othered.” Through her practice, Lillo is able to make people whole again—both physically and emotionally. The artistry of her craft lies in its technical precision as well as in its profound capacity to transform her clients’ everyday lives. 

Diamond and Lillo’s works navigate the terrain of the human body—its identity, construction, safety, and movement within broader society. Communities can both endanger and heal, and we exist among them all. We grapple with how to assert our singular identities while remaining safe, both physically and psychologically. Through thoughtfulness, time, care, and visibility, the creative practices of Diamond and Lillo make this journey a little bit easier for us all.