Modern Mirrors | Chalda Maloff

Exhibition Dates: September 3-27, 2025
Opening Reception: September 6, 5-8pm | Guest juror to speak at 7pm
Location: Ardest Gallery, 25200 Grogan’s Park Drive, The Woodlands TX 77380

Ardest Gallery launches its fall season with “Modern Mirrors,” a juried art show curated by Gabriela Monterroso. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 6,  from 5-8pm, featuring a presentation by the guest juror at 7pm.

The open call for “Modern Mirrors” invites works that expand the definition of portraiture—whether literal, interpretive, symbolic, or realistic—shifting beyond a mere likeness to explore the subject’s inner world, identity, and the complexities of human experience. Submissions are abstract and non-representational, embrace diverse media, and engage with themes such as self-portraiture, emotional depth, and multifaceted narratives.

“Modern Mirrors” includes two works from Maloff’s Search Engines series, digital paintings that explore how people seek meaning and make sense of life. In Whispers of the Heart, abstract geometric forms recall early artisan ceramics, crafts, and weavings—objects from lives vastly different yet bound by the same existential questions. Like the elusive nature of the inner voice, the artwork’s surface shifts from solid to liquid, smooth to textured, rippling to reflective.  Shapes range from organic and timeless to pixelated and contemporary.  Depending on the viewer’s perspective, two profile faces dominate, or the central frontal visage emerges as the focal point.

In Fugue, the image portrays a state of mind in which the subject is completely detached from their immediate surroundings.  To an observer, they may appear present and composed, yet mentally and spiritually they occupy another space or dimension—perhaps gaining insight through the exploration of nontraditional paradigms.

Maloff’s art has been exhibited widely throughout the US, as well as on four other continents. She has received awards from Butler Museum of American Art and VIII Salon de Arte Digital in Venezuela. Maloff earned a B.A. in Art History from the University of California at Berkeley, holds a doctorate in Human Ecology from the University of Texas, and studied Renaissance Art with Boston University in Florence, Italy. The artist lives and works in Austin, TX. Maloff creates her digital paintings using a combination of freehand electronic tablet drawing and her developed complement of digital techniques. She employs no photographic process. To learn more about Maloff’s artwork, visit www.chalda.com.

ABOUT ARDEST GALLERY

Ardest Gallery is a fine arts gallery representing over 40 top Texas 2D and 3D emerging to mid-career artists. In addition to ongoing monthly shows and exhibitions, they host creative workshops and classes, literary events, Designer Days, artist talks and more. To learn more about the gallery, visit www.ardestgallery.com.

ABOUT THE GUEST JUROR
Guatemalan born and raised, Gabriela Monterroso is a multidisciplinary figurative artist, living and working in Houston. Her work predominantly features the female figure and horses as central themes. She is an alumna of the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where she completed her Certificate in Painting and is currently a candidate in Ceramics (2026). Monterroso is the founder of Monterroso Gallery, which focuses on contemporary Latin American art, with a special emphasis on artists from Guatemala. Her work has been widely exhibited in Houston, including at the Holocaust Museum, Lawndale Art Center, and the Kinder Morgan Building. To learn more about Monterroso’s work, visit www.gabrielamonterroso.com.