Don't Be A Stranger: Dominic Terlizzi and Neither Standing, Sitting, or Lying Down: Christine Stiver

SBM Gallery

422 S. Highland Ave

Baltimore, MD 21224

Opening Reception: Friday, May 1, 5-9 pm

Exhibition on view April 29 - May 22, 2026

Stiver’s stick and paper sculptures appear to be caught mid-gesture, like a character in a freeze frame paused to punctuate the mood. Because the sculptures begin as green branches that are torqued nearly to the point of breaking, their forms remain energetic as they dry into a much more fragile state. Even the wall works feel as though they’re preparing to take flight. The animalistic qualities of the sculptures are heightened by their highly textured surfaces, and because of their various stances propping, leaning and perching on bi- and tri-pedal legs. The combination of natural and synthetic materials position the work in a perpetually mutable state between the built and natural worlds.

Dominic Terlizzi’s recent paintings echo ancient forms while interrupting their logic with contemporary interferences. Figures recline, rest or run along the tidy lines of a grid, a method informed by the construction of his three public monuments in Baltimore City. Terlizzi’s rigid-shaped figures simultaneously recall Pre-Columbian vessels, Byzantine mosaics and early video game characters, but these references are continually disrupted by the detritus of the every day. Cast acrylic objects float across the foreground alongside atmospheric orbs and highly rendered fruit. Terlizzi’s approach to image making creates constellations of meaning that prioritize free-association story-telling and non-linear narratives.