(Mon) March 10, 2025, 4:00pm — 7:00pm
AC1 Lobby Gallery
Artist talk: 4pm
Reception: 5pm - 7pm
Art on Display: March 3rd - 28th
Angel Lesnikowski transforms discarded cigarette boxes into miniature painted landscapes, turning trash into portals of memory and meaning. Though they never smoked, cigarettes were ever-present in their life—rituals shared by loved ones, moments of quiet reflection. Collecting over 600 empty Seneca Silver 100’s boxes, they reimagined them as tiny canvases, layering oil-painted desert scenes over remnants of their past use.
For Lesnikowski, the desert is both personal and political—a place tied to their cowboy father, Assyrian mother, and the survivalist mentality of their upbringing. It’s also stolen land, its history woven with Indigenous displacement. Through The Cigarette Box Project, these small, intimate paintings invite reflection on resilience, loss, and transformation. Step into a world where discarded objects become landscapes of history, memory, and quiet beauty.
