The Artists
Artists
Blades of Change works with artists from diverse backgrounds to create new sculptures from nuclear industrial fan blades.
Interested in Working With a Blade?
We're accepting applications from artists of all backgrounds and disciplines.
Jill Drllevich
Painter / Sculptor · Founder
Featured: Breathe Deep Series
Jill Drllevich (b. 1950, Brooklyn) is the founder of Blades of Change and a celebrated multimedia artist and social change activist. She salvaged over 200 nuclear fan blades from a Tacoma recycler, diverting 40,000 pounds of fiberglass from the landfill and launching an innovative artist initiative.
Jill Drllevich & Craig Breitbach
Collaborative Sculptors
Featured: Breathe Deep Series
Together, Jill Drllevich and Craig Breitbach created the Breathe Deep series — nuclear fan blade sculptures that balance light and shadow, evoking a walk through the forest. Craig Breitbach (b. 1964, Port Angeles) is a prolific sculptor focused on the natural environment.
Lauren Iida
Paper-Cut Artist
Featured: Unknown Memories / Birth of Memory
Lauren Iida's artworks investigate her Japanese American heritage and intergenerational trauma from WWII incarceration. Her paper-cut art has traveled the world.
Tom Gormally
Sculptor
Featured: Metaphorical Portrait of Gerry Garvey
Tom Gormally has exhibited sculpture for over forty years at institutions including The Nelson-Atkins Museum and Des Moines Art Center. NEA and Artist Trust Fellowship recipient.
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Gina Ariko Maroni
Painter
Featured: Interwoven
Gina Ariko is a Japanese-American artist based in Seattle. Her painting on a nuclear fan blade captures a resident elder's life story in vibrant color.
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Emma Joran
Marshallese Master Weaver
Featured: Nuclear Day of Remembrance Sculpture
Emma Joran is a Marshallese master weaver who uses traditional pandanus weaving to create powerful statements about the Marshall Islands nuclear legacy.
Marita Dingus
Sculptor
Featured: Black Lives Matter
Marita Dingus attended Tyler School of Art and San Jose State University. Recipient of a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship and PONCHO Artist of the Year Award.
Peter & Esther Reiquam
Sculptor & Textile Artist
Featured: Mendenhall
Peter Reiquam (MFA Yale) creates interactive public art. Esther Reiquam is a linguist and textile artist. They are lifelong environmentalists based in Seattle.
Colleen Monette
Mixed Media Artist
Featured: Urban Remnants
Colleen Monette is an encaustic, mixed media, and assemblage artist working primarily with vintage ephemera. Founding board member of MAX in Seattle.
Joy Hagen
Painter & Sculptor
Featured: Persistence
Joy Hagen creates "assembled landscapes" using encaustic medium and reclaimed wood. Her work is in permanent collections of Swedish Medical Group and multiple cities.
Carolyn Autenrieth
Ceramic Artist
Featured: Half-Life
Carolyn Autenrieth works with ceramic sculpture exploring themes of decay, growth, and reclamation. Her nuclear blade piece features porcelain clusters emerging from carved openings.
Brady Black
Muralist & Painter
Featured: Future History
Brady Black began his work on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon where he saw the power of art to transform spaces and unite communities. Originally from Texas, Black now calls the Pacific Northwest home. "Future History" was created live during Blades of Change: A Happening! at Seattle Center in August 2025.
Myron Curry
Cultural Muralist
Featured: One Human Race (Love)
Myron Curry creates impactful cultural art that beautifies communities and serves as a source of inspiration and empowerment. He believes art has the power to bring people together and spark important conversations about social and cultural issues. "One Human Race" was created live at A Happening! in August 2025.
Mindi Katzman
Painter
Featured: The Beauty and Mystery of Possibility
Mindi Katzman imagined a magical world of possibilities with an elder peering out on one side and a younger from the other — a place of delight and wonder, a moment of respite from the challenging world we live in. Her blade features narwhals, albatrosses, lions, and flowers winding around swords.
Deby Harvey
Mixed Media Artist
Featured: Raven Sculpture
Deby Harvey explores themes of transformation and change through her nuclear blade sculpture. Her work draws on the symbolism of ravens as portents of transformation — guides through the changes necessary for renewal and rebirth.
Barbara Seese Koefod
Painter & Educator
Featured: Profile Portrait
Barbara Seese Koefod is a self-taught lifelong artist who began showing professionally at age 19. Her salient themes include conveying power in girls and women and showing connections between people and nature. Gallery affiliations include Red Sky Gallery, FOGUE Studios, and Women Painters of Washington.