PJ Linden’s Baker’s Dozen features the artist’s signature dimensional painted sculptures, adorned with meticulous designs and patterns inspired by the natural world, the work of Fabergé, and iconic fashion and jewelry designers, including Chanel, Versace, and Tiffany. Linden's treatment of the form is based on the notion of eggs symbolizing survival and renewal as the delicate exterior holds so much life and meaning inside. Linden’s process involves collecting very specific references when fabricating each piece– molten lava, lightning, petroleum oil, aquamarine, azurite– and layering paint to create optical illusions of droplets, spikes, gems, and candy. When creating these motifs, she meditates on the absurdity and transformation of the object. The mineral becomes material, the organic becomes excessive, and the subliminal becomes overt. The painstaking time and skill Linden puts into her sculptures mirrors her background in design and creates a feeling of opulence around the work. Linden transforms the metaphysical perceptions of an egg into a whimsical and precious treasure, ready to glimmer, shine, or erupt for your delight. 

Angela Rio’s first feature exhibition with Paradigm will feature oil paintings and wood assemblies that are meant to be a welcoming space for processing dark moments in current circumstances. Rio’s fantastical scenes are grounded with logical iconography laced with humor to show there can still be moments of comfort in uncertain times, often exaggerated by the presence of the internet. “Everything is fragmented, forcing us to piece things together without getting the full picture. I feel that the nonsensical format of information creates more detachment from the world.” The work is a reaction to being constantly inundated with information and instantly needing to process unsettling images mixed in with joyful ones. Rio is taking the time to slow down and acknowledge the absence of uncertainty to find peace.

Rio’s aesthetic vocabulary evokes the power of scientific illustrations, which are often abstract in their form yet are meant to convey analytical data. She references weather maps, geographic markers, and wave patterns to create surreal settings with quirky narratives. This allows Rio to quiet the feelings of information overload through soothing color palettes and magical storytelling. The viewer is invited to confidently explore complicated topics with humor beautifully interwoven throughout, giving us ease while we take a moment, open our eyes, and hold up a mirror.

Born 1985 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. PJ Linden is a New York City and Pennsylvania based fine artist known for her abstract, three dimensional work. She paints with machine-like precision, creating microscopic patterns on found objects, fashion, and technology. Linden got her start working with Patricia Field, creating custom, one-of-a-kind art and fashion under the name Wonderpuss Octopus. At Field's iconic, namesake boutique, Linden's work caught the eye of celebrity clients including Beyonce, Willow Smith, Kelly Osborne, and Solange Knowles. Linden has since collaborated with and created pieces for Miley Cyrus, KidRobot, Norma Kamali, The CFDA, Alife, Sharon Needles, Pearl Liaison, Samsung and Swarovski. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Marie Claire Italia, Culture Magazine, Plastik Magazine PAPER Magazine. She has shown alongside art heavyweights such as Andy Warhol, Shepard Fairey and Kenny Scharf, and has exhibited at The Hole Gallery, The Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Reverse Space, Superchief Gallery, Art Basel Miami, The Museum of Sex, and The Museum of Ice Cream. She continues to work as an international muralist and the resident artist for The House of Yes.

Angela Rio is a Philadelphia-based artist that forms complex but balanced motifs and narratives in a variety of mediums. Her most recent work has been shown in a juried exhibition at ATHICA in Athens, GA. She’s made work in collaboration with the collective at Space 1026 for shows at Vox Populi and Paradigm in Philadelphia, PA. In the realm of public art, her mural at the PHL International Airport and banners for Center City District along Walnut Street have been largest scale projects she’s worked on. Printed Matter, Inc., Arch Enemy Arts, and Fairmount House have also included her work in group shows. Prior to becoming a member at Space 1026, Rio’s illustrations were commissioned by The New York Times, Philadelphia Magazine, Little Baby’s Ice Cream, Lame-O Records, and Boiled Records. She also co-authored a book about how to make paper plants called The No-Kill Garden that was published by Running Press and available at Barnes and Noble. Rio received her BFA in Illustration from University of the Arts in 2014. Her body of work is expanding through ways of printmaking, woodworking, and painting. She is always experimenting with new techniques to further inform her visual language.

About Paradigm Gallery
Paradigm Gallery + Studio® was established in 2010 by co-founders and curators, Jason Chen and Sara McCorriston. The gallery exhibits meaningful, process-intense contemporary artwork by emerging and mid-career artists from around the world. In 2022, Paradigm announced the opening of its new 5-story, 7,000 sq. ft. home, The Paradigm Arts Building, in Old City, Philadelphia. Now open to the public, the building boasts multiple floors of exhibition space, integrated in-house design and printmaking, a dedicated events floor, and art advisory offices. With this, Chen and McCorriston expanded their vision for the greater Philadelphia arts community. The gallery is at the heart of this vision, anchoring Paradigm’s overall mission of increasing access to the commercial art world, supporting artists and advancing their careers, and collaborating with like-minded partners to build a more equitable, sustainable arts economy for all.