January 10 – March 14, 2026
Anna Von Mertens
Linda Nagaoka
Lena McCarthy
OH Projects
opening reception: Saturday, January 10, 3pm – 5pm
gallery hours: Fridays 12 – 4pm and by appointment
for more information: Call or text 617.835.8255
Drive-by Projects is please to present Magic, an exhibition including magical paintings by Lena McCarthy and Linda Nagaoka, glittery works on paper from OH Projects, and colored pencil emoji drawings by Anna Von Mertens.
Lena McCarthy’s paintings are reminiscent of the vibrant, folk art hex paintings seen on Pennsylvania Dutch barns. Used for protection and to bring good luck, these familiar symbols transcend the decorative. McCarthy’s works do that as well. Her combination of pretty and earthy color reinforces the mixing of floral and natural images with darker, mystical symbols.
My work explores the felt but unseen dimensions of personal healing and transformation. Deeply inspired by the immense beauty of the natural world, I create portals into a dream-space that exists in the abstract and symbolic. Guided by the belief that human beings are part of nature, not separate from it, and approach my art through a worldview rooted in hope and mysticism.
Lena McCarthy
Anna Von Mertens’s iconic, colored pencil emojis explore the question of what is real and what is illusory. She takes the art of Prismacolor to an entirely new level as she replicates text message emojis taken from her phone, a device she considers to be a magical object.
In the process of belabored drawing, repetition becomes its own subject matter—not just the wow factor of the stamina required (although let’s admit 237 emojis in one drawing is a LOT), but repetition as its own form of relationship. For what else are our relationships but repeated actions…rituals?
The large crystal ball emoji drawing is the remaining piece from a dated series of six works.
Choosing the crystal ball as a symbol implies a search for meaning, seeking insight into an uncertain future.
Anna Von Mertens
Von Merten’s repetitive process creates a ritual that empowers her subjects—crystal balls, unicorns, stars, and hearts, with a potent magic that transforms these digital doppelgangers.
Linda Nagaoka is a Japanese-American multidisciplinary artist whose work combines her interest in natural forms with her Asian heritage, the pop-graphic sensibilities of growing up in Southern California, and a transplanted life in New York City. Nagaoka’s work shifts among ceramics, painting, works on paper, and sometimes a performance. Her recent paintings embrace a magical realism that suggests Charles Burchfield with a touch of LSD.
Memories, observations, and a sense of wonder all form my feminine, fantasy landscapes.
Linda Nagaoka
OH Projects is the name Kathleen O’Hara uses as an umbrella to include her work in diverse media as well as her curatorial projects. The Glitter Rorschachs included in this exhibition are recent examples of a body of work that she has been working on for several years. O’Hara’s background as Creative Director in her family’s greeting card business resonates in her use of glitter, paper folding, paste, etc. She’s sees magic in the way these pieces transform the materials and subject matter, as well as how they engage the viewer.
The Glitter Rorschachs imitate those familiar, psychological test blots. Embellished with flourescents, pearlescents and glitter, they are like greeting cards from the Adams family: they highlight the darker aspects of what we comfortably accept as normal and ask the viewer to look below the surface to a parallel universe lurking behind that veil of normalcy.
Kathleen O’Hara
Everyone needs a little magic to welcome the new year so join us for the opening of Magic!
Above:
Crystal Ball Emoji
2017, colored pencil on paper, 19.25 x 19.25”
