Design, Illustration & Murals
Now on view at the Ho-Ho-Kus Worth-Pinkham Memorial Library!
AVANTE-GARDEN
An art show honoring remarkable women for Women's History Month - March 2026
ABOUT THE SHOW This collection of portraits features a diverse group of women who have been exceptional for a long time but who have made headlines for one reason or another over the past year. Each woman has been paired with a flower that represents their personality, culture and/or career. The purpose of this inclusion is to show women’s tie to nature as a strength rather than a weakness, as it has been more commonly depicted. Our emotional cores can be a strength, providing deeper feeling, intuition, and empathy.
ABOUT THE ART The backgrounds of each artwork are abstract and borderline surreal, to add to the otherwordly quality of each woman’s aura and accomplishments. The archway silhouettes add a regal vibe, mimicking a hall of busts. When people walk into the library to view the show, I want them to feel the power of these women but also appreciate their tenderness and poise from the inclusion of flowers. Each woman is shown looking to the right, to express that they are looking towards a better future for women.
ABOUT THE ARTIST Kristina Filler is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. She has been an artist for almost exactly as long as Women’s History Month has been a thing, which is to say, about 40 years. Throughout her career, she has primarily concentrated on client work and as a result, she has never done a solo art show - until now! She is excited to share her work and the stories of incredible women in celebration of Women’s History Month. You can find more of her work on her homepage or on instagram @kstar810.
"Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength." - G.D. Anderson, writer
Now on view at the Ho-Ho-Kus Worth-Pinkham Memorial Library!
Meet the Women:
ALYSA LIU is an American figure skater and Olympic champion who is cooler than all of us. She is the daughter of an immigrant who came to the United States to seek asylum after the Tiananmen Square protests in China. Her dad has been a vigilant supporter of her career and helped manage it since she started skating at age 5. At 16 she fired him for making too many dad jokes because they were distracting during her triple lutzes. She also wanted to be able to focus on personal joy, showcase her art and defy figure skating’s traditionally staunch rules. She skated with striped hair and a pierced frenulum, caught attention for her joyful demeanor on the ice, and took home two gold medals. I chose a ranunculus to represent her because they express charm and radiant fascination with a shape and color that resemble her gold medals. Though she’d probably prefer the actual medals...
EJAE is a South Korean-American singer and songwriter who is personally responsible for having created the catchy ear-worm, “Golden” that we’ve all sung a hundred million times. Her animated film, KPop Demon Hunters has become Netflix’s most-watched English film ever. Partially raised nearby in Fort Lee New Jersey, she’s broken many records for co-writing and singing the first k-pop track to win a Grammy and Golden Globe.
EJae is paired with the Rose of Sharon, which is the national flower of South Korea because of her strong ties to her heritage. It symbolizes resilience, strength and perseverance, which she displayed by pushing through rejections of her earlier career. The flowers are purple as a nod to her character Rumi’s signature hair color. Parents of young girls everywhere also persevered this year, pushing their hairbraiding skills to unimaginable limits as almost every young girl on the planet (including my daughter) dressed as her for Halloween.
JANE GOODALL was fascinated by how much DNA we share with chimpanzees but ancestry.com wasn’t a thing when she started her career, so she had to take matters into her own hands. She went on to live in Tanzania, studying them for six decades. She was a beloved and renowned primatologist and anthropologist, who worked tirelessly until she passed away at age 91 in 2025.
She was also passionate about environmental causes like wildlife conservation and climate change. I was first inspired by her when I did a book report on her as a child and my desire to draw her after her recent death is partially what inspired this series. She is an icon of compassion, curiosity and optimism. She also loved trees and planted seedlings, which is why the plant that I chose to represent her with is a seedling. She called trees “cathedrals of the rainforest,” which is depicted in the background of her portrait.
AMY SHERALD is an American painter known for stylish portraits of African Americans in everyday settings. She uses gray for skin tone to remove color and focus on the “person-hood” of her subjects- so she might actually hate this portrait I’ve done of her - though I hope not! She represents “Americana” with symbols like white picket fences and sunflowers, arguably more tasteful choices than other American favorites like Crocs and Hawaiian pizza. In 2025, she showcased her most notable works at The Whitney Museum, which I got to see in person. I even saw former first lady Michele Obama there! Granted- as a painting- but technically it’s true.
In 2025, Amy declined the honor of exhibiting at The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery over the censorship of a painting which depicts The Statue of Liberty as a transgender artist. Declining this major career acknowledgment over principles was baller, as noted by Time Magazine, who recently named her one of Time’s Women of the Year for 2026.
MS. RACHEL (Rachel Accurso) is one of the most successful children’s entertainers and this past year, her show was the most-watched children’s program on Netflix. She started out making videos to help her child cope with a speech impediment, but has expanded to humanitarian work. She has risked her career and garned criticism speaking up against the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan but was also praised for it and featured on the cover of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year. I chose a watermelon plant to represent her because watermelons grow in Gaza and have been a regular symbol in resistance art throughout the genocide.
With this portrait, I wanted to illustrate Ms. Rachel’s upbeat personality and imagination but also her courage. Courage - it’s what’s in the box! (Yeah... I’ve watched a lot of Ms. Rachel...)
ANNE FRANK is probably not the first name to come to mind in a modern representation of notable women, but many of her quotes have recently resurfaced alongside certain race-related current events. She famously authored diaries during World War II, which were later obtained and published by her father after she was murdered in the Holocaust. What? He read her dairy?! I did too, actually- along with more than 30 million other people in 70 different languages since it’s publication in 1947. My husband and I visited the house in Amsterdam that she and her family hid inside of during the Nazi takeover and wow, is that a day ruiner; but it’s also really inspiring as she remained optimistic during very oppressive conditions. Her positive outlook might help us all get through tumultuous times, like reading the news literally any day this year. I chose a tulip to represent her because the Netherlands are known for their tulips and they represent rebirth, renewal and fresh starts, which Anne wished for.
LILY GLADSTONE won a historic Golden Globe for getting through the filming of an entire movie with Leonardo DiCaprio without asking him to do the Titanic hug thing. They were also recognized for representing an Indigenous woman’s pain as her character’s family was deceived and murdered for oil money. They are an actress, Indigenous activist, queer supporter of the LGTBQ+ community, and avoid pronouns as a resistance to colonization. I have worked as the title designer on a documentary called Bring Them Home that they narrated which taught me a lot about Indigenous people including that they have the coolest names. The film shows how modern day Blackfeet Nation is reinstating the buffalo population and thereby reinvigorating their culture after near-extinction. It aired on PBS in 2025 and is currently streaming. The Indian Paintbrush flowers shown as dangling earrings represent creativity and artistry.
SONIA SOTOMAYOR is a children’s book writer who, in her spare time, is a Supreme Court Justice. Her most recent book, Just Shine! was inspired by her mother and shows readers how helping others shine makes the whole world brighter. She herself has done so by upholding important laws like the Affordable Care Act and Same-Sex Marriage, amongst others. She has more honorary law degrees than the legal limit allows and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame which I did not know existed until I started writing this sentence. And that’s how we learn, folks! I paired her with Puerto Rico’s Flor de Maga because it represents her culture and it looked good on Lady Gaga during the Superbowl Halftime Show so I figured it would look good on her too. Bad Bunny has yet to comment. The flowers are wrapped in a bouquet with newsprint that’s printed with the oath of office she took to become a Supreme Court Justice. She is known for being diplomatic and loyal to the oath, which is why she’s wrapped up in it but still blooming.
EMILY JABBOUR is the current mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey and is only the 2nd female mayor since mayors first mayored in there in 1855. When I lived in Hoboken in the 2000’s, one of our mayors was arrested one month into office for bribery, so with a low bar like that Emily could have just skated by not committing felonies and been an acceptable mayor. Instead she puts heart and dedication into her position. She was a councilwoman when I marched across the Brooklyn Bridge with her for “Wear Orange Weekend”, an anti-gun violence protest led by Moms Demand Action and I was very inspired by her energetic spirit. Emily is Hoboken’s chapter head for MDA, an active supporter of the Hoboken Public Education Foundation, a regular volunteer with the Hoboken Food Pantry and a mom of two. I paired her with the common blue violet (the state flower), signifying understated strength, loyalty and devotion. They are growing off of her to signify the hard work she does in nurturing her community.
See Snaps From The Show:
As displayed at the Worth-Pinkham Memorial Library in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ
FUN FACTS
Some little nuggets I learned during the making of this show
Olympic champion Alysa Liu was born via surrogate from a donor egg. Lucky egg!
The first mayor of Hoboken was Cornelius V. Clickener.
Curly hair is hard to draw.
Sonia Sotomayor probably named her line of children’s books “Just” as in Just Shine and Just Help because she’s a supreme court JUST-ice. Clever!
Some of the cool Indigenous names in Bring Them Home’s titles are Tyson Runningwolf, Jay Youngrunningcrane, Preston Spotted Eagle, Peter Weaselmoccasin, Stephanie Lee Little Mustache, and Raymond Many Bears. Do you think he goes by Mr. Many Bears or Sir Many Bears? Either way, he sounds great.
There is only one known video of Anne Frank in existence (according to Wikipedia) and it’s a clip of her peering out of a window in Amsterdam on someone’s wedding day. The 2005 film Wedding Crashers was loosely based on this (no it wasn’t).
Amy Sherald had a heart transplant at age 39 and has since honored her donor with a small heart in her signature.
Jane Goodall named chimps instead of giving them numbers as an act of respect and a nod to their humanity. One of the names she gave was Gigi which is a favorite nickname in my family, used for my dad and niece.
