Chalda Maloff to show Sea Jewels works in Austin exhibition

Austin digital artist Chalda Maloff will present two underwater-themed works in OVERDRIVE, a juried group show at Lydia Art Salon in Austin from Nov. 14 to Dec. 20, 2026. The exhibition pairs her fantasy marine imagery with a broader look at anxiety, resilience and hope in an unsettled world.

Why it matters: - Maloff's Sea Jewels works are being shown in an exhibition built around the pressures of modern life. - The pairing gives her digital art a topical frame: how people cope with conflict, environmental strain, technology shifts and daily overload. - The show puts Austin-based digital work in front of a juried audience at Lydia Art Salon.

What happened: - Austin artist Chalda Maloff will exhibit two works from her Sea Jewels series in OVERDRIVE at Lydia Art Salon in Austin, Texas. - The exhibition runs Nov. 14 through Dec. 20, 2026. - The works are Polyphony (2024) and Seeking Clarity (2025). - OVERDRIVE is a juried group exhibition. - The exhibition is juried by Stacey Abel, Bijoy Goswami and Deanna Miesch, founder of Lydia Art Salon.

The details: - Maloff's underwater compositions use intricate digital imagery, vibrant color and fantastical marine forms. - The works are meant to blur the boundary between the natural world and imagination. - OVERDRIVE is curated around contemporary anxiety, uncertainty and resilience. - The exhibition explores how political conflict, environmental crises, technological change and the speed of everyday life affect individuals and communities. - The show asks what it means to stay engaged in a destabilized world. - Maloff said imagination is not just escape, but a way to understand experience and build resilience. - Maloff said: “To me, our relationships are fundamental to how we interpret what we encounter as well as our creative potential to overcome.” - Fish recur throughout the Sea Jewels series. - Maloff uses fish for their positive associations across cultures and spiritual traditions. - The fish symbols point to transformation, abundance, happiness and freedom. - The series places organic forms, luminous color and intricate patterns inside elaborate fantasy worlds. - Maloff studied computer science in the early 1970s, when the field was still considered unconventional. - Maloff first pursued art history. - Maloff later worked for decades in oil painting, acrylics, aquatint and clay before moving into digital image-making. - Maloff's digital process allows her to combine techniques and visual effects that would be difficult or impossible in conventional media.

Between the lines: - The exhibition's curators are using art to track a familiar tension: the strain of contemporary life versus the need for hope. - Maloff's work fits that theme by turning underwater fantasy into a response to stress rather than a retreat from it. - Her long path from computer science to mixed traditional media to digital art mirrors the exhibition's interest in adaptation and resilience.

What's next: - OVERDRIVE opens Nov. 14 and remains on view through Dec. 20, 2026. - Visitors can learn more about Maloff at the artist's website. - Maloff's broader biography includes exhibitions across North and South America and Europe, along with honors in Italy and at Arthouse.NYC.

The bottom line: - Maloff is bringing fantasy-rich digital works into a show designed to reflect the uncertainty of the present moment.