After a two-year absence, the biggest exhibit of Ohio-made art returns with the Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition.

Each year — except for the two years the fair was canceled due to the pandemic — upward of 40,000 people stroll through the Cox Fine Arts Center to see paintings, sculptures, photographs, mixed-media works and more created by professional and amateur artists. This year’s exhibit has more than 320 works by 205 artists from 27 Ohio counties.

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While the 2022 theme of the exhibit offers a perspective on technology in the arts, and many works are tech-based and interactive, there are plenty of other works in more traditional media and styles. As visitors wander through the spacious hall — with professional works occupying the north end and amateur works at the south — here are eight pieces that shouldn’t be missed:

“Time Machine: Version 2” by Gabe Kenney

This Best of Show winner in the professional division is a big, curious, humorous installation that jumbles together hundreds of pieces of mostly outdated tech equipment: telephones, cameras, old laptops, calculators, gas gauges, telescopes, a pencil sharpener, fans and much more — all surrounded by yellow caution tape and orange traffic cones. This piece, Kenney writes, is “very agile and was developed to travel and be positioned in key site-specific frequency locations to scan for angels in airwaves and unlock portal vortexes within the multiverse.”

“Friend of Dorothy/I Picked Cattails and Dandylions for You” by Edward Steffanni

In two side-by-side videos (screen print glaze transfers and acrylic on stoneware), the artist dresses himself like “The Wizard of Oz” heroine, sheds the blue dress and hangs it on a fence where it flaps in the wind. Mesmerizing and silly.

“Consumer Culture” by Amy Deal

This huge, five-panel piece is 17 feet tall and 7½ feet wide — a wall of colorful flowers made of single-use plastic waste the artist collected during the COVID-19 lockdown. The work is gorgeous but haunting, a reminder of the pervasiveness of human-made detritus.

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“Hey Mom, (and Hey Dad), Send Me a Selfie for My New Phone” by Jennifer Sowders

The two watercolor paintings are huge close-ups of the artist’s parents, people obviously new to the practice of making selfies. Their wide-eyed expressions and up-close-and-personal facial features are laugh-out-loud funny.

“It Sounds Like Love” by Cadine Navarro

Through a special device, Navarro recorded the vibration sounds of nine native Ohio prairie seeds — (yes, they make sounds) — and made them visible through a painting method of floating ink on water. Her swirling images are hung in a row and visitors can listen to the sounds of the seeds. The full “It Sounds Like Love” exhibit continues through Aug. 16 at Otterbein University’s Frank Art Museum.

“Transitory States-6966” by Ardine Nelson

This elegant photograph — one of four by Nelson at the fair — is a close-up of a tan-colored weed set on a black backdrop. The large image is a testament to the beauty and unique quality of so many of nature’s living things.

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“Between Love & Hair: Part II” by Ryenna Royan

Using the unlikely materials of magazine paper and glue, Royan created a portrait of an African American woman braiding a child’s hair. The dignity of her subjects and color tones of black, brown and cream make for a beautiful snapshot of domestic life. The work won Best of Show, amateur division.

“The Dive” by Tim Borgert

In a wall sculpture that looks ceramic but is actually papier-mache, the artist has created a scene filled with humor and movement. A man walks six dogs who spy a cat in a tree and lunge toward it, propelling the whole group into forward motion that’s captured nicely in a still piece of art.

Also during the fair in the Cox Fine Arts Center, Scott Hagan, the artist who painted the bicentennial barns across Ohio, will be painting murals, including a portrait of President Ulysses S. Grant, who was born 200 years ago.

The Ohio State Fair continues through Aug. 7, at the Ohio Expo Center, Interestate 71 and East 17th Avenue. For ticket prices and more information, go to www.ohiostatefair.com.