About
“State of Duality” an exhibition by Nouveau Culture
Nouveau Culture was established in August 2019, while its members were all in pursuit of their Bachelor of Fine Arts at Midwestern State University. The group came together to celebrate each other’s cultures while exploring their own art philosophies and mediums. Producing and sharing knowledge among the group is one of the ultimate goals in order to create an environment of empowerment for themselves and other artists. They are moving towards making an impact on society by challenging social and artistic perspectives. They are voicing and bringing their stories to life by exploring a variety of mediums and sharing them with the community. As they grow, they would like to expand the appreciation of art in their society and inspire younger artists. As they strengthen their camaraderie and skills, they hope to bring positive influences in the art community.
“Life is full of dualities. Things coexist, oppose, contrast and parallel everyday. Duality is usually a balance between two extremes. This group exhibition “State of Duality” seeks to explore the dualities of life through the lens of culture and heritage. We, as a collective, all have diverse cultural backgrounds and ancestral histories. Thus, each of us carries a unique voice within and we hope to spark an interesting discussion of culture, heritage and the dualities within each sphere. Each artist has chosen a duality pair to center their work around in order to further their exploration. The states of duality examined are dark and light, bitter and sweet, lost and found, freedom and constraint, life and death, calm and chaos.
We intend on relaying these contrasts within our cultures through a diversified selection of mediums: acrylic, oil, graphite, ink, watercolor, relief prints, ceramic works, and digital prints. The scale of these works complements our color palette–grayscale with pops of color. The grayscale is a representation of duality itself. Since gray is a combination of both black and white–opposite ends existing at the same time–gray is in a constant state of duality. While the grayscale is a constant metaphor of duality amongst all the artists, the pops of color have unique and personal meanings to each individual artist. Therefore, there is a wide range of colors within every piece of art; which suggests that while we are indeed a collective and have a shared experience of the varying dualities of life, we are still individuals with our own respective points of view and unique experiences.
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Chrysa Jacobs is a Caribbean artist hailing from the twin-island federation of St. Kitts-Nevis, where she acquired an associate degree in general studies of literature, art and design, and sociology. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art at Midwestern State University with concentrations in ceramics, printmaking and graphic design.
Her artwork fuses African symbols with Kittitian iconography to covey the complex concept of a Caribbean diaspora. Jacobs’ work has been displayed in Juanita Harvey Gallery at Midwestern State University as well as the University of Dallas Museum. Over the last four years, she has participated in MSU’s annual Empty Bowls Project and offered her expertise to the Girl Scouts by assisting in various clay activities.
Ferdine Le Blanc is an artist from the Caribbean island of Dominica. An alumni of Midwestern state University, he obtained his BFA with a major emphasis in sculpture and a minor emphasis in ceramics. Ferdine also considers himself to be a sketch artist as he began his art career doing graphite and charcoal portraits. Since graduating MSU he has become an active member in the art community here in Wichita Falls through work with the Art Alliance. His current bodies of work explore social issues from the view point of an artist in the diaspora, and references imagery from his home island and African heritage.
My name is Isaiah Edwards, I’m a graphic designer and print maker from Wichita Falls, Tx and currently residing in the Dallas area. I medium of choice is screen printing and relief prints. In my work I focus on the idea of escapism and how it affects our lives. Everyone has their own means of escape no matter what background they come from. This allows my work to relate to anyone. I try to merge my love of cartoons, culture, and the need to share my message. Ultimately, I want my audience to reflect on themselves and how their actions and indulgences affect their lives. I want my audience to consider their own types of escapes on a physical, social, mental and philosophical level.
Jazmin Orellana is a Latina born in Houston, Texas in 1994. Her parents fled to the U.S. in order to escape The Salvadoran Civil War in 1990. Coming from a family that only knew violence and silence, Jazmin developed anxiety at a young age. As she grew, the abuse and bullies she encountered enabled her from being able to communicate properly. After taking art classes at Midwestern State University, she found a form of being able to express herself and ultimately, find her voice. She began to develop her style with the inspiration of Egyptian art and her spiritual journey using clay works and oil paintings.
After graduating from MSU, Jazmin began her healing and self-understanding journey by painting her meditation visuals. By sharing her stories within the paintings, she is hoping to connect with those still fighting in darkness and provide a ray of light. Jazmin developed her painting style with the inspiration of texture build up from clay works. Sculpting into her paintings using clay tools, empowers her with the thought of being able to sculpt her mind and emotions. She received this empowering feeling from researching Egyptian art and finding Khnum, the ram deity who is known as the creator of children’s souls on its pottery wheel. She connected her need of helping people with this deity and realized that she can help sculpt the mind of others by sharing her stories with paintings.
Shem Alexander was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on the twin-island Caribbean nation of Antigua & Barbuda. He is a mixed-media artist working primarily with gouache, monotypes, screen-prints, and drawing media. He derives inspiration from hisAfrican heritage and the culture of Antigua and Barbuda, where his passion for visual arts first developed. In 2014, he exhibited his group show collection “Antiguan Folklore & Supernatural Beings at the Art” at the Ridge Gallery in Bolans, Antigua. Wanting to advance his artistic skills and experience a culture different from his own, he moved to the United States in 2016 to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas where he graduated in December 2020. He exhibited artwork in the highly successful “Rising Eyes of Texas 2020” annual juried exhibition hosted by the Rockport Center for the Arts in Rockport, Texas. His work is interested in water as a subject because of its influence in shaping Caribbean culture due to its proximity, the many resources it provides, and the stereotypes associated with black people. Using water imagery he composes narratives that examines the experience of the African diaspora.
