A moment, not big or small
Makeda Jean Lewis, Shawna Moulton, and Z Shubert
In A moment, not big or small, each of the artists skillfully uses their medium to convey intimacy and interior depth, allowing us a glimpse of their lived experiences. Through drawing, painting, and printmaking, we are given emotional insight into the lives of these artists, as if we are peeking at a diary, as they explore their relationships and connections to themselves, others, lovers, and family. Through this personal work, we are given an opportunity to consider these small moments as something larger, full of the profound impact they must have.
On View: February 10th through March 3rd
Closing Reception: Saturday, February 27th from 5-7pm
Makeda Lewis is an artist and program coordinator living and working out of Atlanta. She creates contour drawings and multimedia pieces that explore varying tenets of human connection. Her published coloring book, Avie's Dreams, covers some recurrent themes, such as the life-death-life cycle, love, intergenerational relationships and forms in nature. Alongside her artistic practice, she is focused on engaging the public with art and art history in interesting and nuanced ways. This is the main focus of her programming work--to learn and share information and build appreciation in a way that is impactful and transcends the barriers many have to approaching art.
“My current body of work is focused on extending myself. I am focused on challenging the ways I approach line and texture and how quickly I approach catharsis and examination of freshly painful experiences through creating. Recurring imagery in my recent work includes insects, herbs/roots that are recorded to have medicinal or spiritual purposes and human subjects. Though there are lots of portraits in my work, works that resemble me are just that--I don’t consider them self-portraits because the subject is the subject, our separate existences help us both.”
Shawna Lukia Moulton is a multidisciplinary artist and art educator based in South Florida. She was born in Freeport, Bahamas (11/20/1990) but she was raised in Kingston, Jamaica and currently lives in the United States. In 2015, Shawna gained a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She is best known for her life size paper-casting figures, illustrations on handmade paper, and her watercolor paintings reflecting her journey into motherhood.
Shawna founded S.M Workshops in 2016 to conduct and teach art workshops across South Florida and share the joy of creating art. Her passion and professionalism as a teaching artist has been recognized by her students and the art community.
“I create what I feel is truly important — me as my pure self. Who am I without a name, race, gender or any given label? It’s like picturing a color you have never seen but know it exists.”
Z Shubert was born in Atlanta and currently lives in works in North Central Florida. Z received a Bachelor’s Degree in Printmaking from the University of Florida. Their work addresses topics of identity; specifically how gender fluidity, gender expression, and sexuality function within it.
“The artist’s work explores multiple facets of gender-queerness including: fluidity, ambiguity, and gender performance and how these different facets interact with sexual desire in the context of queer culture and society on a whole. The artist’s process romanticizes a series of singular moments in which gender dynamics and sexual desirability exist outside of the social norm. The artist uses limited colors in these works to highlight society’s affinity for easily digestible, binary philosophies.”