In 2020, I began a new ritual to offset my piqued anxiety from the pandemic and subsequent isolation. I wrote short essays and created collages inspired by the essay content. These are those collages. Select essays from the series can be read here: https://medium.com/til-queendom-come

Solo Exhibition, ‘xoxo’ at Night Owl Gallery, Explores Love and Love Lost in the Wake of the Pandemic

While grieving his late friend, poet Alfred Tennyson penned this about love: “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” In my debut solo exhibition xoxo, I explored the joy and grief at the junction of love and loss, and the tragic obstinance required to avoid heartbreak indefinitely. Created between 2019-2023, the works in the exhibition serve as a visual journal, documenting the resettling of my romantic and familial love life before and in the wake of the pandemic and global unrest of 2020.

The paintings were created in my signature collage-like format––graffiti and handwriting inform the movement and abstract composition of each piece, while thick coats of acrylic and watercolor paints create decadent layers and storied textures. Several are monumental in scale and hang as tapestries measuring up to seven feet tall.

The xoxo exhibition included the following events:

Opening Reception
Sat, Feb 17, 2024 | 7-11 p.m.
Live jazz music stylings 7-8:30 p.m.
Artist talk 8:30-9 p.m.

xoxo Reading: A Storytelling Event by Baltimore Poets + Writers
Thurs, Mar 14, 2024 | 7-9 p.m.

xoxo Afterparty: A Closing Reception
Fri, Mar 15, 2024 | 9 p.m.-til
DJ Babs + Gabs
DJ Kevin Naidura

About Night Owl Gallery

Founded in 2016 by artist Beth-Ann Wilson, Night Owl Gallery hosts solo and group exhibitions, workshops, performances, and pop-up shops. Night Owl Gallery has recently expanded to include private art studios.  Previously located in Highlandtown, Night Owl 

Gallery has reopened at a new Station North location above The Royal Blue on the 2nd and 3rd floors of 1735 Maryland Avenue. 

Follow Night Owl Gallery on instagram @night_owl_gallery and visit their website at www.night-owl-gallery.com.

A selection of my creative non-fiction writing.