Jamele Wright Sr. is an Atlanta-based artist originally from Dayton, OH, and Amy Deal, a Dayton-based artist who has called Dayton home for the past 36 years, will showcase their work together in the upcoming exhibition, happenStance.
The two artists met by chance this past spring in South Carolina at an art opening at Summerville’s Public Works Art Center. Their immediate connection, coupled with their shared roots in Dayton, led to a collaborative opportunity. Wright expressed his interest in exhibiting in Dayton, and Deal, who had an exhibition scheduled, extended an invitation for him to join her.
happenSTANCE
DSA Gallery, 48 High Street, Dayton
Thursday, August 29, 5-8:00 PM
Friday, August 30, 5-8:00 PM (artist talk 6:00)
Saturday, August 31, 1-4:00 PM (workshop 11:00 by reservation)
Jamele Wright Sr. (born 1970 Dayton, Ohio) is a mixed media artist whose work explores the Black American vernacular experience. Using found materials, Georgia red clay, and Dutch Wax cloth, Wright delves into themes of family, tradition, and the spiritual and material relationship between Africa and the South. His process is influenced by Hip Hop’s practice of sampling, remixes cultural elements to create narratives reflecting the African diaspora and the Great Migration.
Wright earned his B.A. in Art History from Georgia State University and him M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, NY. He has participated in residencies at MASS MoCA and the Gibbes Museum.
Amy Deal (b. 1966, Cranberry Prairie, OH) grew up in a rural setting, collecting wildflowers to create pigments and using art to enhance her surroundings. She holds a BFA in Visual Communications from Kent State University and has worked as a creative director on corporate branding and advertising campaigns. After taking time off to raise her children, Deal renewed her focus on painting. Her current series, Forest Bathing, inspired by the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, emphasizes nature's calming effects. Deal has recently completed residencies in South Carolina and Brooklyn Navy Yard.
For more information about the exhibition, please contact Amy Deal at amy@amydeal.com.
As an artist, I find profound renewal and inspiration in the act of painting. Through my work, I aim to capture the essence of nature’s energy, and I do so by crafting abstract natural art that is both vibrant and full of life.
Nature has always been a boundless source of inspiration for me. Its ever-changing landscapes, the dance of light and shadow, and the intricate interplay of elements have always fascinated my creative spirit. In my art, I strive to translate these experiences into colorful, abstract compositions that evoke the same sense of wonder and vitality that I feel when immersed in the natural world.
My artistic journey is one of exploration and discovery. Each composition is a new opportunity to dive into the depths of my imagination and bring forth the beauty of nature in unexpected and dynamic ways. Through bold strokes of color and intricate textures, I aim to convey not just the visual aspects of nature but also its emotional and energetic qualities.
Color plays a critical role in my work. It is a language of its own, capable of expressing a wide range of emotions and moods. Through a carefully chosen palette, I infuse my mixed media paintings with the vibrant energy I find in nature, whether it’s the warm, inviting hues of a sunset, the cool serenity of a forest, or the electrifying energy of a thunderstorm. Each color choice is a deliberate step towards capturing a particular moment or feeling in nature.
The act of painting itself is a deeply meditative and rejuvenating process for me. It allows me to connect with the natural world on a profound level, helping me find renewal in every stroke of the brush. It’s a journey of self-discovery and an ongoing conversation with the beauty and vitality that surround us.
Through my abstract natural art, I invite viewers to embark on their own journeys of renewal. I hope that my mixed media, mono print paintings serve as a reminder of the vibrant energy that exists in the world around us and inspire others to seek their own moments of connection and creativity with nature. In this way, my art becomes a bridge between the inner world of the artist and the external world of nature, a testament to the power of color, energy, and renewal.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton
The past four years have been difficult. I have lost many immediate family members.
My brother died at the age of 50 of colorectal cancer. He left behind a wife and two young children. Soon followed by my father’s dementia and colon cancer diagnosis. He was so confused that recovery from surgery was beyond his ability. I watched him die. My husband was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer just this year. We have been in and out of the hospital for the past six months. Both his parents passed away in this same time period. His mother’s battle was Alzheimer’s. I watched her die. His father’s lungs gave out due to working in a coal mine and years of smoking. I watched him die.
During all of this loss, I found painting a necessity. I found the process of painting enabled me to dream about imaginary walks with my dad through his fields of potatoes, corn, beans, and tomatoes. The colors of the fields and skies were different everyday. Color, gestural mark-making, long brush strokes, short brush strokes, and repetitive shape making became my answer.
Painting brought me back to my childhood of spending long days in nature. Collecting materials to make art. I am painting my feelings. I am painting my emotions. It’s therapy. It’s medicinal. It’s all about the process.
Plants have been entering my dreams. Not just crops, but woods, grasslands, creeks, and ponds. I paint movements, patterns, textures, and lines created by nature. My current need is to lose myself in painting. It makes me happy. It enables me to stay near the people that are no longer physically here. They are in my art.
30” x 24” x 2.5”
Acrylic, Cold Wax, Oil Stick, and Pencil on Birch Panel
40” x 30” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
30” x 30” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
36” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Oil Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
40” x 30” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
30” x 24” x 2.5”
Acrylic, Cold Wax, Oil Stick, and Pencil on Birch Panel
40” x 30” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
40” x 30” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24” x 24” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
36” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
36” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
36” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Oil Stick and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
40” x 30” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
36” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Oil Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
36” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
24” x 24” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
36” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Oil Stick, Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Oil Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
40” x 30” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
48” x 60” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Oil Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
36” x 36” x 1.5”
Acrylic, Color Stick, and Pencil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas
Consumer Culture has been named the Award Winner of Material Exploration in Surface Design Journal’s Sixth Annual International Exhibition in Print: From Confrontation to Catharsis.
Consumer Culture will be on exhibit at ArtPrize, Grand Rapids, MI September 16 - October 3rd.
During the stay-at-home COVID-19 order, I found myself reflecting on the amount of single-use plastics that entered our home. Anywhere from packaging materials, carryout food containers & bags, retail & grocery bags, trash bags, toilet paper & paper towel packaging, political signage, produce packaging, to even police tape litter from protest marches. Every morning we are met with plastic around our newspapers.
The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year. Only 1 percent of the plastic bags are returned for recycling. The rest end up in landfills or as litter. Up to 80 percent of the ocean plastic pollution enters the ocean from land. Plastic bags kill 100,000 marine animals annually. One in three sea turtles are found with plastic in their stomachs.
Plastic bags are used for an only 12 minutes. They do not break down completely for over 500 years but instead photo-degrade, becoming micro plastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.
I began collecting this single-use plastic and fusing it together to create a more rigid material that I found could be sewn together to create a form of social discourse art that recognizes and brings attention to the negative side of consumerism. Yes, consumerism drives economic growth and boosts innovation, but we need to be cognizant of its failings; moral degradation, higher debt levels, climate change, and pollution.
Created from plastic trash headed to the landfill
6' x 11' x 6"
25" x 25" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Collage on Canvas
25" x 25" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Collage on Canvas
25" x 25" x 1.5" framed
Acrylic and Collage on Canvas $1,000
Featured on the Cover of Sinclair Community College Flights Anthology
Best in Show Lombard Award & Juror Purchase Award
2014 Dayton Visual Arts Center
24 x 30 x 2
24 x 30 x 1.75
24 x 30 x 1.75
23 x 26 x 1.75 | SOLD
29 x 25 x 1.75 | $350
SOLD
16 x 25 x 1.75 | SOLD
28 x 28 x 1.75 | SOLD
23 x 27 x 1.75 | SOLD
13 x 13 x 1.75 | SOLD
13 x 13 x 1.75 | SOLD
ArtHealth Together was funded through a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and Culture Works, Dayton, OH.
The mission of ArtHealth Together was to engage area students with limited access to the arts with the opportunity to create artworks for Five Rivers Health Centers’ Edgemont Campus. The process of art making fosters inclusivity and expands the reach of artistic experiences in our community. The opportunity provided these students to express themselves creatively and derive the numerous benefits associated with art engagement. The project touched the lives of 65 area students from underserved communities by introducing them to professional art supplies and techniques to create framed, exhibited art. They learned about color theory, color mixing, patterns, textures, form, value, and composition.
During this project, I witnessed firsthand the profound impact of art on individuals' self-esteem, mental well-being, and sense of belonging, reaffirming the importance of the mission.
Many thanks go to Five Rivers Health Centers, Dayton Leadership Academies, and Louis Troy Elementary School.
Think TV’s The Art Show found the art at Five Rivers Health Centers to be so important and powerful to the community that they highlighted the art in a segment that can be watched here: https://youtu.be/5gunvnzg89Y?si=coPyQURLVRaoW3LD
©2009-2024 Amy Deal. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Do not reproduce any images without the permission of the artist.
