On Art, Healing and Cultures of Care: Ceremony
From November 2024 to February 2025, we hosted Ceremony, a collaborative group show celebrating independent visual artists in our 2024/25 Artist Residency.
Opening during East Austin Studio Tour (EAST) in November 2024 and running through March 2025, the program welcomed a cumulative 2,670 visitors and 27 individual artists across weekly daily visiting hours and 12 public gatherings.
Continue reading to learn more.
✹ ABOUT THE SHOW, CEREMONY
Centering ritual and craft, "Ceremony" was an exploration of the personal and communal routines that return us to ourselves.
Engaging 15 emerging artists based in Austin, Texas, the multidisciplinary and interactive exhibit explored themes of mental health, connection, collaboration, as well as the role art plays in self-soothing and community-building. Exhibiting artists included Iris Kwon (Child Appetite), Jeffrey Jin, Emily Lawson (Emsbrynart), Liz Moskowitz, Damino, Rewon Shimray, Leah Bury, Victoria Cardeñas (Wavy Roller), Elena Marcozzi, Maria Kanevskaya, Yvonne Uwah, Christopher Rodriguez (Wilted Nurture), Kedreonia Freeman (Kei Dycor) and Kayla Kennedy.
Featured works included installations, like:
a dynamic photo mosaic of 20+ prints by artist Jeffrey Jin, which presented a constellation of community portraits celebrating intimate moments of intergenerational connection
an interactive flipbook by artist Leah Bury, providing guided prompts for arts healing, self-discovery and self-image
a series of paintings by felt artist and oil painter Elena Marcozzi, expanding on the vitality of cultivating a safe inner world
Complementing the exhibit, we hosted 12 public workshops and interactive sessions that provided guided and facilitated moments for visitors to explore various wellness modalities, like sound healing, meditation and creative expression rooted in arts healing. Within the show, visitors learned techniques like somatic stretching and self-guided meditation, as well as explored their own perspectives on mental health, connection and creative self-expression through facilitated workshops utilizing disciplines like collage, clay-making, poetry and more.
MEET ALL PARTICIPATING ARTISTS BELOW:
Iris works as an artist under the name Child Appetite because holding onto her childhood memories keeps her grounded through experiences of not fitting into any cultures. Over the past few years, she has studied and explored her memories, transforming rather dark moments into whimsical pieces using vibrant colors and humorous characterized animals. Her art is a continuous journey of turning personal history into visual narratives that invite viewers to rediscover the magic and resilience of childhood. She aims to evoke a sense of nostalgia and curiosity in strangers, believing that even though everyone’s experiences and memories are different, there is always an overlap.
Jeffrey Jin (b. 2003) is a photographer with roots in Houston working across a variety of genres—primarily documentary and fine art—to explore themes of togetherness and belonging. Through their images, they hope to unravel and reimagine narratives behind family, heritage, and land. Their process often urges them to think about their identity as an Asian American (as both its own entity and in the context of diaspora) queerness, sexuality, corporeality, and their deep affection for the South.
Emily Bryn (she/her) was raised in a multigenerational Mexican household in Austin, Texas and has lived here ever since. Being Mexicana, Tejana, and a queer person shapes the entirety of her work, which stretches from oil painting to screen printing and every little thing in between. Though she devotes her time to learning and expanding her creativity in freelance opportunities around the city, she also runs Emsbrynart, LLC full-time. Emily Bryn is the owner of her company where she screen prints playful drawings and slogans about queer and immigration rights onto up-cycled vintage clothing, reallocating a percentage of sales back into her two communities. Being a full-time artist at the age of 23, she can be found at markets around town, in literally any coffee shop trying to refuel herself, or taking a break to read and cool off at Deep Eddy Pool.
Liz Moskowitz (she/her) is a documentary photographer and filmmaker. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York she has lived in Austin, Texas for over fifteen years. Her work aims to honor the dignity and nuance of people, places, and issues. She approaches each individual and community that she photographs with intentionality and an open-mind. Her films have won the Judge’s Choice Winner at the SXSW Faces of Austin Film Premiere, been a Vimeo Staff Pick, broadcast on the PBS "Frame of Mind" series, and shown at Woodstock Film Festival, AFI Fest, Dallas International Film Festival, and Sedona International Film Festival. She has been awarded grants from the Dallas Museum of Art, Henry Luce Foundation, and Austin Film Society, has several photos in The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, and is a member of Women Photograph.
Damino is an interdisciplinary artist based out of ATX. Their love of music, art and wellness informs the work they create. They are currently focusing on releasing their first official EP, but are known for performing energizing hybrid live DJ sets. They also run their company Day by Day Wellness and curate events with @enter.chakana, @babeatx & @artislandatx. They are passionate about uplifting marginalized voices in the entertainment industry.
Rewon Shimray is a native Austinite and biethnic Asian American who processes her cultural and queer identity through autobiographical paintings. Her compositions blend childhood photographs, popular iconography, and cultural artifacts to narrate her upbringing in white dominant and Christian fundamentalist spaces. Rewon’s paintings offer a site of contemplation, recognition and connection. She earned a BA in Journalism from Baylor University with minors in religion and studio art. Rewon has exhibited work in over a dozen Austin galleries, including her debut solo exhibition in May 2023, titled “SPLIT: Portraits of the AAPI Diaspora.”
Leah Bury is a multimedia artist whose work spans photography, collage, writing, and music, with a focus on shining a spotlight on emotions and experiences that exist in the shadows. Through her art, Leah explores the liminal spaces between different ideas, identities, and emotions—those vulnerable, complex moments that are difficult to put into words. Her goal is to create work that others can see themselves reflected in, offering a tangible jumping-off point for connection. This theme runs through her photography, including her Dear Body series, where she worked with over two dozen individuals to celebrate the body and encourage participants to write letters of love to areas they once felt shame around, and her Projections series, which explored the complexity of multifaceted identities. Recently, Leah has expanded her practice by releasing music under the name Liminalia. In addition to her artistic pursuits, she is a curator, and the co-founder of the Slow Fashion Festival, dedicated to fostering spaces for other creatives to share their work and build community.
Victoria Cardenas (she/her), aka Wavy Roller, was raised in Buda, Texas and now currently resides in Austin. She is a self-taught artist that primarily works with acrylic on canvas but is constantly exploring other creative methods such as murals, screen printing, block printing, and more! Her love for sharing art began with vending and meeting others that can relate to her art, as it gave her the courage to keep going creatively. Her art explores connection (and lack of connection) that is all around her; with herself & her own trauma, others, and nature. She explores these feelings through fun calming colors and shape. She believes it's important to find her relation to everything in existence no matter how big or small!
Elena Marcozzi is an oil painter and fiber artist who beckons viewers into a dreamlike world of texture and color through her wool felt paintings, adorned with whimsical beaded and embroidered embellishments. In her daily life, Elena finds meaning and creative inspiration working alongside artists with disabilities at Imagine Art, a studio collective that furthers her belief in using art to empower and heal.
Yvonne Uwah is a self-taught photographer living in Austin, Texas. She began using photography out of a deep desire to connect with and acknowledge other people. Because of this, her work primarily focuses on portraiture and what emerges when investing time into relationships.
Kedreonia Freeman (aka Kei Dycor) is a macrame and crochet fiber artist born and raised in Austin, Texas. Her work reflects themes of cultural roots, spirituality, and transformation. Her distinctive approach to color invites viewers into a vivid world of texture and contrast by blending traditional techniques with abstract concepts. In her work, Kedreonia seeks to communicate emotion and welcome viewers to connect with her journey of healing, motivation, and artistic exploration.
Maria Kanevskaya (she/her) is a Russian-born photographer currently living and working in Austin, Texas. Her focus in photography is to capture human emotions, mostly exploring female subjects and their internal reality.
Austin-based, Kayla Kennedy (she/her) is a self-taught abstraction artist. Born in Long Beach and raised in Portland, Kayla’s inspiration stems from all those she has encountered on her life’s journey. While pursuing a career in interior design, Kayla was inspired to begin creating art, birthing a new way of self-expression. While most of her art involves acrylic on canvas, she enjoys exploring all mediums creating texture and depth. Kayla hopes to inspire creativity and impact those in her community.
Wilted Nurture is the mental health of artist and business owner, Christopher (they/them), brought to life. They began their pottery journey back in 2021, when their childhood traumas resurfaced, as a way to channel the emotions and emptiness they felt all throughout life. It is mainly through pottery that they were able to begin healing and find solace within their past. Christopher is fully self taught, creates with intent and hand builds every piece with no mechanical wheels. They create not only for the wellness of their mental health, but to publicly share their experiences and advocate for those who may also struggle with their mental health as a reminder that it’s okay to not always feel okay.
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FUTURE FRONT IS SUPPORTED IN PART BY The City of Austin Economic Development Department, ArtsHERE, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Texas Commission on the Arts, The LINE Hotel Austin, Pease Park Conservancy, the Red River Cultural District, Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, Topo Chico, as well as Future Front’s donors and members.