Soyoon Ahn

My artistic practice is centered on the movement of "modernizing tradition." I am deeply intrigued
by how ancient techniques, such as traditional Korean pottery, can be reimagined through a
contemporary lens to engage with the future.

In this exhibition, I present Pyongbyeongs (traditional flat bottles) and a tea set inspired by the 15th
century Joseon Dynasty While rooted in historical utility, these forms possess a striking, inherent
minimalism that feels remarkably modern. By bridging these historic silhouettes with the decorative
elements of Korean folk art (Minhwa). I aim to translate heritage into a living contemporary dialogue.

Pyongbyeong with Jogakbo Motif

The surface designs are inspired by Jogakbo, traditional Korean patchwork. Historically crafted by
women from fabric scraps, these geometric cloths transform leftover remnants into refined
compositions. By translating this textile tradition onto ceramics, I bridge historical utility with modern
minimalism.

Blue Chrysanthemum Pyongbyeong

A traditional Korean Flat Flask featuring a striking blue vertical band (ttijang) with intricate folk-art
motifs. In Korean folk art, the chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity, noble integrity of a scholar, and
wishes for good fortune and peace. I also feature a stylized blue skimmer dragonfly, inspired by
dragonflies commonly found at Lake Ouachita.

Blue Chrysanthemum Tea Set

Inspired by traditional Korean Minhwa, flower and insect paintings, which often feature
chrysanthemums alongside butterflies and insects, the surface of this teapot is decorated using the
sgraffito technique. This traditional motif brings together botanical grace and lively creatures into a
harmonious contemporary composition. 

Summer Bruch

I find something innately seductive about the black and white photos found in old veterinary
medicine books. Through abstraction, my work encapsulates everything I find so appealing in those
images. The forms are inspired by the soft curves and dark crevices, while my surfaces pay homage to
the natural rhythm and variation found in cellular structures.

Liz Chrisman

I believe that every image with staying power must tell a story, leave a viewer in awe aesthetically,
and possess a distinct mood/emotion under the surface.

Over the last 20 years of my art practice, I've been diligent in honing superior technical precision with a
still camera alongside a distinct, deepened empathy for all living things. Today, these two elements define
my approach to every commissioned photo project. After transitioning to a more storytelling-focused
perspective in made media, I began exploring what it meant to "make" a photograph, akin to my early
days shooting film, while continuing to dive deep into the art of storytelling itself. Retelling the story of
place, person, or idea comes in layers—layers from memory. These layers are physically present in my
giclee photo collage work, encouraging the viewer to pause, inspect, and consider the thematic elements
woven together. My latest experiments invite the photographs outside of the frame; the longer the story,
the more layers are presented.

Kevin Cole

Voting became a constant motif in my career, with almost 35 years of firsthand viewing accounts
of the struggles for African Americans to vote. In my early years, I was greatly inspired by artists around
me like John Howard, Henri Linton, Sam Gilliam, Tarrance Corbin, and Earnest Davidson, all of whom
pushed boundaries, won awards, and shaped the future of African American artists. I believe that to
create works of art is to document history – similar to music, sound, and art decorating and telling the
stories of the past. Series are common in my artworks that share the complexities of history. My
artworks embody the twists and turns, motifs, and feelings of time, acting like “sound boards of human
experiences.”

To question everything is a method I urge viewers to implement whenever they view my works, but also in
their everyday lives. Curious minds can untangle my works to find their meanings and motifs that
continue to make the viewer question parts of history, leaning about a variety of social topics possibly
ignored before dissecting the meaning of my artworks. My mission is to educate the viewer or my
students and to encourage them to question everything. 

Lynnette Gilbert

I have always been fascinated with colors, textures, and pattern, for me, it is my happy place of
exploration, and being. Holding stories, symbols and meaning.
Through the use acrylic paint and other media, it is my hope that the boldness engages and captures what
radiates from within each piece.

My work continues to evolve as I continue to capture the complex beauty and essence of the natural
crown of black women, but now I am also exploring the stories told within the layers, and what those
stories look like through my love of God, family and sisterhood. Inspired by the works and words of artist
Bisa Butler, I've become bolder with patterns as they transition from pieces of the story to becoming an
instrumental player of the story.

Hopes and Dreams is an ongoing series, that began as a large mixed media painting that has now
transitioned into mixed media printmaking. I created an image matrix and created mono-prints repeating
the image in various positions and stories of hopes and dreams through "Wishes", "Manifest" and
"Breakthrough".

Through using the same printmaking technique, I am also continuing the series of Little Miss, which is
birth from my nieces. Their joyous attitudes through the years are the inspiration of the series. "Yes...
And?" is that playful look I receive often from the little women I am blessed to have in my life.
"The Matriarchs" are the women woven within me. I struggled with showing this piece because I am so
close to it, in my mind it had to be perfect, but these are the women that showed me the beauty and
blessings of imperfections and loving who I am. They are surrounded in elegance with a pearl iridescent
pattern. My goal was represent each with colors that are as strong and audacious as the women wearing
them. A closer look the viewer will find the women also reflect a different pattern as they stand together
as perfectly sewn quilt with hints of gold throughout.

Jasmine Greer

These works were inspired by dialogue from two of my favorite pieces of media. "What, if anything,
stays?" is a line from the second season of the Dimension 20's Unsleeping City. It references the
ephemeral nature of a constantly changing city where personal connection and community are
endangered by profit-seeking corporate entities. The phrase can be interpreted multiple ways depending
on the context. Within the show, it foreshadows the looming threat of isolation and apathy.
The second piece, "The Wave Returns to the Ocean," is a line from the series finale of The Good Place,
which is a show about death and moral philosophy. The character speaking the line is describing a
Buddhist perception of death wherein everything that lives will eventually return to the collective source.
When the wave crashes, it is not lost. It simply transitions back to where it came from.
For these works, I wanted to highlight the powerful simplicity of the phrases in different ways through bold
typography, strong use of color and layers of patterns or texture. Both of these lines resonate with me as
reminders of the one constant in the universe – things change.

Neal Harrington

Printmaking, in particular relief, is my primary means of exploration in the visual arts. The content
of my work is based in storytelling specifically within an American Roots Music perspective. These visual
ballads sing out in their symbolism, narrative, and energetic atmospheres. My work balances a
multifaceted investigation of independence, mystical narratives, and Pulp Fiction influenced imagery.
These themes can be found in The Bootlegger’s Ballad series. The bold and graphic marks of the
woodcut/relief technique reiterate the tension and energy of the figures in these works. I create an
intensified atmosphere and an amplified dramatic sense of light with the addition of India ink washes. The
shades of gray either softens the focus or strengthens the focal point and contributes to the dreamlike
quality of the piece. Viewers are given clues to works content through symbols, composition and title but
are encouraged to create their own narrative to each depicted scenario

Brendin Kinsey

My heart is rooted in the human form regarding anatomy, and I enjoy exploring the relationships
between geometric and organic forms in our world. In most of my work, I combine linear, mathematical
compositions with nude figures- visually showing that we find comfort in more solid, predictable facets in
contrast to the raw, uncomfortable, and sometimes unstable human figure.

Lowell Lybarger

A Meeting of Two Rivers: Ambient Native American Flute
Will Lang — Native American flutes
Lowell Lybarger (ΦNYX) — recording engineer and ambient music production
Will Lang is of Tsalagi Gawonihisdi (Cherokee) and Wažaže Nikaši (Osage) descent and resides in the
Arkansas River Valley. He is also an adopted member of the Lakota. A flute player, storyteller, and bearer
of tradition, Will has shared his music with audiences across the United States.
Lowell Lybarger is the Multimedia Librarian at Arkansas Tech University and an electronic musician and
audio engineer who creates music as ΦNYX.

Will approached ΦNYX to record and produce an album centered on his traditional Native American flute
music, while encouraging the creative use of electronic production techniques including reverberation,
delay, spatial processing, and pitch shifting.

The resulting collaboration became A Meeting of Two Rivers: Will’s acoustic flute performance and
storytelling tradition meeting ΦNYX’s ambient electronic sound world. Rather than transforming the flute
into something else, the production creates an expansive sonic space around it. Individual breaths,
phrases, resonances, and silences slowly unfold and linger.

The music invites a different kind of listening, less concerned with analyzing what is being heard and more
open to experiencing its atmosphere, reflection, and sense of place.
If possible, listen to this music not only with the mind, but with the heart.

Jessica Mongeon

My paintings invite viewers to encounter nature through the lens of my memories and imagination.
They range from abstract to representational, with the natural world as a common theme. I work on
canvas or paper, adding layers of acrylic paint to create a sense of mystery and depth.
My landscapes are inspired by public lands in Arkansas such as Petit Jean State Park, Mount Magazine
State Park, and Mount Nebo. I am interested in translating an emotional experience as I move through a
landscape via color and abstraction. Some of the emotions that I feel when I walk through nature include
appreciation, calm, awe, and connection. Many of my paintings depict trees and rock formations. Trees
symbolize the health of our environment and they are dynamic subjects; each one has its own personality
if you look closely.

Sunlight and Shadow
While searching for a title for this piece I came across a painting by Albert Bierstadt of a Gothic
Revival chapel titled "Sunlight and Shadow." According to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco,
"Bierstadt’s poetic title evokes associations with spiritual enlightenment and darkness." For me being in
nature is often a spiritual experience and a time of transformation.

Tariq Rakha

Tariq Rakha is a Muslim artist specializing in creating digital experiences that challenge the viewer
to self-reflect. Introspection has become a lost art in the modern era of digital distractions and social
media, yet it is a habit that one must never lose. Tariq strives to create art that connects people, ignores
the imaginary walls built between us, and helps create a world where we celebrate our differences rather
than using them as fuel for hatred.

Rise
Color system was a handheld console released in 1998 as an upgrade to the existing Game Boy
system released in 1989. As the name suggests, the Game Boy Color's main upgrades included the
ability to have more colors on the screen. Objects and characters could have their own unique 4-color
palette in addition to the 4-color palette of the environment they resided in. The Game Boy and Game
Boy Color systems sold a combined 118 million copies worldwide, making them the fourth best-selling
system of all time, and their cultural impact cannot be overstated.
This game was made in 2026 with all of the Game Boy Color restrictions, and can even run on an original
Game Boy Color system. The concept and narrative are intended to serve as a metaphor for the many
ailments that bog us down and keep us from achieving our full potential. Every soul is beautiful and
unique, but sometimes we have to do a bit of introspective cleanup so that we may rise above our own
negative emotions.

Kasten Searles

I am an interdisciplinary visual artist whose work investigates real life moments and settings with painting
and reportage illustration. My practice is driven by curiosity and grows from a desire to document
fragments of our human experience that often go unseen.
My methods are both traditional and digital, often incorporating ink, watercolor, gouache, and digital
drawing techniques. I am drawn to make this work because I believe that painting and illustration have a
unique ability to isolate and draw attention to subjects that may otherwise be overlooked.

Kris Waid-Jones

My sculptures often emerge from observations of social, political or cultural concerns. Through
the transformation of the familiar, I hope my work generates questions about reality, society, our selfperception, and how others perceive us. Being somewhat editorial in nature, my work is diverse in
imagery, material and process. This diversity allows each sculpture the freedom to merge an aesthetic
with concept. Thus, my research is grounded in both gaining underlying knowledge of conceptual
content and the methodology and material best suited to achieve a cohesive outcome