North Gallery

October 26, 2024 - December 28, 2024

Each year at the annual Juried Exhibition, one exhibiting artist is selected to have a solo show at the Arts Center. The 49th Juried Exhibition Arts Center Choice Award was awarded to Jaci Davis for her work "Let's Just Call it a Breakthrough."

About Jaci Davis:

Artist Statement:

As a biracial individual, I create work that reflects my experiences and perceptions.  This means exploring the uncomfortable in-betweens of identity and making room for myself and my voice to be heard. I often explore the idea of displacement, specifically exploring the longing for a sense of community and place. I aim to create work that not only commemorates my identity but also makes a space for others to feel represented.

My work usually manifests in figure paintings that often include a mixture of different materials. I enjoy the familiarity and intimacy that come with the process of painting the figure, As I deconstruct the body into layers of paint it feels like I'm digging into the identity of the subjects and bringing something to life. The surface of the painting conveys the same kind of build-up and physicality as the bodies that I am painting. I place the figures into abstract spaces where I investigate the formal figure-to-ground relationships as well as the conceptual idea of displacement.

Artist Bio:

Jaci Davis (b. 2002) is a Georgia-based artist who makes mixed media paintings that regularly include added elements of collage, pastels, and textiles. Influenced by her upbringing, she finds herself constantly looking inward, contemplating her childhood and identity, reflecting on her experience of being biracial in the South. Her work often explores the investigation of the figure-to-ground relationship where she dissects the intimacy of figure painting. Many of her works are self-portraits that delve into the complexities of her identity. In response to the lack of diversity she experienced growing up, she aims to create a respectfully diverse body of work. 

Davis received her BFA in Painting from the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia in 2023. In 2022 and 2023, Davis received the Dorothy Alexander Roush Student Scholarship, awarded to an outstanding undergraduate or graduate student seeking a degree in Drawing and Painting at the Lamar Dodd School of Art. She has recently exhibited at ATHICA in the Surface Juried Exhibition (2023), curated by Clay Aldridge and Josiah Golson, and the Lyndon House Arts Center 49th Juried Exhibition (2024), curated by Jen Sudul Edwards, where she was awarded The Arts Center Choice Award.