On mortality is a collaborative show from the Art House Dallas visual artist community, comprised of artists from across the DFW metroplex.
We believe that beauty shown through the arts, culture, and creation holds a powerful ability to form the way we see ourselves, the world, and our interaction with both. In light of this, we believe that observing beauty gives witness to something deep and life-giving—the Source and Sustainer of all creation.
There is an ancient wisdom to a developed awareness of the length of our days, and specifically, that wisdom, as a seed, blooms in the acceptance of an ending. The psalmist says it this way, ‘So teach us to number our days that we me get a heart of wisdom.’ (Psalm 90:12)
The art that you have come upon is working in concert. It is an exhibit comprised of many different visual artists from the Art House Dallas community who have invested their focus and attention on the theme of mortality and human finitude.
Our hope is that you, too, might see with us the goodness brought into our lives — perhaps a bit unexpectedly — by the certainty and eventuality of death.
Once more, the psalmist proves most helpful.
‘If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.”’
-Psalm 139:11-14
We encourage you to take your time in this space and allow yourself to contemplate mortality amongst beauty.
Natalia Acosta
Natalia is a Photographer and Mixed Media Artist from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She has been living in Dallas for the past 9 years with her husband and little dog. She currently works for a small non-profit that provides free legal services. The Bible and her Puertorrican identity are her primary sources of inspiration.
Late Afternoon - 24 x 36 - photography $400
Emily Atkins
Emily is a Dallas-based artist who primarily works in oil paint, sculpting, ceramics, and mixed media. Emily’s work explores color to dialogue about faith, time, and stories of the world.
Emily was born in Dallas, Texas. She earned her BA in History from the University of Texas at Austin and completed seminary courses in a year-long discipleship program at Pine Cove. She took studio art classes at Dallas Baptist University, Richland, and Brookhaven. Through these experiences, she explores the intersection between art and faith. Currently, she works full-time as an elementary school art teacher and makes art during breaks and weekends!
“This painting is part of a series that shows pieces that journey from Christ’s death and its effect on a believer to life’s end when the believer is in the presence of Christ, the Lamb of God. ”
Shepherd
18x24”
oil on canvas
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. – Psalm 23:4
Dawn Waters baker
Dawn was born and raised a Missionary Kid on the islands of the Philippines. She grew up under the shadow of an active volcano. In 1994 she moved to Dallas for college where she received her BA in Fine Arts from DBU, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1998. Soon after she married a mathematician, and they had three girls. In her free time, she likes to hike, travel to beautiful landscapes and teaches art in Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center once a week for incarcerated youth.
Her art is collected by many businesses as well as private owners. Her pieces, “Release” and “To the Lowest Place” are installed in Archegos Offices, NY Central Park office. She is a Signature member of Artists of Texas. Dawn is affiliated with Waterfall Mansion and Gallery in New York, NY, and Joseph Gierek Fine Art in Tulsa, OK. She was also selected as the 2015 Artist in Residence for Big Bend National Park, 2018 Artist in Residence for Gettysburg National Military Park and 2019-2020 Artist in Residence for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. She has had three solo exhibitions based on her works from the National Parks.
“I like to think of my work as trying to capture the emotional landscape. I am not as
interested in what is literally there as much as what is felt through water, earth,
atmosphere, and sky. These are my visual attempts at translating our shared human story
through the metaphor of nature.
”
Cathexis 1-9
various sizes
pen and ink on toned paper, matted
$300 each
Artist Statement:
As I walked through our neighborhood during this hard summer drought I was struck by the loveliness of the old trees. They had been planted many years ago and now I had lived long enough to see many of them die. Yet, I couldn't help but see their beauty. Even in the way they aged and shed limbs and leaves. The lovely lines they made in their roots and against the sky. Each one seemed like a poem. And poetry must have your attention. You must go over it again and again to glean its beauty and depth. Each tree has a particular bent and story of enduring growth. I would see some that looked like they were doing just fine, while others had one limb left of life. Still others stood with strong arms while others were thin and weary. I found that they were an opportunity to meditate on what it means to abide in frailty and have a mortal life. I ask the viewer to take your time viewing the drawings. Don’t rush to judgment on a tree. Maybe the most fragile have something to say about strength after all. Maybe the furrows of bark are a way of seeing our armor against the world or the typography of our faith. Each one of us is mortal. I invite you to see each tree as a story. Maybe you will see yourself there."
Span
23k gold leaf on panel.
$3200
This piece was inspired by Psalm 103:14-18. Swallows are my symbolic beings that live between the worlds. They connect heaven and earth, the spirit that flies and the creature that is tied to the land.
Jackie Davis (Juba)
Juba is a self-taught artist and graphic designer from Dallas, TX. His artistic journey began during his early teenage years with a fascination for drawing cartoons. Following his high school graduation, his interest in graphic design took root, prompting him to pursue college courses in art and graphic communication. During this time, he developed a profound interest in merging these skills, focusing on the creation of abstract portraits and figures, which became the cornerstone of his artistic expression.
His educational path led him to obtain both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Social Work. These degrees propelled him into a fulfilling career serving children within the child welfare system. Today, he finds great joy in both his artistic pursuits and his unwavering dedication to supporting and uplifting his community.
The Fading Reverberation of Memories
16x16
Digital Art
$450
What Makes For A Grievable Light
30x30
Acrylic
$1,200
Nathan Fan
Nathan is an artist that lives in Dallas, TX who makes ink drawings inspired by the scenes and stories of the supernatural. He has a ThM and studied the intersection of art and theology. He currently teaches theology at the Covenant School in Dallas. His work has been part of CIVA’s “Promises” show and Arthouse Dallas’ “On Patience” show.
Parker’s Back
11x14
$400
Creation of Adam
11x14
$650
Queequeg
18x24
$850
Artist Statement:
In book 18 of the Iliad, Homer devotes 130 lines to describing the images of a mighty shield, forged by Hephaestus himself as a gift to Achilles’ goddess mother. The shield is terrifying and magnificent, but Homer’s lines also make it quite clear that it is beautiful. Replete with images of war and peace, the living and the dead, growth and decay, all held together on a round disc that is both an instrument of war and preserver of life.
Life, death, and art are always going together. I wonder when it is in the development of our psyches that we come to the understanding that this gift of life is ensconced with limitations and the experiences of the body are shaped by its fleetingness. It seems this dawning is what inspires the human soul to make something, sing something, declare something.
The theme of the show has given me a new fascination with the body: the immortal soul only be found in confined bodies that can made present through ink and paper. The bodies present in these three pieces come from stories: Genesis, Moby Dick, and a Flannery O’Connor short story called Parker’s Back. The Creation of Adam shows how narrow the gap that exists between us and the loving hand that gives life. The portrait of Queequeg shows our connection to the vibrant cosmos that receives us. Parker’s Back speaks to the presence of Divine love on our bodies and in our souls. Each image and story is connected to the analogy of a speech given by St. Augustine: no one listens to only one word of the speech—no matter how resplendent that singular word is. To know the complete beauty of a speech, one must let each word pass, hear each word that follows, and it’s only when the whole of it is experienced can one know that it was beautiful. But occasionally, the invisible is made visible and we are able to catch a glimpse of the whole, even just as a fleeting moment.
Glen gauthier
Originally from south Louisiana and currently living in Dallas, Glen is a mixed media artist working in collage combined with other media like paint, graphite, ink and colored pencil. He take these elements and constructs a new reality: one that’s been living in his mind for most of his life. A lot of the paper ephemera he uses in my work is decades old. That weathered, aged quality brings an element of time to his work. He’s constantly exploring non-linear time, a way of looking at the world from a different vantage point and coaxing those elements and ideas into interesting stories. His work has become more personal in the past few years, an exploration of his conscious and subconscious mind as it relates to his personal experiences.
Glen received my BFA from the University of Louisiana in 1988, with a degree in Advertising Design. He’s shown his work in art fairs and galleries here in Dallas, as well as New York, Los Angeles, Fort Worth and Louisiana. His work has also been published in national and international art magazines.
“My medium is collage, utilizing printed ephemera to serve as a kind of time machine. My work subconsciously points inwardly, causing me to realize and address my childhood through previously buried memories and emotion. I engage in an ongoing communication with different versions of myself and the viewer.”
America
49.5" x 21.5" x 2.75”
$3,500
Hand-cut paper collage, graphite, and pencil color on masonite, framed.
A visual meditation on what and who our country is made of. The fragility of the original inhabitants, as well as those who later claimed it.
Minor Chords
Each piece is 14 x 36 x 1.5”
Hand-cut collage diptych made from deconstructed brochure covers and spray paint on masonite, framed.
$3,500
Minor chords in music are often a little darker, portraying more deeply felt, often hurtful, but honest parts of the human psyche. Deconstruction can be painful, but also beautiful in the end.
Niki Gulley
Niki Gulley’s passion for painting began in grade school when she had to draw something as mundane as shoes for art class, and has loved every minute of it since. Gulley strives to capture the vibrant energy and intrinsic beauty of our natural surroundings so as to uplift one’s spirits and suggest childlike wonder. By applying paint thickly using palette knives, the resulting contemporary impressionistic style achieves a richness of depth that explodes with color, flows with light, and evokes an emotional response. While her artwork has been exhibited in galleries from New York City to Laguna Beach, CA, currently you can find her paintings at The Good Art Company Gallery, AO5 Gallery, The Statton Gallery or at her studio in Dallas. Niki and her photographer husband, Scott Williams, teach Art Treks workshops across the U.S. and Europe, sharing their creative knowledge and their love of travel.
Passage of our Ancestors
28x16
Mixed Media
$2,000
Full Circle
30x30
Acrylic on Board
$3,000
Tim Hudson
Originally from the Midwest, Tim Hudson is an artist who has spent much of his adult life in Texas. He is currently based in Dallas and draws much of his inspiration from the rhythm and melodies of his daily life and the experiences that have shaped him along the way. Tim has spent over 30 years as a graphic designer, art director, creative director, and, for the past 18 years, running his own advertising agency. Having a well-developed tool kit wrought from years of experience being a problem solver for others, he’s now focused on expressing personal and universal themes through abstract and impressionistic paintings.
“Having lost two family members in the past year, I have recently spent a significant amount of time considering mortality and our finitude here on earth. I was surprised that I experienced a certain amount of comfort and peace while grieving the death of these two people that I had known and loved my whole life. My only explanation for this is the faith I have in the fact that we will all be reunited in the end. That’s something I look forward to is worth celebrating.”
This painting is named for the 17th century French philosopher, Blaise Pascal. His famous wager was that humans should bet on the existence of God, saying, “ If you win, you win everything; if you lose, you lose nothing”. More importantly, he helped me understand this peace I felt in my loss. For Pascal, belief is the pathway from misery to true happiness.
The butterfly shape represents our new life that is built upon the multitude of moments, events, loves and losses that we universally experience in this life. And the colors and movement of this piece expresses the optimism in what’s to come.
obinna jon-ubabuco
Obinna's original approach and entry into art was like that of many people, through the gate of beauty. But as time has passed, his desire to create is fed not just by the desire to make beauty but to layer it with meaning, truth, depth, and story.
Visual storytelling mediums in popular culture, whether through animation, illustration or comics and film are a source of inspiration and motivation for him and he seeks to incorporate that into his work in meaningful ways. He has worked in sculpture, oil pastel, water color, digital art, ink and various mixed media, but at the end of the day, nothing beats the sheer pleasure of working with a piece of paper and a no.2 pencil.
Translation
11x14
Graphite and Watercolor
$150
The 2nd Coming
11x14
Graphite and Watercolor
$150
Sarah laird
Sarah Laird is an abstract oil painter known for her vivid and bold use of color, botanical anatomy, and fluid forms. Using techniques of figure metamorphosis, she expresses the interlacing of social constructs, spirituality, and complex emotions, resulting in a reflection of the human experience. Inspired by music, abstract expressionism, and the concept of being human, her work has been described as organic dreams of the heart and mind.
It Comes in Waves
30x48
Oil on Canvas
$850
Momento Mori XX
30x40
Oil on Canvas
$800
Nicki licking
Nicki Licking holds BFA with a concentration in metals and has a background in fiber art, painting, and furniture building. She works as an environmental designer. In Nicki’s personal work, she focuses on the concept of relationships between a person and the Creator, between two individual people, and among groups of people.
Eternal Beings Carrying the Scars of Mortality
Pendant
rock, clay, and hair, with metal chain.
2 1/2" x 3 1/2" x1"
We are all eternal beings, designed to live in paradise. However, our encounters with mortality in this fallen world leave us scarred. When we choose to lean into these encounters and run to the Designer, He can fulfill His promise that He gave to Ezekiel, saying, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Even through the shock and the grief, He softens us and molds us into what we were meant to be in the beginning.
Interruption
Sculpture
steel, clay, and hair.
4' x 6' x 1'
As we move through life, it is impossible to consider our mortality at every moment. There are, however, events that stipple the pages of our stories that leave behind residue and transform the story’s trajectory. We get sick, or a loved one dies, or we move to a new city, or we get married, or we survive the unthinkable, or accomplish the unimaginable. Yet forward motion persists. Only now, after the delineation of that accession when we're forced to confront the brevity of our journey in this life and consider eternity afterward, we continue that onward march carrying new flesh like scar tissue, which smarts when the weather changes and reminds us of what we've endured and the miracles written by the Great Author.
Ron McCrary
Ron’s love for clay was first kindled in 1997. Ever since, he’s been captivated by the creative process of making functional pottery and the personal connection it creates with those who use his pieces.
The wellsprings of his work are knowing and following Jesus as his apprentice and the natural beauty of creation, especially the Palo Duro Canyon of Texas, flowing water, and the sky.
He is deeply influenced by being an Anglican pastor — leading people in their discipleship to Christ and caring for them through major life transitions from birth to the grave. His first career as a professional symphony violinist also greatly inspires him to translate music's melodic lines and the violin's sumptuous curves into visual form.
CREMATION URN
Title: Living Hope
Dimensions: 7 1/2” tall x 6 1/2” diameter
Wheel thrown, porcelain, multiple overlapping sprayed glazes, cone 10 reduction firing
$375
CREMATION URNS
Title: Loving Embrace
Dimensions: 8 1/2” tall x 7 1/2” diameter
Wheel thrown, porcelain, multiple overlapping sprayed glazes, cone 10 reduction firing
$375
BAPTISMAL BOWL
Title: Springs in the Desert
Dimensions: 18” wide x 3 1/2” deep
Wheel thrown, porcelaneous stoneware, multiple overlapping sprayed glazes, cone 10 reduction firing
Angela Pitts
McKinney based artist, Angela C Pitts uses photography and paint to transform ideas and spaces. Angela’s art and process is shaped by her studies of fine art at Baylor University and UNT where she earned her BFA and MFA in photography. She has shown her work at the Ft Worth Community Art Center, Dallas Baptist University and the University of North Texas. She has served as an adjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University for 7 years, where she works with upper level photography students in the Art Department. Angela loves people and hearing their stories. You can find her serving families in McKinney with her photography and taking care of her husband and three children at home. Angela uses creativity as a tool to work through her own experiences in life. She will forever be a creator and learner as she makes artwork by combining unexpected mediums and techniques such as hand stitching, cyanotype and watercolor painting. Investigations of emotions, trials, and growth is thematic throughout her bodies of work. Angela works with fabric, image transfers and alternative processes with photography to tell stories through her pieces. She finds value in the printed images, antique quilts, and simple needle and thread. She believes there is power in starting meaningful conversations about our need to live authentic lives in community with one another, and to share our suffering and struggles from day to day.
In the Hollow
18x18
Textile
$1,100
Beautiful Things Come from the House of Mourning
18x18
Textile
$900
Among the Weeping
18x18
Textile
$1,100
Artist Statement:
Where do you reside?
This series is about moving through hard seasons in life. I was inspired by the On Mortality reader to consider how we live in response to our own finitude. Taking time to sit with your emotions and to experience all that life has to offer, grief included. Among the weeping calls the viewer to consider expressing sadness among the broken. In my life, a diagnosis of a loved one really pushed me into a space of grief immediately. I had to sit in the sadness as it didn’t budge quickly. It was too heavy to brush aside. In the hollow calls to sit in the dark spaces, not forever but reside in it until you can move through it. As the road is long ahead of me, I’m not sure how long the hollow will be appropriate for my circumstances, but I’m not afraid of it. God is close to the broken hearted. And finally “beautiful things come from the house of mourning” speaks for itself. New life comes from death, and we can be new creations through faith. There is a tenderness of beauty that comes from grief. It’s unique and changes us. Grief can call us to not take life for granted and remind us that it is fleeting. May beautiful things burst forth from hard seasons. I’ve seen all of these expressed in my life this year, and I pray it speaks to anyone who needs permission to grieve.
Rebecca Prince
Irving, Texas-based painter, Rebecca Prince, embarked on her artistic journey in 2016. Primarily known for her captivating portraits, Rebecca isn't one to be confined by the limits of a single medium or technique. She's an artist driven by curiosity, fueled by the thrill of learning and problem-solving. Walk into her studio, and you'll witness an assortment of colors and experimentation; she's constantly exploring "all of the things" in her quest to create her next masterpiece.
What sets Rebecca apart is her relentless pursuit of balance. It's a dance she choreographs between the realms of realism and abstraction, where every stroke on the canvas is a delicate harmony of tiny details and the art of simplification, capturing only what is essential.
Community
4x4
Various Mediums
$40 each
Artist Statement:
I have to admit, I’ve had a love affair with leaves for many years. Despite their finite nature, I’ve tried to capture their essence in photos, envisioning them as integral references for future artworks. I’m simply fascinated by the various sizes, shapes, and colors. Then as part of the Origin series “On Mortality”, I read J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle”. Where one man’s legacy on Earth comes down to a solitary painting of a leaf.
With this spark of inspiration, I set out on my own artistic journey, pushing the boundaries of mediums and techniques. My mission was clear: each leaf had to transcend, telling its own unique story of individuality. But there's a twist to this tale.
At the heart of Art House Dallas, is a place dedicated to fostering a sense of community for the common good. While each leaf holds its own charm, I realized their true power lay in unity. Therefore, I brought them together and connected them through this installation which signifies the essence of the community itself. It's a testament to how we grow and flourish when we support the arts, artists, and organizations like Art House Dallas.
As you take in this exhibition, my hope is that these leaves find their way into your heart and home, reminding us all how a vibrant community flourishes when we stand together in support of each other.
Amelia Robert
Amelia Robert finds inspiration for her artworks in antique and nostalgic treasures, plants, animals, architecture, and other everyday sights
A Heavenly Gathering
Mixed Media
$150
Artist Statement: This piece is dedicated to a family friend, Warren, who recently passed away from cancer. Warren was a very social and lively person who made friends everywhere he went. Shortly before his passing, he expressed to my dad that he had regrets about spending so much of the end of his life undergoing aggressive medical treatments that ultimately did not save him rather than spending that time with family and friends. I wanted to use this piece to imagine a gathering of friends, old and new, who would be there to greet him in heaven.
Bree Smith
Shattered
30x40
Oil, resin plastic, and gouache on canvas
$1550
Based in Dallas, Texas, Bree Smith is a multidisciplinary artist creating 2D work in mixed media paintings, sculptures, and murals. Holding a BFA in studio art, Bree expresses her idealistic perspective through bright, polychromatic pastel and neon colors to delve into concepts surrounding space colonization and futuristic pop culture.
Her work has been collected throughout the United States and Canada, and her work has been featured in various publications, including Create! Magazine, I Like Your Work, PIKCHUR Magazine, and Dallas Style & Design Magazine.
Expanding her artistic reach beyond traditional venues, Bree's work has been featured on streetlight banners and in an interactive installation at Mockingbird Station in Dallas. Additionally, she curated her first exhibition at the Deep Ellum Art Co. gallery in Dallas in 2022 which featured all female artists.
Jennifer Stone
Jennifer B. Stone is a mixed media artist and educator whose work explores the human condition through her own life experiences and Christian faith.
Her work is colorful, whimsical, yet serious and often shifts between narrative and abstraction. Jennifer earned her BFA in Art Education in 2017 at UT Arlington. She is a DFW native who is based out of Arlington, TX.
What’s To Come & Just the Good Lord Keeping Me
9x12
Watercolor
$683 each
Artist Statement:
We were all children once and hopefully enjoyed playing, one of my favorite games –hide and seek with friends or siblings. Maybe you grew up playing Tug-of-war during gym class or on field day at school where all the kids competed in a day of friendly athletic competition. I love playing games and maybe you do too– they’re a fun way to spend time with loved ones. The older we get, the more we tend to yearn for the days of our youth because it means we’re closer to the inevitable–death.
From the moment we’re born, we’re conditioned to be afraid, even disgusted at the thought or sight of death. And for good reason too –death can come suddenly and sometimes in the most gruesome of ways. But many of us live our life as if it’s not going to happen and when death seems close– we try to cling onto life as if we always have control over when our final moment will be. What if we stopped trying to avoid death, grasping onto our time as if this life is all there ever is and will be. What if we instead enjoyed our time with our loved ones knowing that our death could come at any moment? What if we knew that that this life gives us glimpses of a better life to come if your hope is in the right place?
I wanted to explore our collective feelings about death by using childhood games to make talking about death a little less heavy and more hopeful. But also wanted to give glimpses of the beauty on the other side of eternity in my artwork. I know that death will come one day and so it doesn’t really scare me since I know that when I die, I’ll go where true and full joy is and that is with Jesus and all His beauty. I hope to see you there too.
Allison Streett
Using the language of the human figure Allison Streett strives to provoke insights into ourselves and those around us, challenging us to acknowledge our true relationship to each other, and inviting us to imagine a more just future.
Allison has received local and national recognition for her figurative sculpture and drawings in many group exhibitions and competitions. Among her recent accomplishments, her work was featured in "Emerging Stars in American Sculpture" hosted by the National Sculpture Society at Brookgreen Gardens in 2019, and her sculpture was selected for the Portrait Society of America’s Tri-State Competition in 2019, the 88th and 90th National Sculpture Society Annual Awards Exhibition, and the National Sculpture Society Texas-Oklahoma Regional Exhibition in 2023, where her portrait Becoming was awarded Second Place. She is currently working on a new body of work for her upcoming solo show at Hardin-Simmons University in September 2024.
Lily of the Valley
Plaster
24" x 9" x .25"
$850
Poison Hemlock
Plaster
24" x 9" x .25"
$850
The Work of My Hands, fragment
Aqua Resin
14" x 9" x 7"
$1500