“You Diff Rent” at Inner Horizons

On Saturday, April 5, a new group show at the Ardest Gallery entitled Inner Horizons opened in the Woodlands. Juried by Heather Braman, this show highlights artwork from 17 local Texas artists exploring the eclectic and often mesmerizing landscapes hidden within consciousness.

I was super excited to have my new mixed media piece entitled “You Diff Rent” among the cool collection.

This piece is very different for me, following my newfound venture into collage introduced back in February. Ever since I took a workshop from Joseph Staley last year, I allow myself a couple of hours each week to explore different techniques, mixing and matching forms and cutouts with the innocent joy of a little kid. How fun!

This piece in particular started with the four people shishing the viewer: Shhhhh! I had a bunch of eyeballs cut out too and thought they might go well with the call for silence. If you can’t speak, hopefully you can see, right?

Meanwhile, my studio was full of unfinished business — lots of tests and studies of different applications. Among them was a perspective pine forest landscape that didn’t go anywhere by itself. It seemed like the perfect place to put these pieces.

Alongside that was a pile of discarded misprints of my painting I Heart Swim. I thought they’d look better in collage form than in the trash can. So then I just… made it all work.

People often ask: But, Jeff, what does it mean?

I don’t know. I don’t know if it means anything really. But I do know it serves as a good glimpse at how I see the world. Wherever I go I imagine filling the empty spaces around me with shapes using whatever form or object gains my attention at any particular moment.

I find that to be very fun! Consider it my very own “Inner Horizon.”

This show is open through April 26, 2025 and the piece is available for purchase through the Ardest Gallery.

Before you go, please, tell me in the comments: what sticks out to you the most about this piece? Thanks for reading!