A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to announce Quiet observations, an exhibition of recent work by A.I.R. National Member Duwenavue Santé Johnson. In Quiet observations, Johnson uses hand embroidery, collage, and painting to consider issues of history, time, memory, balance, and stillness.

The works on view manifest as bold configurations of textured patterns and colors intricately collaged and painted in compositions reminiscent of landscapes. Industrially manufactured materials such as paper and cotton bandanas are altered with hand embroidery and paint to explore history, identity, and the enduring influence of social norms. Through her use of these materials, Johnson conjures voices across time, mapping both our personal and collective memories.

Created through a repetitive, meditative process—hand embroidered stitches, delicately collaged elements, and expressively painted gestures—Johnson’s works ruminate on the known and unknown, past and future. Embedded in the works’ materiality is the weight of memory and inheritance, acknowledging how the echoes of past experiences inform our present realities. Quiet observations serves as a visual metaphor for the artist’s ongoing journey to find stillness amidst history’s persistent forward motion, as well as the sense of liberation that comes with understanding one's place within the constant flow.