A Recollection of the artwork I exhibited for CaraVana Presents: Interlace, at artverse gallery in paris, france
I didn’t expect to be back in Paris so soon. The first time I was there was a few months ago during Paris Fashion Week, October of last year (2025). To exhibit my art in a city that’s so well known for its rich fashion, culinary, and artistic culture — was a gift from God and the universe. I’ve also never had the opportunity or luxury to create art for a physical space, but with this exhibition I was allowed to do so. Showing my art, how I wanted.
Preparation for the Interlace show was quite tedious and stressful. My objective was to pursue things I’ve never done or have seen before. Well rather, things I have seen before but not in this way. I showcased four separate projects: Sonder / Pareidolia (photography), Wilderness (photography on textile with design), Forgiveness (sculpture), & ‘Untitled, Book’ (abstraction via Indian ink).
(February, 2026)
Sonder / Pareidolia, was a collaboration I did with my good friend Douglas McCurdy. The foundation of the idea is that everyone sees the world entirely differently, yet we all share our existence with one another. He’s driven to photograph objects in the wild (he calls them “found sculptures”), while I enjoy photographing people in candid moments. During the months of October, November, and part of December (2025) — we went on numerous photo crawls with GoPros strapped to our chests in the concrete jungle of New York City.
He believed it was a vital element to incorporate this method, in order for people to have a better grasp on what we were trying to achieve. And he was definitely right. Out of the project, we created a zine which Catherine (his wife) and he produced by hand in their home. I’m grateful for their dedication, they were able to crank those out amidst technical issues with their printer and an insane time crunch during the holiday season and snow storms.
At the show, we had two separate monitors that displayed our GoPro footage in first-person POV. On a green tiled wall, we had around a hundred prints (half his, the other half mine) showing some of the photos we took on our crawls. I had the left side in all monochrome, while he had the right side in all color. It was near the bar, so people really had no choice but to give it the time of day, which worked out perfectly for us.
It was interesting seeing people’s reactions and taking time out of their visit to sit and watch both monitors — not just one. I saw a few people converse over how we took the photos. Which at the end of the day, that’s all that matters with art — if it provokes emotion or let alone a conversation, you have succeeded in my eyes.
For my series Wilderness, I had seven prints on linen with sashiko border stitching hung by 3D-printed hangers. Which I designed and created in virtual reality. The photos taken were from my second visit to London in October/November of last year. It was November 3rd, which is my late mother’s birthday. To honor her, I ended the evening with a coffee and red velvet cake at a random café. Afterwards, I went to Blue’s Kitchen in Camden, which my friend Javier took me to on my first visit. Leaving at close, I took the tube and began to head back to where I was crashing. Which was my other friends Brandon and Eleanor’s flat. They had the kindness to allow me to stay for a few days. Trusting Google Maps while tipsy can be quite dangerous, as after I got out of the station, it took me through what I can only describe as a haunted forest.
Halfway through, I began to get scared and wanted to head back and find another way to them. But I decided to stick it through and try to find my way, as Google Maps said the same distance back is the same distance forward. Using my iPhone’s flash, I had to watch where I was stepping, and to even see where the path was leading me. Hearing twigs break in the distance, nocturnal animals began to awaken. I was scared out of my mind! But something in me told me to document my experience. Which pushed me to pull out my Ricoh GRIIIx and begin to take photos as I roamed in darkness.
What brought me fear turned into play. As I was taking the photos, I couldn’t help but think “wow, this is like some Resident Evil type beat stuff”. Eventually, I found my way to their flat and told Brandon what happened. His immediate response was “Dude, why would you go through that park at night?”. Quickly, I blamed the maps app, then showed him the batch of photos taken, which we both enjoyed. Honestly, gratitude doesn’t describe how lucky I feel towards that eerie experience. I felt alive and felt in my element with my trusty camera.
For the process of printing the photographs on linen, it was inspired by an exhibition I attended at a local gallery last June or sometime around then. It was a room filled with pieces by artists of the Black diaspora. On a large white linen sheet, there were two black men in monochrome. That moment shifted things for me; my instant mental response was — “when I’m given the chance, my photos will have to be displayed on fabric too”. Luckily, I was able to source a local company to produce the prints for me. Adding a sashiko border was a passing thought I decided to act on. My thought was that it would give a personal touch, while making the composition pop a bit more.
The idea of the hanging system was inspired by my three-month exploration throughout Europe last year. For the months of September, October, and November, I had the privilege of visiting: Barcelona, Spain → Paris, France → Guildford (and London), England → Köln (and Berlin), Germany → London, England (again) → Köln, Germany (again). Outside of rich, meaningful experiences spent with loved ones, I was able to soak in architecture, art, and design that was completely foreign and unique to me. Almost everywhere I went, relief sculptures would hover over me. Which led me to settle on the idea of using my devil figure’s imagery to hold the fabric prints.
The sketches I made probably took no more than five to six minutes to flesh out. The original VR sculpt took no more than fifteen, but tinkering with the model in Blender and its orientation took quite a bit of time. Failed print after failed print, doubt began to arise and made me feel unsure if I was able to execute on my vision. Ignoring that part of my mind, I was able to figure out the correct angle and settings to print them. Each print took about six hours to produce on my pretty dated 3D printer, but I’m still satisfied with the result.
Forgiveness is my first physical sculpture to date. Sculpted in VR, posed in Blender, and brought to life with an Elegoo resin printer. What drove me to create the piece was from a conversation I had with a friend of mine. We were discussing how art should be honest, vulnerable, and transparent to what’s within the artist themselves. Kinda like a glass frog, which are those frogs whose underbelly is transparent, to where you’re able to see their organs and stuff. It may be one of my most honest pieces of work, at the very least — in the past few years. Originally I was envisioning an arrow to be placed in the being’s torso, made a few sketches around that. Then one night I decided to watch ’13 Assassins’ (2010) — which is an incredible movie about ronins, perseverance, honor, and so much more. The opening scene was sort of an omen for me, a good omen at that as it made me unlock a new pose.
After finishing the film, I decided that my figure will be posed in the act of committing Harakiri. From my understanding the difference between Harakiri and Seppuku, is that the latter is done in front of others while the former is done alone. For those who are unaware what either are — Seppuku is ritualistic suicide, that was done by samurais and dates back to 8th century Japan in the Heian period.
The base was sculpted in a way to create an organic shaped-form, similar to water. Symbolizing a rising tide taking over the figure, like being stuck at sea surrounded by waves. Originally the figure was going to be wingless, but I thought that it would add an extra element if I gave them wings. A potential representation a fallen angel attempting to make amends with their past errors. The initial plan for the sculpture was to be multi-colored, but I thought it would be more fitting to have it all black.
Credit: Celestial Body
The last piece exhibited was an artist-book titled Untitled. I was clearing out my house and found an old graph papered notebook I used back in college. It was pretty mint, so I set it aside thinking it would be of use down the road. Another passing thought I had was “why don’t I create a book and make a custom cover?”. I’ve been to exhibitions of peers and other artists, where they displayed their art in a 1:1 book-format. So why can’t I do the same? When it came down to this piece, I really didn’t overthink it. During my three-month stint in Europe, I bought a jar of Indian ink in Köln that was produced in Germany. I only used it for sketches in my sketchbook, but never done a “piece” with it.
So from the end of December to early January, I sat down and let my subconscious take over when I was in front of the paper. In the background, I had random movies on, and I sort of think the films gave me a boost in the creation. I really created with no direction and allowed my dip pen and brush to do all the work. It was an exercise that was quite freeing to do — the outside world and thoughts were turned completely off, while the films were just background noise. For the cover and backing, I decided to go with black canvas fabric I got in NY, while Doug and I were working on Sonder / Pareidolia. On the cover I used denim that was purchased locally, to create a sort of patchwork design with sashiko stitching. That small detail might be my favorite thing about the book. While I bound it with waxed cotton string, to protect the paper for time to come.
Credit: Celestial Body
I’m insanely grateful for this whole experience. From the process of planning the pieces, to creating each and every piece, to displaying it at Artverse Gallery. Taking time out to write this has allowed me to soak in the experience even more. I would like to thank these people who directly and indirectly allowed me to achieve this. So thank you to: Javier, Sara in Köln, Brandon and Eleanor, Keth and Celon, Ayshe, Johnathan, Douglas and Catherine, Sara in London, Numa, Vincenzo Pagnotta, Lisanne Haack, Flavio Malaguti, Darren, Caravana Presents, Exchange Art, Mallow, Artverse Gallery, and everyone I interacted with across Europe and New York leading up to this… Because without these people, none of this would have been possible, via the butterfly effect and/or the organization of the exhibition. So thank y’all, and thank you reader for taking time out of your day to read my thoughts.
Until next time & with love,
Jamie “Peanug” Nixon
posted March 4, 2026