Jacksonville News

ERIN KENDRICK: NEW QUARTERLY ARTIST IN THE JAX CHAMBER GALLERY PROGRAM

Curated by Mary Joan Hinson, PhD

The Gallery Program, a dynamic initiative dedicated to promoting local artists through curated quarterly exhibitions, as a new exhibit in the Chamber building. This program transforms the Chamber’s space into a vibrant cultural hub where business and creativity intersect. Each exhibit will feature a rotating selection of artists from the Jacksonville area, offering them a professional platform to showcase their work to a diverse audience of community members, business leaders, and visitors. The initiative underscores the Chamber’s ongoing commitment to supporting local talent and fostering economic and cultural growth. The JAX Chamber welcomes visitors who would like to see these exhibits firsthand.  For more information about the Chamber Gallery Program, upcoming exhibits, or artist participation opportunities, please contact Mary Joan Hinson at 904-315-2777 or brushandoil@gmail.com. 

Meet this quarter's artist below!

 

 

 

 

Erin Kendrick - October 1, 2026 - January 4, 2027

Erin Kendrick

eriniscreative.co

Instagram @eriniscreative.com

 

                  Through color-rich portraiture and immersive, site-responsive installations, my practice investigates black girlhood as a spatial experience rather than a temporal one. It serves as both a critical inquiry and a visual scholarship, exploring the intersections of spatial justice, identity formation, and the pursuit of psychological and physical safety.  In my exhibitions, spaces become sanctuaries where the cast of characters depicted in my stained, fluid acrylic paintings can exchange with, respond to, and safeguard one another. The integration of installation and painting welcomes the viewer into the visual narrative, inviting them to contemplate their role as both spectator and spectacle. By blurring the boundaries between artwork, viewer, and space, I aim to cultivate connection and provoke introspection. Drawing inspiration from artists. Barkley Hendricks, Faith Ringgold, Simone Leigh, and Ebony G. Patterson, as well as cultural critic bell hooks, I invoke the transformative power of looking and seeing, engaging the viewer in the oppositional gaze. Central to my artistic expression is the deliberate incorporation of visual narrative techniques borrowed from literary storytelling, employing elements such as character development, foreshadowing, and varied points of view. Within these works, specific motifs such as polka dots, hair beads, tables, eggs, and shotgun houses function as nuanced "easter eggs," intricately interwoven to guide viewers on a cohesive journey from inception to resolution. This fusion of storytelling techniques enriches comprehension, fostering empathy and forging profound connections.