My painting Beach Femme is included in the group exhibition In the Midst at JDJ, curated by Jayne Johnson with Bea Scaccia. The piece is part of an ongoing series depicting figures on a nondescript beach, an environment I use to evoke a sense of oppressive heat and the sensation of a slow burn. The painting courts sensuality: the figure’s reclined, serpentine pose, the tactile richness of the surface, and the saturated reds of the watermelon flesh all conjure bodily presence and intensity. But that very lushness also verges on discomfort. The red hues, while suggestive of ripeness and indulgence, evoke blood and abrasion; the creased, fraying support feels both intimate and exposed.
At the base of the composition, beneath the drumstick-like legs of the figure, sits a watermelon—an object loaded with sociopolitical symbolism. It references the racialized histories of both Black Americans and Palestinians, two communities often dehumanized and positioned in opposition to white supremacist ideology. In the U.S., the watermelon was weaponized through Jim Crow-era caricatures that mocked Black self-sufficiency. Over time, it has been reclaimed as a symbol of resilience. Similarly, the fruit has come to signify Palestinian liberation, with its red, green, black, and white echoing the colors of the Palestinian flag.
In Beach Femme, these contradictions are held in tension. The painting doesn’t simply depict a body at rest; it stages the complex realities of visibility for racialized bodies in leisure spaces. It holds space for both the sensual and the sinister—where pleasure is always politicized, and even rest bears the weight of resistance.
From the press release:
Curated by Jayne Johnson with Bea Scaccia, In the Midst brings together an intergenerational group of artists whose work captures the essence of liminality. A sense of in-betweenness can conjure contradicting feelings: from uneasiness and instability to excitement about the potential for transformation and change. The works in this exhibition, be they figurative, terrestrial, atmospheric, or symbolic, evoke this transitory quality.
In the Midst opens June 24th-July 25th with a reception on June 27th from 6-8 PM at JDJ.