By StyleMagazine.com Newswire

Join Visual Arts Alliance Saturday, October 1, at 11:00 a.m. for an in-person event, “Solving Puzzles for Peace of Mind – the Covid Years” at Poissant Gallery, 5102 Center St, Houston. Four artists, Eren Eiswirth, Brittani Kelley, Ryan Baptiste, and Chloë Helen Calthorpe Dillion Stewart, will discuss their art practice and how it has been influenced by and speaks to mental health and addiction, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, moderated by Frank Larkey, PhD.

Chloë Stewart will moderate the panel, anchoring the discussion to the practice of art as a tool for communication and awareness. “Using my mediums of mixed-media painting, installation spaces, assemblage sculptures, photography, 3D printing technology, and fashion design, I explore my experience with mental health, addiction, and domestic violence. I tackle the stigma surrounding mental illness and addiction,” says Stewart.

Ryan Baptiste’s artwork challenges viewers with symbolic narratives of memories, feelings, and individual experiences. Collapsed and decaying architecture in urban landscapes are personified in his work along with metaphorically charged portraits of people that have major influence in his life.

Brittani Kelly describes her art as reliving the traumatic stories of her predecessors. “Having experienced domestic violence myself, my work focuses on how society views Black women, their roles and dynamics within their families, and how the environments affects their mental and emotional states.”

Eren Eiswirth’s work focuses on human perception, self identity, mental health, and LGBTQ+ issues. These subjects are explored primarily with the use of optical illusions, using the physical limits of visual perception as an analogy for how people’s concept of self and understanding others are subject to change based on circumstance.

Visual Arts Alliance (VAA) is an educational organization for practitioners of the visual arts and interested members of the general public. Founded in Houston, TX in 1981, VAA is an all-volunteer run, 501(c)3, nonprofit organization. In addition to educational and recreational programs, VAA produces professionally juried art exhibitions providing opportunities for members and non-members to have their work professionally judged and viewed by the public. For membership details and more information, visit www.visualartsalliance.org.