Spontaneous Movement Meets Silent Language: ‘Jux Ta Position’ at Longyear Gallery

That fluid energy is no accident. The exhibition, titled Jux Ta Position, explores Powell’s creative journey from choreography to canvas. It is a show where the spatial drama of figures on a stage is seamlessly translated into composed forms, images, and vibrant colors on paper and canvas.

Powell’s extensive background as a choreographer, which later drew her to Pilates, serves as the foundational anchor of her artistic practice. Just as the precise placement of dancers, costumes, lights, and set pieces weaves a nonverbal narrative during a live performance, her visual artwork articulates its own silent language. Rather than presenting a rigid, linear story, the compositions invite viewers into a layered realm of emotional expression and poetic juxtapositions between human figures, nature, and abstract elements.

“I have kind of themes that I call juxtaposition of silence,” Powell explains, drawing a direct parallel between her two artistic worlds. “One thing, like even with dance and choreography, is you can have two figures in a position and you put them in a different place and they’re still in the same position, there’s this different language that is communicated.”

For Powell, the evolution into mixed media and collage offered an avenue to solve a longstanding creative puzzle. Long known for her encaustic paintings, Powell has now embraced work in collage, often combined with the encaustic medium.

“One reason I was interested in that was I do all these drawings at the Art Students League, and they’re very, they’re quick poses, and I usually do two at once… there’s a certain spontaneousness to the drawings, right? And it’s hard to capture them again. And then I’m always like, well, how do I take those drawings to another place?”

The breakthrough came through experimenting with diverse mediums, notably encaustic, a wax-based technique, and experimental acrylic workshops. A transformative trip through Nepal and Japan last summer infused the collection with rich cultural references, textures, and unexpected backstories.

One segment of the exhibition features a compelling daily collage project born from an intuitive acrylic workshop. The pieces fuse local imagery with international memories, blending drawings of teachers in a Pilates studio with imagery from a promotional brochure for a Japanese bamboo forest, watercolors from monasteries in Lubini, Nepal, and snapshots of Kathmandu.

“It’s kind of interesting. We flew into Kathmandu, spent a couple days… When we got back to Kathmandu, there was a riot,” Powell recalls. “So we couldn’t leave the hotel. Wow, so that’s all we could do.”

The confinement sparked further creative output, pushing Powell to embrace a freer, more uninhibited style. This newfound artistic liberty is evident in her usage of unique materials, such as single layers of napkins, tissue paper, and wrapping paper to achieve a signature translucent depth.

“I feel like I need a free up,” Powell says of her embrace of collage. “It’s just kind of really pushed me in a different way that I really love.”

When pressed to identify a centerpiece of the collection, Powell points to a dynamic mixed-media creation.

“Well, this is probably my favorite,” she says, indicating a piece titled Hands On. “This is from expanding the idea of hands on, hands on, I mean, that’s what it’s called, from the drawings I did in the Pilates studio, and so it’s a combination of wrapping paper and drawings and acrylic.”

The works are compelling and Jux Ta Position will remain on display at the Longyear Art Gallery through Sunday, June 28.