NextGen 12.0 Artists

NextGen 12.0 is the 12th installment of our annual juried exhibition for emerging artists in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia region.

This year’s show features 15 early-career artists, ages 17 to 27; most have little or no prior exhibition experience.

NextGen 12.0 gives these artists the chance to show work in a professional gallery setting and take part in a robust lineup of programming — including an opening celebration, artist talks, and peer conversations.

Jean Luc Chretien

Artist Statement

My work explores the question: How can color and perspective give form to the intangible structures of my mind? I’ve always been curious about my thought processes, as they are intangible, weird, and undefinable yet deeply personal. Sometimes, I get trapped in them, while other times, they lie in the background and subtly shape my worldview. Through surreal perspectives and environments, I embrace this uncertainty and oddness in my art. Color plays an equally important role in my practice. Before laying colored pencils over my pieces, many of them start with abstract, fluorescent acrylic ink washes. While the washes confuse my sense of natural color relationships, they also draw out something more instinctual in me when choosing later tones and hues. My resulting body of work interrogates my culture, gender, and psychology, exploring the tension between conscious intention and impulse, clarity and confusion.

Artist Bio

Jean-Luc is a 17-year-old multimedia artist and high school Junior at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. He enjoys using art to explore psychology, identity, and perception through surreal and introspective pieces, and he is constantly fascinated by the weirdness and intricacies of our minds. With his practice, he hopes people leave his work feeling confused yet intrigued. He is a National Scholastic Gold Medalist and winner of the Congressional Art Competition, with work exhibited in the U.S. Capitol. Outside the studio, he leads an annual international teen art exhibition focused on mental health and interns with the National Portrait Gallery’s Teen Museum Council. When he’s not making art, he’s running, listening to music, or walking around DC. He hopes to study psychology and art in college.

Adam Goodman

Artist Bio

Adam Philip Goodman was born in Germantown, Maryland in 1999 and earned his BFA in Communication Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in the Fall of 2020. Goodman works primarily in collage and film photography to document urban environments through a comedic lens. He was a featured illustrator for the Visual Art Center of Richmond in 2023 and has had work shown in VCU’s The Anderson Gallery.

Artist Statement

Through a lens of humor, my work explores the absurdities of urban life by blending photography, collage, and graphic design. By juxtaposing everyday elements in unexpected ways, I aim to highlight the surreal, chaotic, and often overlooked aspects of city living.

Alexis Irby

Artist Statement

I am a sculptor, collector, and explorer. Hubcaps, feathers, broken electronics, rocks, and candlesticks are just a few examples of collections you might find in my studio. I highlight the mundane and overlooked parts of life by repurposing found and post-consumer objects, united with natural materials and crafted elements. This combination introduces a sense of absurdity and sometimes humor into my sculptures, documenting aspects of reality in ambiguous compositions. The narratives behind my work are comprised of idiosyncratic specificity, intentionally leaving the purpose unclear. This invites viewers to examine objects more closely, to form a personal reflection, and to arrive at an individualized meaning. Chosen materials directly influence the design of my creations. I seek objects through an exploratory and spontaneous process. Sometimes I set out on a walk intending to collect something specific, like twigs or river glass. During these treasure hunts, I encounter additional materials along the way. I am always alert for the unexpected, synchronistic moment of coming across an object that sparks my interest. Qualities of the found item draw my attention, such as the color, texture, or even the location in which it was found. I use these formal elements and symbolic characteristics, both personal and societal, to guide the groupings which form my assemblages. Much of my work is a diaristic process, a constellation of moments brought together, captured in an artifact representative of a specific time, place, or idea. A heuristic approach allows me to discover more about the materials as I work with them.

Artist Bio

Alexis Irby is a visual artist and educator currently living in Columbia, Maryland. She is an Adjunct Professor and MFA Candidate at Towson University, pursuing a Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in sculpture. Her art draws inspiration from both nature and post-consumer objects, with a focus on formal qualities such as shape and pattern. She has exhibited sculptural work in a variety of galleries and exhibitions in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Delaware. Alexis has two Bachelor’s degrees in Art Education and Art & Design, with a concentration in the Fine Arts. She taught art at Oakland Mills High School for three years before returning to continue her education, and currently works as a substitute teacher for the Howard County Public School System. Aside from art and education, she is passionate about music, nature, and caring for animals.

Leah Lowery

Artist Statement

I identify myself as a mixed-media artist who uses art to communicate interchangeably as and to Source. My work is an ode and meditation on the unconscious self. I use a range of mediums such as oil and acrylic paint, paper, fabric, wire and found objects to tell stories of creation through the essence of the black woman.

Artist Bio

Leah Lowery is a mixed-media artist based out of Prince Georges County, Maryland. Lowery has attended school for Studio Art at Montgomery College and has experience as an art associate at her local art store where her love for mixed-media expanded and evolved. Lowery has exhibited work in multiple galleries across the DMV area and also extends her creative practice to apothecary which can be found at multiple local markets and Etsy.

Emi Lundblad

Artist Statement

I make art that elicits emotions. Sometimes, I am freeing my own emotions that have been tethered inside me. Other times, I want to engage my viewer. Get them to feel disappointment with the world, reminisce on the past, and experience deep sadness with a glimmer of hope. My personal space at home is very important to me. I include places such as my bathroom, bedroom and kitchen table in my artworks. I like taking my house’s boring walls and plain furniture and bringing them to life in sharp focus and vibrant colors. I also like creating pieces with social and political commentary. I take my verbal complaints about the world and weave them into intricate detailed visual displays. Occasionally, I sprinkle some humor into my works, such as cute animals, exaggerated facial expressions, and interesting titles. I have a preference to create work in more forgiving mediums, such as gouache, pastel, charcoal, graphite pencil and clay.

Artist Bio

Emi Lundblad (He/They) is a 19 year old full-time student at George Mason University. He is also a student at US Arts Center, and has been attending their classes for 12 years. Emi also took digital art and ceramics classes throughout middle school and high school. In 2024, Emi earned the Scholastic Gold Key Award for his digital artwork Baba’s Kitchen.

Alexandra McGowan

Artist Statement

My work emerges from the practice of observing nature and myself, such as shifting shadows on pavement, or the colors seen when closing my eyes to kiss my partner. Engaging with fluid acrylic paints, I work instinctively to allow the suspended pigments to employ their own movements and inform my next gesture. Through this practice I learn to embrace changes beyond my control, rather than fearing them. I notice subtleties in nature, specifically the flow of water and softness of shadows, and utilize them in my work to translate a delicate, shifting temperament. My work is created to allow the viewer to reflect on and celebrate the delicate moments we can often miss in day to day life. It is a manifestation of queer joy.

Artist Bio

Alexandra McGowan (b.2001) is a multimedia artist from Richmond Virginia specializing in painting, and sculpture. She received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking, with a Minor in Art History from Virginia Commonwealth University. Most of her work is abstract, taking inspiration from natural ephemera and what she sees when she closes her eyes. Alexandra uses transparent washes of watered down acrylic to create soft abstracted landscapes of color. Her aim is to make gentle environments that embrace subtlety and remind the viewer of times of love and safety.

Amuri Morris

Artist Statement

I aim to show how western culture tends to negate and undermine the place of black figures. I want to explore this displacement by bringing visibility to these figures and acknowledging the presence these usurped figures had in western backdrops. I often superimpose a higher presence in a corrective manner. The intersectionality between the often overlapping trauma of blackness, womanhood, and (the disadvantaged) class becomes readily apparent in my work. This plane of intersectionality is conceived from hegemonic powers that narrate our invisibility or roles as Jezebels, Mammies, Sapphires, or deviants. To combat this I aim to depict black beauty and excellence. My pieces break free from this imposed identity and explore new ranges. It’s important to see the black protagonist, the black leader, the black achiever, while still consciously alluding to and rectifying the imposed otherness of black figures. My paintings create this fantastical fruitfulness that gratifies my inner child but also often acknowledges the “making do” of the past and the often unconventional charm these memories have. Although these adversities were present there is a nostalgic lens I look back on my childhood memories with that points towards resilience. The intersection between the past, present, and reimagined spaces all pull together to varying degrees in my work.

Artist Bio

Amuri Morris is an artist based in Richmond, Va. She recently graduated from painting and printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University. Throughout the years she has acquired several artistic accolades such as a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship and has participated in over a dozen exhbitions. She aims to promote diversity in art canon, specifically focusing on the black experience. You can find more of her work at www.murisart.com.

Sora Munkhbold

Artist Statement

How much weight does the past truly carry within us? We pass by strangers every day, unaware of the hidden worlds behind their eyes, their griefs, joys, and the quiet strength shaped by their memories. As we grow older, we often become guarded and protective of ourselves. The past seems to creep up on us, trying to understand how they’ve carved us into who we are. Though the past does not exist in a tangible form, it lingers. Pulling us back and urging us to make sense of it. We only begin to understand when we take the time to look inward. My work dives into the personal journey of becoming, shaping identity while navigating a society with culture, contradiction, and collision. Through realistic portraiture, I capture the people around me and place them within thoughtful, symbolic environments that carry a deeper message. My work is inspired by East Asian and Mongolian cultural patterns and I use the patterns to represent the deeper messages behind my work.

Artist Bio

Sora Munkhbold is a DMV based artist pursuing her BFA in Fine Arts, Painting. She graduated from Duke Ellington School of The Arts, with an award, “The Most Outstanding Student” in 2024, and completed her first year at Maryland Institute college of Art. Her work is inspired from her upbringing in Mongolia. She works with oil, watercolor, and drawing media, focusing on realistic figurative paintings. Her work explores life experiences and identity, while incorporating Mongolian cultural patterns.

Cora Olson

Artist Statement

My current work explores the emotional and generational weight carried by eldest daughters, and how maternal relationships shape families and broader social structures. Through ceramic sculpture, I investigate the complexities of caregiving, expectation, and inherited roles, as well as the tender, sometimes overwhelming, act of welcoming motherhood into one’s life. I am drawn to the idea of the eternal family the ways in which generations of women are interconnected through memory, labor, and love. Working primarily with large-scale forms, busts, and figurative abstractions, I use clay’s tactile, responsive nature to express these layered relationships. Building, assembling, and sometimes fracturing these forms allows me to physically manifest both the burden and beauty of familial bonds, creating spaces where personal narrative meets collective experience.

Artist Bio

Cora Olson is a ceramic artist whose practice investigates familial identity, maternal labor, and the evolving roles of women across generations. She received her B.A. in Studio Art from the University of Mary Washington, where she concentrated in ceramics and developed a strong foundation in both functional and sculptural work. After graduating, she was part of a studio/gallery collective in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and later returned to Northern Virginia to continue her studio practice while teaching art at the elementary and adult education levels. Olson is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at George Washington University, where her work focuses on large-scale ceramic sculptures and installations that explore themes of motherhood, generational memory, and the emotional landscapes of care and resilience.

Keeley Rae

Artist Statement

“Fragile Creatures” that what we, My work explores human vulnerability – the aged, the impoverished, the sad, the lonely, the newborn. The inspiration came during a visit to the Met, where I encountered Adonis by Antonio Corradini. His sculpted form looked less like a mighty hunter’s epic death and more like a young boy drifting off to sleep. The vulnerability struck me deeply. I began wondering how many such delicate moments we witness in our daily lives. For these drawings I switched from my usual oil paints to charcoal and pastel. Charcoal embodies fragility – it wipes away easily, requires fixative to adhere to paper, and needs glass protection for display. This medium reflects my feelings about the future and the desire to preserve what’s delicate, to make the temporary more permanent.

Artist Bio

Keeley Rae is a portrait and figurative artist in the DC metro area. She is a copyist at the National Gallery of Art, and an instructor with The Art League and Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington. Keeley began her art career at 17 being commissioned to paint several murals around her home near Portland, Oregon. After graduating with her bachelor’s in fine arts, she worked as a studio and gallery assistant for Utah artist J. Kirk Richards. During a visit with family, who had relocated to Washington, DC she receive an offer to teach art classes. A short visit become a permanent move to the nation’s capital when she excepted the offer. She has since been involved in the DC art scene, showcasing at local galleries, teaching classes, and painting in museums. When not creating or teaching art, Keeley can be found biking the trails near her home, collecting national park passport stamps, or diving into a good book.

Maria Sanchez

Artist Statement

Leaving my native country, Venezuela, at a young age has led me to explore questions about self, place, and belonging in my work. My art practice documents the presence and absence of my body through devices and materials such as: cameras, mirrors, metal wire, hair, and charcoal. I use my body as a camera and a mirror that constantly transforms, distorts, contains, and fragments itself into new forms in order to communicate with my female ancestors, mother-earth, and myself. I reference the 19th century female malady of hysteria in my work, using it as a vehicle to transmit non-verbal messages. In particular, I am creating portals to communicate with Maritza del Coromoto, my grandmother who I never met, although I am her reflection and resemblance. Through her, I hope to find answers about my roots, womanhood, spirituality and deterritorialization. I have also formed relationships with Venezuelan figures like: la venus de Tacarigua, la virgen de Coromoto, and María Lionza. Desenterrando (Unearthing), is an installation with metal-wire sculptures. Using metal-wire, I draw gestures with my hands and incorporate natural materials: hair, stone beads, broken mirrors, candle wax, and hand gestures with pencil and charcoal. This meditative process of twisting the material is a form of containing and releasing energy, memories, and traces of myself. With my work, I am evoking a longing for something not lived, about a place (Venezuela) that lives in my memories, but a part of me is still there and maybe it should not have been gone.

Artist Bio

María Sánchez was born in Caracas, Venezuela and is based in Baltimore, Maryland. She is currently a MFA Candidate for the Intermedia and Digital Arts program at UMBC, and has a Graphic Design BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. She is working as the Communication Team Researcher at the Imaging Research Center, the IMDA Assistant for UMBC, and as the Assistant intern for Connect + Collect Gallery and BmoreArt. She uses video projection, sculpture, and performance to explore narratives about her ancestors, embodiment, and spirituality. María uses her body to document the presence and absence of those narratives through devices and materials such as: cameras, mirrors, metal-wire, hair, and natural stone beads. Her work is an accumulation of reflections and conversations with her ancestors and roots, in which she is continually unearthing memories with the uncertainty of an answer.

Shaylin Wallace

Artist Statement

I create surreal digital collages using Photoshop. By digitally combining, cutting and pasting photos together, I turn ordinary images into extraordinary surreal masterpieces. I use collage as a way to capture and bring my innermost thoughts, feelings and imaginative ideas to life. Many of my works center around the divine connection between humans, nature, and the universe. My speciality is blending flowers, portraits and elements of the natural world together, creating vulnerable, yet stunning series of artworks. I have many unique surreal styles that can be very minimalistic, colorful, amusing and powerful.

Artist Bio

Shaylin Wallace (b.1999) is a Jamaican-American surreal collage artist from Wilmington Delaware, based in Washington, DC. Wallace started exploring surrealism in her teenage years, intrigued by surreal paintings. She began her digital collage journey by editing her own photographs on her cellphone using photo-editing apps. Her pastime hobby steadily became her passion. After graduating high school, Wallace enrolled at Salisbury University, receiving her BFA in Graphic Design in Spring, 2021. She used her newfound design knowledge to grow her freelance business, SMW Visuals. Wallace has had her works exhibited in the United States and internationally including New York, Florida, Georgia, Italy, Portugal, and Dubai. In the fall of 2023, Wallace had her very first solo exhibition at the Delaware Contemporary Platform Gallery. Her solo exhibition honored her childhood home, neighborhood and the city she grew up in.

Tia Wilson

Artist Statement

The notion of self and culture are fleeting and ever-changing. I believe my paintings preserve, exhibit, and abstract revelations and surroundings. I enjoy using the qualities of two-dimensional materials and shapes to create immersive and bold works. My paintings rely on curiosity and connection, inviting familiarity with those who view them. I focus on personal thoughts on cultural identity, how I relate with my respective cultural spaces, and individual growth and relationships, in any sense of the word.

Artist Bio

Tia Wilson is a visual artist, cartoonist, and designer living in the DMV. They work traditionally in an array of mediums, such as painting, printmaking, comics, and dimensional work. Tia has exhibited work nationwide, notably in New York, New York, California, D.C., Baltimore, and Rochester, NY.

Merrin Winkel

Artist Bio

Merrin Winkel (b.1999) is a Richmond, Virginia based multimedia artist, screen-printer and graphic designer. In 2023, they received a BFA in Painting & Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University, where they were awarded the VCUarts Talent scholarship. They have exhibited their work in Alexandria, Virginia at Kyo Gallery, in Arlington, Virginia at Artisphere, Santa Fe, New Mexico at Axle Contemporary, and in Richmond, Virginia at Black Iris, Material Room, Artworks, and the Anderson galleries. Their work is also featured in Heaven Replied, published by Renascence Books. As an interdisciplinary artist they specialize in drawing, painting, and digital media.

Artist Statement

Hu Zeqian

Artist Statement

For me, creating art is akin to orchestrating a symphony, blending images and emotions into a harmonious whole. Drawing from a variety of sources like museum collections, magazines, photos, and medieval artifacts, I find inspiration within resources available online and in the physical world. Sketches are an essential and integral part of my creative process; they are not merely preliminary. Unlike many artists who sketch on paper, I predominantly use Adobe software for sketches. Selecting images for combination and color coordination consumes a significant portion of my creative time. My sketches are applied to canvas using an original flat painting technique. My canvases incorporate elements of Chinese dunhuang mural plants, flame patterns, and Western medieval manuscript motifs. Inspired by the techniques of Tang Dynasty artist Wu Daozi, I incorporate white figurative line patterns that intentionally blur object definitions while highlighting unique details. This approach draws viewers into the intricate layers of my work, challenging them to discern between abstraction and figuration. By employing techniques reminiscent of printmaking and collage, I create a visual experience that keeps audiences engaged, prompting them to explore the intricate details within each piece. I endeavor that my works also serve as a reflection of our inner thoughts through the vivid imagery depicted on the canvas. Utilizing vibrant, almost psychedelic industrial colors as my primary palette, I aim to capture the dynamic interplay of light and shadow found in nature, creating a luminous neon effect throughout my works. By purposefully replicating or reorganizing images, I transform them, blurring the lines between digital and figurative art, and challenging traditional artistic categorizations. My work allows me to breathe new life into forgotten moments, weaving them into contemporary narratives that explore the intricate connections between the past and present, fiction and reality, and personal and universal themes.

Artist Bio

Hu Zeqian, born and raised in China’ Hunan Province, currently calls Washington, D.C. his home. Hu’s artistic journey began at a young age. It was in elementary school where Hu discovered his love of expression through creativity. Eventually graduating from Shandong University of Arts in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Hu’s dedication to art has been unwavering. Throughout his university years, he diligently refined his painting techniques while embracing contemporary painting to explore new horizons. Painting, for Hu, transcends mere technical skill; it embodies the very essence of his being. Bright colors, often associated with positivity and prosperity, take on a nuanced meaning in his art. Just as in nature, where vibrant colors signal toxicity in certain organisms, the figures and elements in his works symbolize deeper desires, relationships, and the human experience. While Hu’s art celebrates the beauty and complexity of life, it also explores the darker aspects of existence, revealing themes of suffering, loss, resilience, and the perpetual pursuit of happiness amidst adversity. Through his art, Hu aims to convey profound truths of human existence – the struggles, the joys, the complexities, and the resilience that define our shared humanity. Within the intricate layers of his works lie a tapestry of emotions, from despair and nihilism to love, hope, and optimism. In embracing and exploring these contrasting elements, Hu strives to offer a glimpse into the profound depths of the human experience, inviting viewers to contemplate the complexities of life and the enduring spirit that propels us forward. Upon completing his undergraduate studies, Hu opted not to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree. Instead, he set off for Shanghai to make a living. There, he seized opportunities for growth and learning by engaging with galleries and advertising companies, enriching his experiences and paving the way for a professional career.