New exhibition from Southeast Queens organizer set for JCAL

An exhibition highlighting the work of Angela Miskis is opening at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning at the end of the month. Image courtesy of artist

By Rachel Vick

A new exhibition headed to the Jamaica Center for the Arts and Learning at the end of June explores internal identity and invites patrons to do the same.

“It’s a Luxury to Look Back,” artist Angela Miskis’ survey exhibition, features 50 multimedia works, paintings and drawings.

"My work is about finding balance and striving toward self-actualization through chaos and chance,” Miskis said.

“I represent my mental health journey in my artwork - building a visual dictionary of my body and how it stores and communicates emotions from pain to liberation,” she added. “I hope the viewer can see their own experience in my work and will help them find a way to understand their mind and body connection."

In 2019, she began to explore different ways to upcycle and recycle materials for her art, turning packaging material into stencils that were in turn repurposed and reused. Her more recent works evolved to using stencils of her body to evoke the self-healing journey.

Miskis was born Ecuador and, in addition to her art, is the founder of grass-roots organization Abuela Neighborhood Maintenance to address quality of life issues in Southeast Queens.

Curator Teri Henderson celebrated Miskis ability and the way she “infuses each artwork with a radical vulnerability.”

“With each remix and reuse, Miskis is not only processing her memories but carrying a thread of her personal history with her into new artwork,” Henderson said. “The making of Miskis’ work is an act of reinvention and empowerment; the creation of her paintings allows the artist to build pieces that are layered with affirmation and self-assurance. ‘It's a Luxury to Look Back’ voices the triumph of actively healing from past difficult experiences, an exhibition of artworks that heals Miskis and others.”

An opening reception will be held Thursday, June 30 and the exhibit will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until its closing on July 29.