FEATURED ARTIST

Etienne Jackson

CURATOR

Richard P. Washington

EVENTS

Inward- Opening Reception

Sat. June 6, 2026, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

The ArtsXchange, 2148 Newnan St, East Point, GA 30344, USA

FREE | Open to the public

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Inward- Artist Talk

Sat. July 11, 2026, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

The ArtsXchange, 2148 Newnan St, East Point, GA 30344, USA

FREE | Open to the public

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Curator’s Statement

The South Fulton County Invitational was created to recognize and elevate artists whose practices are deeply rooted in the cultural and creative landscape of South Fulton County. The exhibition reflects ArtsXchange’s ongoing commitment to supporting artists whose work demonstrates originality, discipline, and a distinct point of view outside the dominant visibility of Atlanta’s urban center.

For the 2026 Invitational, I selected Etienne Jackson because of the exceptional clarity and confidence within his sculptural language. Jackson’s work possesses a rare balance between structure and intuition. His organic forms in wood and metal move with a quiet force, creating a visual rhythm that feels both ancient and immediate. The asymmetrical lines and layered surfaces lead the viewer through spaces of tension, reflection, and discovery.

What is most compelling about Jackson’s work is its ability to hold complexity without overstatement. The sculptures do not attempt to explain themselves immediately. Instead, they invite sustained looking and contemplation. Their forms suggest growth, erosion, movement, and transformation while remaining open to interpretation. There is a sensitivity to balance, proportion, texture, and spatial presence that reveals an artist deeply committed to the language of form itself.

Jackson’s long-standing dedication to his practice is evident throughout this exhibition. His work reflects an artist who has developed a deeply personal visual vocabulary over time, remaining steadfast in his direction rather than following trends or expectations. That independence gives the work its strength and authenticity.

Inward: A Meditation on Memory and Presence reflects the kind of ambitious and thoughtful practice the South Fulton County Invitational was designed to support. Jackson’s work stands apart for its maturity, originality, and ability to create an experience that is at once physical, emotional, and contemplative.

Richard P. Washington, Gallery Director, Jack Sinclair Gallery

Artist Statement

Inward is a body of work that explores the relationship between past and present, the imagined and the real, and the liminal space that exists between them. Through sculpture and mixed media forms, the work seeks to create a timeless visual connection between memory, history, and speculative realities that exist beyond immediate perception. Each composition functions as both object and vessel—bridging physical space with emotional, spiritual, and ancestral experience.

Embedded within the work is a visual language informed by the histories of the African diaspora and inspired in part by the traditions of the Luba people, whose approaches to form and memory operate as encoded systems of remembrance. These works consider memoryas a living structure: a means of preserving the past while opening pathways toward understanding the present and imagining future realities not yet fully realized.

Though abstract and non-objective, the forms communicate through relationships to nature, geometry, mathematics, and the spiritual resonance that exists between these systems. The work moves inward—toward reflection, reverence, and transformation—embodying both a search for freedom and a struggle for breath.

The mixed materials throughout the exhibition reflect a personal history shaped by generations of makers, builders, and creators within my family. Wood, metal, texture, and assembled forms become extensions of inherited knowledge and lived experience.

Inward is ultimately a meditation on memory and presence: a collection of past and present works that examine states of contemplation and the enduring impressions left by those who shape our understanding of ourselves, our histories, and our collective becoming.

Etienne Jackson, Artist 2026