Dustin Bomboy
Welcome to the Party, 2025
Heart Shaped Box, 2025
City Natives, 2025
In My Blood
, 2025
To Be Continued…, 2025
Bio: Dustin Bomboy was born in Billings, Montana and raised in Richmond, Virginia. He attended classes at the VMFA, Visual Art Center, and VCU summer camp which, at a young age, inspired him to pursue a career in the arts. He has an Associates of Science from Richard Bland Community College and will compete his BFA, majoring in Painting & Drawing and minoring in Parks & Recreation. He describes his art as captured personal memories, with many hidden meanings and symbolisms. A lot of his art exists in its own world, connecting to each other like threads in a spider web, and each one telling a story. Some of Bomboy’s art has been exhibited several times in the Hixon Gallery and at All Hand Kind in MacArthur Mall, courtesy of the Student Art League.
Artist Statement: As a city kid with an indigenous background, the dichotomies of my life inform my artistic process. I strive to create pieces that honor my family and my heritage. With a sparkle of humor, I draw meanings from stories of heroes, family, and friendships that explore the themes of rising above one’s dismay, finding hope in despair, and finding what was lost in something else. Above all, I want my art to bring joy to me and to others. Despite all the challenges of life and today’s world, whether you are a kid in the system, fell alone, or are at a difficult point in life, one can choose to stand tall, stay strong, and share a smile.
Artist Statement: Boyd’s photography confronts the overly romanticized way we look at bands, flipping the script on parasocial fandom. Their feminist work often includes visual references to uteruses, confronting the way society and politics reduce people with uteruses to something closer to livestock than human beings. Their work has most recently been exhibited in the Elizabeth River Project. They are currently completing their Bachelors of Fine Arts with a major in Photography and a minor in Women & Gender Studies. After graduation, Boyd plans to continue their documentary series, Behind the Sound, capturing real-life moments offstage, regardless of a band’s size or fame.
Killer Feels, 2025
Kyani Garces
Subjugate, 2025
Must Increase Profit Margins, 2025
Conquer Commodify Consume
, 2025
Bio: Kyani Garces is a photographer born in Portsmouth, Virginia. Her work includes still life, fashion, and product photography mixed with a bit of humor, focusing on the relationship between capitalism and our basic needs. Her work has been exhibited in The Ryan Resilience Lab’s All Water Has Perfect Memory Exhibition, the 2022 - 2024 Fright Night Exhibitions, Photo Club’s Nirvana Exhibition, and the 2025 Juried Student Exhibition. A recipient of the ODU Presidential Merit Scholarship from 2020–2024 and the Lorraine Fink Scholarship 2025, she will complete a BFA majoring in Photography from Old Dominion University in 2025.
Artist Statement: My work focuses on human existence through the lives of Mushkins. By sharing the stories of those in the world and going beyond our physical form, focusing on what makes us human: taking the positive and negative aspects of a human’s nature and putting their experiences on display playfully. This way, difficult truths become digestible for the audience. By creating an immersive journey, I bring people closer together and develop a level of understanding with one another. I use playful approaches to distract my audience from uncomfortable topics that address the complexity of life, taking a break from the constant state of limbo most people settle into. My work is meant to make the viewers think on their own about what they are seeing—this could be surface-level or deeper concepts. The power will ultimately be in the hands of the audience, whereas I am just the storyteller. I acknowledge that life has many trials and tribulations that come with it, which can weigh heavy on the mind, leading to many questions about the purpose of life. By revealing the positive and negative behaviors we inflict on each other, I hope to bring us closer to the answer we seek.
I Know You, Right?, 2024
Jordan Phillips
Unapologetically Me, 2025
Men Act, 2025
Women Appear, 2025
The Feminine, 2025
The Masculine, 2025
The Replaced, 2025
The Sacrificed, 2025
The Sacrificer, 2025
Artist Statement:
“...men act and women appear.” -John Berger
In my most recent body of work, I’ve discovered a deep connection to the color pink. I use it in a variety of contexts, primarily to represent femininity. While pink has been stereotypically associated with all things “girly” and feminine, that was never the reason I chose it. As a child, I despised the color. Now, however, I’ve reclaimed it as a symbol of empowerment, representing my evolving relationship with my own femininity and my embrace of the “girly” aspects of myself.
My work focuses on women’s rights and comments on the everyday through threads of patriarchal society. Throughout my work, I have developed specific motifs and imagery to describe the world around me, including: components of a chess board, unconventional personalized portraits, and abstract textures.
I aim to bring attention to all the different ways that women are affected, perceived, and treated by abusive structures perpetuated within societal “norms.” Through larger compositions, I feel as though I am directly confronting the viewer—silently shouting at them, compelling them to engage with the oil paint on the canvas and truly listen to the message.
The Replaced, 2025
Kylei Smith
if god could hear me, 2025 portrait of the saved, 2025 just in case you missed the trumpet, 2025 where the bear cannot catch me, 2025 family tree, 2025
baptism, 2025
Bio: Kylei Smith, born in 2002, is a poet and photographer raised in Wytheville, Virginia. Her work, drawing inspiration from her religious upbringing in Appalachia, explores themes of deconstruction, selfrejection, spirituality, and growth. Smith incorporates journal entries from her past alongside Appalachian imagery, asking viewers to reflect on their identity, beliefs, and beginnings. Her works have been exhibited in Hixon Art Gallery, Neon District, Barry Rotunda, and Ryan Resilience Lab as a part of All Water Has Perfect Memory. Currently residing in Norfolk, Virginia, she is receiving her BFA with a major in Photography at Old Dominion University.
Website: www.instagram.com/kyleimariephotography
Artist Statement: My works come to fruition through meditation and self-reflection. As the grandchild of a Pentecostal preacher, my work heavily draws inspiration from my religious upbringing in Appalachia. Through the vulnerability of journal entries and poetry from both past and present, my work tells the story of spiritual growth and deconstruction—reiterating that the greatest art of all is living. Primarily working in photography and text, I examine the process of finding God in all things. This process consists of documenting forms of nature, the human body, and the mundane, ultimately treating each moment as a piece of the puzzle. I aim to look beneath the masks we wear, using vulnerability to create a mirror, asking viewers to witness themselves and their beginnings.
family tree, 2025
Amari Wooten
Solace, 2025
Flowers of Humanity, 2025
Meraki of Parenthood, 2025
Blanket of Stability, 2025
Bio: Amari Wooten was born and raised in Hampton, Virginia. Wooten’s work focuses on the cultural heritage of African Americans from past generations to the present. She uses painting, drawing, and ceramics to interpret the livelihood of African American culture. Wooten has been included in important exhibitions such as Artemis I and the 4th Annual Black History Month Exhibition at the Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay. She is completing her BFA at Old Dominion University, majoring in Printing & Drawing. After graduating, Wooten hopes to continue her practice as an artist to showcase the African American experience through the emphasis of emotions through a sense of color.
Artist Statement: My art explores the livelihood of African Americans throughout generations of time. While studying African American literature, I am able to create an in-depth analysis and reflect a visual representation for the characters. It is more than sharing my own personal stories because I am aware that many of our stories may be shared amongst a large quantity of people. Our history affects the ongoing and developing generations by impacting the way we proceed with our teachings to our future kids. Creating a protective bond and relationship within our families establishes a sense of comfortability. However, due to generational trauma and ongoing inner struggles, the teachings to children are not always the best. My work focuses on the growing relationship from childhood to parenthood while observing generational trauma, creating emotional scenes on large-scale canvases as well as intimate scenes on a small-scale.
Meraki of Parenthood, 2025
