Exhibitions

CYMONE WILDER: AS WE SPEAK

Hiram Van Gordon Gallery (Tennessee State University) / 1108 37th Ave. N. January 13 - February 6th

Cymone Wilder

As We Speak is a celebration of language in flux.

The themes in Cymone Wilder’s work strive to bring clarity to the chaos, using accessible materials like paints, pencils, markers, and everyday household fixers, to navigate subjects that range from the frustrations of being a Black woman in America to the persistence of colloquialisms lodged in memory. Each piece is anchored by bold, grounding shapes, layered with textures that suggest a life lived, as though the canvas has accumulated time. Off-kilter letterforms, tight color sets, and lively scribbles work together to create a magnetic tension—equal parts deliberate and intuitive. Her goal is to make each work hum with the messy, complicated rhythms of human expression.

Cymone Wilder captures the echoes of conversations past and present. The elevating overlooked moments where words take shape and meaning emerges. A graphic designer and art director, she is often preoccupied with replicating the sensory world in digital deliverables—attempting to imbue each pixel with the textures of touch, taste, and smell. “My goal was always to create illusions convincing enough to make viewers question the smoothness of their screens.” Now, in her painting practice, these impulses are channeled into physical works. Inspired by the jazz records of Blue Note’s heyday, she notes borrowing from the aesthetic tension of worn, weathered covers and the improvisational energy of the music itself.

In As We Speak, Wilder brings these elements to life, funneling unrelenting phrases, the blues, and fragments of introspection into hand-painted lettering. The script becomes art. Each painting is a declaration and testimony with color, form, and play as the praxis.