Art Basel’s international fairs are designed to nurture the careers of artists by highlighting the importance of galleries. Representing Howard’s fourth year of engagement at the showcase, Howard student creators used various art forms for creative expression, including animation, sculpture, digital art, illustration, photography, and mixed media. This Art Gallery includes selected pieces from the show.
Special thank you to the students, faculty and staff of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Art.
"COSMIC WATERS" BY TAYLOR DUNN
Electronic studio arts major from Columbia, South Carolina
Digital Illustration, 24" x 16"
Artist’s statement: My work is primarily digital, including digital illustrations, 3D models, and animations. Over the past two years, the style of my illustrative works has shifted from an appearance consisting of flat colors and cell shading to having a more painterly look, experimenting with the inclusion and exclusion of line art and taking inspiration from oil painting. In my 3D works, I have focused on combining elements of realism and stylized art to develop my style in semi-realism. With my choice of mediums, I focus on merging my understanding of traditional art skills with technology and exploring how to use them together while still capturing “the hand of the artist” in my art pieces. As I work further with these media, I want to examine how I can integrate them all into a singular piece of work. Ultimately, I aim to push the boundaries of both my conception of how they can work together and the creativity of my mind to create works that are unique and captivating.
"BOMBA" BY ISABELLA MURPHY
Painting major from Holyoke, Massachusetts
Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 36 in
Artist’s statement: My work centers on realism, capturing the richness of everyday life through figures, animals, food, and a wide range of subjects that reflect both my environment and my heritage. As an Afro-Latina artist with roots in Puerto Rico, I strive to weave elements of Caribbean and Latin culture into each piece I create. Bright colors, cultural symbolism, and expressive detail allow me to celebrate my identity and honor the stories of those who share similar experiences. I want viewers — especially those from the Afro-Latinx community — to feel a sense of connection and recognition when they encounter my work. I primarily paint with acrylics, though I occasionally explore ceramics to expand how I express texture and form. Above all, I take pride in retelling people’s stories through my art. I value the moments when a painting speaks for itself — when viewers can interpret and connect with it in their own unique way, without the need for explanation.
"LIFE IN BETWEEN" BY JAZZLYN RAINEY
Painting major from San Diego, California
Oil on canvas
Artist’s statement: This painting is a symbol, reference, and reflection on the entirety of my experience overseas from the States and studying art in Rome, Italy. Through this work and in my time creating works here, my biggest fear was appropriating an assimilation to whiteness unconsciously through my work, since the majority of what is taught is white European art. I had a fear of being unable to express my Blackness and Black voice through my own work. Since this was a graded assignment that took up the entirety of the semester, my professor was very particular on the closeness of likenesses to the model in our work. Even though the model in this painting in Afro-Italian and very light skinned, this work tells my story of how I feel a drape that is my consciousness was brought down through what I have known all of my life while being a Black woman in America (especially while watching everything currently going on from overseas) versus my experience of being a Black woman in Rome — as if I’ve been in between worlds, realities, and stories.
“SISTER AUTUMN” BY MYKAYLA OSBORNE
Painting major from Cypress, Texas
Painting, 8” x 10”
Artist’s statement: My art stems from nostalgia, family, and a sense of belonging. It invites me to have a relationship with my childhood self, community, family, and those who have since passed along. Through family, community, the use of materials, and depicted memories, I relive these very moments and navigate the world as a female artist coming from the South. The theme of storytelling narrates a sense of belonging that thrives throughout my artistic practice. I find excitement in experimenting with various mediums rather than relying on just one. My work incorporates materials like acrylic and oil paint, foil, repurposed textiles, cardboard, construction paper, trash, and wood, allowing me to explore different design principles. Through my art, I seek to restore a sense of peace in times of disarray, reflecting on how African American culture has continuously transformed adversity into meaningful experiences. This emerges a sense of identity and gives me permission as an artist to explore and investigate the essence of belonging through a Black lens. In my art practice, I explore everyday objects and elements from my environment, organizing ideas and materials to create something new. I collect found materials and integrate printmaking, assembly, and collage techniques. This process embraces uncertainty, leaving space for both error and discovery. While illustrating a sense of social belonging, my assembled pieces reflect that same theme.
"ANCESTRAL COOKING" BY KEAGAN DULANEY
Electronic studio arts major from Louisville, Kentucky
Digital Illustration, 10” x 8”
Artist’s statement: This piece was created by asking myself the question: how does mommy cycle through my life through cooking? Recipes are more than just instructions; they carry love, wisdom, and stories of the women in my family. My mom taught me how to cook, as her mother did before her, and through the process, I learned that cooking is about connecting with those before us. It is the amalgamation of every powerful matriarch and each dish telling their story. In this piece, cycling is shown through the act of my mom not cooking, but instead guiding me through the steps of the recipe. This shows the ongoing flow of knowledge and tradition, where I am not only learning from her, but also carrying the lessons of my ancestors. The dish being prepared in the image is chicken and dumplings. This is a staple of Thanksgiving in my household, and I would always help mommy make them. This dish symbolizes familial love shared around a meal. Last year, I had to make the dish by myself, and this symbolized my growth as a person and how I took the roles of my mom and other matriarchs. Cooking is how I carry my mom’s lessons on.
“ECLIPSED" BY KYRA MARSHALL
Electronic studio arts major from Brooklyn, New York
Ceramics: Half sun, half moon ceramic face mask (8” × 10”) accompanying sun moon tiles (4” × 4”)
Artist’s statement: The piece submitted here is an exploration of an animated style of craftmanship. As an E-studio major and ceramics minor, I hope to combine both clay and animation to pursue fields such as stop motion. The characters and faces carved into clay are not only cartoonistic, but use bright, vivid, and bold colors to create expressive masks. The smiling and frowning sun moon mask and accompanying tiles represent emotion, while the grey mask is a recreation of the door knocker from the movie “The Labyrinth.”
"BLUE IN THE MOONLIGHT" BY KEITH ROBINSON
Graphic design major from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Acrylic on paper, 18” x 24”
Artist’s statement: A monochromatic self-portrait painted entirely in swirls with an otherworldly effect.
"LOOK AT ME" BY NIA PALMER
Electronic studio arts major from Harlem, New York
Digital illustration, 16” x 23”
Artist’s statement: My body of work transcends reality. It’s reminiscent of a childlike daydream, with bursts of color and recurring blue people. The use of blue throughout my pieces is meant to be eye-catching and evoke feelings of wonder and playfulness within the audience. Music, nostalgia, and Blackness inspire my work. I create to fulfill the dreams of my younger self and give people a glimpse of the things I imagine. This digital illustration is a semi-realistic drawing of my original character, Azura. It’s meant to highlight parts of Black culture like braids, grills, and acrylic nails.
“SISTERHOOD” BY NIAMBI MILLS
Photography major from Silver Spring, Maryland
Photography, 11” x 14”
Artist’s statement: In this photograph, I capture girlhood and traditional aspects of femininity while exploring literal and metaphorical interpretations of “shedding light.” My work goes beyond prevailing societal stereotypes of girls as accommodating, nurturing, polite, and oftentimes weak. The intense exposure and contrast within the photo seek to allow these “sisters” to exist in the spotlight in the fullness of themselves, free from what society today wants them to be. Today, girls are told to “smile more.” This photograph shows these girls exhibiting autonomy.
“TO GET HER” BY NAIMI WHITTED
Electronic studio arts major from Columbia, South Carolina
Acrylic on canvas, 20” x 16”
Artist’s statement: This piece explores identity as an ongoing process of building and battling. Although we may struggle to survive as individuals, to keep our homes and our families, we must also fight as a community. The subject’s gaze signifies this persistence for change. We are stronger when we work together.
"MISEDUCATION BY NYASIA ASHFORD
Fashion design major from Newark, New Jersey
Photography, 16” x 24”
Artist’s statement: Miseducation is a study of becoming — of unlearning the versions of ourselves we were taught to be. Each image exists in a space between familiarity and reinvention, where vulnerability meets self-trust. Through texture, light, and stillness, these portraits explore devotion, forgiveness, and the quiet process of rediscovery. Nothing is fixed; everything is everything. This work is a return to self — reborn, reclaimed, and reignited through the act of simply being.
"OIL ON COTTON DUCK"
ROBERT HUDSON
Painting major from Fayetteville, North Carolina
Unstretched canvas, 60” x 60”
Artist’s statement: In approaching this composition, Xavier recollected traditions of families in the South with respect to his own upbringing. With the relationship with his father being complex, he lost experiences that traditionally would have transpired. Xavier’s love of fashion is evident with the central figure’s outfit being styled in a manner that holds essence of himself. In light of his experience not being traditional, there’s a sense of defiance and resistance within his existence and ever present in his practice.
“FIRST DRUM” BY PHYLICIA ROBINSON
Ceramics major from Randolph, Massachusetts
Raku ceramic drum with animal skin and rope. 8.5” x 10”
Artist’s statement: I create with clay because of its immense possibilities. The work I make is wheel-thrown or hand-built, sometimes both. I love to make things that people can use. That is why almost all of the work I create is functional, though occasionally I make pieces purely for aesthetics. Most of my work is inspired by nature, especially cats. Throughout my time working with clay, I continue to grow and strengthen my techniques for my work.
“JOY” BY NAIMA WHITTED
Electronic studio arts major from Columbia, South Carolina
Acrylic on canvas, 20” x 16”
Artist’s statement: This piece celebrates a joy that is passed down to the next generation. While the piano is painted with cooler tones, the touches of yellow watercolor emphasize the unspoken love within. A closer look at the sheet music reveals three songs that invite us to share their emotion: Louis Armstrong’s “Just A Closer Walk,” Sarah Vaughan’s “On Green Dolphin Street,” and Billie Holiday’s “You Go to My Head.” The first letter of each of these jazz masterpieces spells out “joy.”
“TRUTH” BY NONI GARRETT
Electronic studio arts major from Prince George’s County, Maryland
Black and white photo
Artist’s statement: The truth is, you think u understand me; yet, you don’t even understand yourself. Emotions rise and your stomach yearns for acceptance? Y? Truth is, the seeds you plant will grow whether you like it or not.
This story appears in the Howard Magazine, Winter/Spring 2026 issue.
Article ID: 2691
Article ID: 2691