Audia Dixon is a Fresno based artist creating large scale, atmospheric oil paintings that center the Black female figure, often in fantastical natural landscapes and ambiguous spaces. Her work engages the history of painting, pushing portraiture to depict the inner worlds and emotional states of her subjects as much as an outer likeness. In the body of work on view here, Dixon paints Black children at larger than life scale. They gaze out thoughtfully, each figure suffused with rich, glowing tones. Each painting incorporates deep blues and greens, opening a space of memory, potential, and nostalgia. She says about her work: “Childhood, a period of early self discovery, commonly has instances of happiness, play and warmth. Whether it was a particular book that was read, a favorite toy we held onto, a song, a film, a culinary dish, or playing indoors or outdoors; there was a sense of joy, freedom or invincibility in being a child that can be highly nostalgic when we look back on those times. Before young Black girls and young women venture out into the “real world,” I wonder about their awareness of their own identity and the racial adversity that’s up against them. It is their innocence, vulnerabilities, and inner strengths in the face of what life could throw at them that inspire me to place them in spaces that are familiar and mysterious. Within my work, I question and project nostalgic and utopian realities and futures for young Black girls and women, while depicting their authentic selves.” To learn more about Audia Dixon’s work, or to enquire about purchasing any of the works on view, please visit her on Instagram @audi_audassity

BIO
Audia Dixon (b. 1992, Fresno CA) comes from a family of artists and matriarchs who continue to influence her work. Dixon holds a BA in Art from CSU-Fresno (2016) and is currently a graduate student earning her MA in Studio Art, also at CSU-Fresno (2021). She has participated in numerous exhibitions and public art projects, including the collaborative murals Know your Soil, Grow in Earth & Rest and Rising Together, both part of Dulce Upfront’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” mural tour (2020); and a solo exhibition at 1418 Fulton in Downtown Fresno. Her forthcoming graduate thesis exhibition will be presented at the Phebe Conley Gallery at CSU Fresno in Fall 2021.

This exhibition is presented by the Fresno Yosemite International Airport Arts & Culture program, which aims to welcome travelers to the Central Valley and showcase original works by artists who call this vibrant and diverse region home.