Lines Between Us was born out of a friendship between two artists. After several years of admiring Lanecia Rouse (Richmond, VA) and David Chang (New York, NY), we were thrilled when they accepted our invitation to take up short-term residence in the canyon—an experience of being set apart, where they would have protected space, time, and resources to create the works in display on the Cody Center.
The works are a manifestation of their studio conversations, of finding ways to celebrate each other’s differences and unique imprint. Though their expressions are in different mediums—collage and calligraphy—the exhibition is harmonized through the intentional layering of words, photographs, torn paper, and painterly abstraction. As well, there is an improvisational aspect at play in each piece: a playful call-and-response dance, and the kind of kinetic generativity present when more than one person has their hand on the medium. The works are filled with surprise—a freedom from a known outcome—that leaves the viewer in a place of delight. While some of the works in the show are loose and gestural, others—like the massive Ephesians 3 scroll—are weighty, carrying with them an immense gravity.
Together, Chang and Rouse have created a space to think about memory, the interior life, vulnerability, ruptures in relationship, healing, and dreams.
Upon returning home, amid an unexpected and grievous loss, Chang shared, “I embrace imperfection, because grace is found not in perfection but in surrender. Thomas Merton reminds us, ‘We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone—we find it with another.’ My work, too, is meant to be experienced in relationship: with the viewer, with time, with the presence that lingers in the spaces between.”
“The poet hoards nothing—acts with respect toward others and gains more, gives all to others and gains still more. ”
— Jeffrey Yang
“We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone—we find it with another.”
—Thomas Merton
Lanecia A. Rouse is a versatile artist based in both Richmond, VA, and Houston, TX. Her diverse portfolio encompasses collage, abstract painting, photography, teaching, writing, speaking, and curatorial projects for local non-profit organizations. Her current collage work incorporates appropriated images from vintage Ebony Magazines, the Library of Congress archive, discarded magazines and her own photography and family photo archive. Lanecia has taught workshops at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Shakerag Workshops, and The Glen Workshop. She has participated in several residencies, including the Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts in Charleston, SC; the Artists on Site: Series 3 Artist-in-Residence at the Asia Society HTX; and the 2020–2021 Artist-in-Residence for the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning at Rice University. Currently, she is the Artist-in-Residence partner at Holy Family HTX Episcopal Church in Houston, TX, where she leads the curation team for the Lanecia A. Rouse Gallery. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors for Image Journal. Lanecia’s work was recently featured in Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage, which debuted at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, TN, from September to December 2023, before traveling to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, and The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.
David Chang is a Korean American artist exploring the intersection of calligraphy and abstraction. Rooted in the meditative traditions of Chinese calligraphy, his work channels presence and spontaneity through gestural mark-making. His masterful study of calligraphy is driven by a passion for “bringing the essence of a word or message to life.” Chang’s personal marks address issues of personal, cultural, and spiritual awareness while retaining a formal beauty of urgency and redemption. His work has since appeared in numerous shows and institutions, including Picture Theory, Onishi Gallery, Clemente Soto Velez Center, Waterfall Mansion, Pratt Institute, Calvary Saint George’s, and the Society of Scribes at the National Arts Club. Notably, his calligraphy has also been prominently featured in the internationally acclaimed film mother! (2017).
