TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
It has been one full year since six Texas State art students created their own version of Meow Wolf at MotherShip Studios for their Portfolio and Practice class. In order to celebrate the anniversary of their art show, they hosted a reunion show at Jo’s Cafe for the month of December. The group goes by Portals of Perception, artists include Chris Adams, Mei Williamson, Emily Nunn, Ren Blank, Hanna Walker and Rebekah Porter.
The now Texas State alumni used this show as an opportunity to reflect on the success of their interactive installation based event in 2024, as well as highlight the work they made in the year since. From graduations to new jobs and moving across the country – a lot has changed for these art students, and their goal with the show was to influence and inspire other art students to stay connected to each other, no matter the change that a year can bring.
The show consisted of artworks of all kinds, from paintings to prints and drawings. Mei Williamson contributed new oil paintings, including ones depicting her swamp man character from the original show hanging out inside each of the different art installations. Emily Nunn framed prints she had made in her final semesters at Texas State. Porter hung a stop sign that was found plowed down in the road, complete with tire marks and all. She painted two cars crashing into each other on top of the sign in order to symbolize the dangers of ignoring street safety signs. Chris Adams included paintings and drawings used in both his show at MotherShip Studios and his solo show at Jo’s Cafe in February.
“Since the last show I had to do a thesis film, which was called Secret Cowboy Club. You can find it on YouTube. After I made that film, I kind of took a creative hiatus because I felt like I needed some time away from making art,” Adams said. “At Texas State, as fun as it was to be an art major, it was just making art constantly over and over for four years. So I haven’t been making much art. I took some time in Australia to do a farm stay and reset my brain, and now that I’m back, I am actually working on some stuff that’s gonna be posted on my channel — Five Hands Productions on YouTube.”
Reflecting on the reunion show has allowed the artists to reflect on more than just the work they made for the show.
“I think this past two years of my art practice has been trying to find the happy balance between experimentation and narrative, and I feel like I’ve really honed it in, especially on this current project that I’m working on.” Adams said.
The art group plans to continue the reunion shows in the years to come, as a way to meditate on their own art journeys and as a way to stay connected after graduation.
One can keep up to date with the artists collective on their instagram at @ portalsofperceptionshow and check out the new monthly local artist on display at @joscafegallery.
Editor’s Note: Rebekah Porter is the staff reporter for the Daily Record and also an artist that was featured in this show.
