October Exhibit to Feature Mixed-Media Artist John Sousa

The Edison State Community College Art Department will feature mixed-media artist John Sousa during its October exhibition. The department will display the exhibit, “Deep Dive: The Chaos Fields Paintings,” in the Anne Vaccaro and David Myers Gallery at the Piqua Campus during normal campus hours from October 6 to October 30, 2025.

“These works are mixed-media paintings that incorporate collage and new dimensional printing technologies,” said Sousa. “I use fragments of images—text, symbols, and patterns—that are silk-screen printed and then collaged onto the work. I then paint the works, using primarily white to enhance the texture, producing a uniquely textured surface. Over this surface are printed digital images using new printing technologies, such as UV-cured printing. These allow me to print over the textured surfaces. I then go back in with more painting, collage, and printing, creating a subtle layering. I see the various printing technologies as new ways to apply paint.”

He added, “I think of these as sumptuous visual poems. The works are intimate, and they encourage looking. The painterly and textural elements entice the viewer to not only see but to want to feel the artwork. They are collage-based mashups of diverse and competing styles.”

Sousa lives and has a studio in Springboro, Ohio. He was a National Scholastic Art Scholar and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Bradley University in 1982. Sousa was a featured artist in issues #167 and #149 of New American Paintings’ Midwest edition. He has exhibited his work in a dozen states across the country and has received two Montgomery County Art Fellowships. Summerfair awarded Sousa an AIA Grant in 2014.

His long-term focus has been language, photography, and how we perceive and infer meaning. He believes in using style alongside formal art elements to explore his interests more thoroughly. Sousa has always been concerned with the formal qualities of art and is constantly pushing the bounds of the materials he uses.

“Our perception is very fragmented,” Sousa said. “Our minds stitch the fragments together into a smoother view. Understanding this, I want to create mixed-media paintings that are not literal but suggestive. I aim to create work that is both visually stimulating and thought-provoking. The more time one spends looking, the more they will see, and the more they will see how things are related. These works are not representations of the world; they are more representations of our minds wandering.”

Learn more about Sousa at www.johnsousa.com. For additional information about the exhibit, email Greg Clem, Edison State Professor of Fine Arts.