Scratching the Surface: Carving the Soul through Ancestral Marks Art Exhibition & Openining Reception

In this intimate convergence, two artists—Wanda Payne and Tenjin Ikeda—invite us to journey beneath the veil of the visible. Through the delicate acts of scratching and carving, they reveal the echoes of ancestry and spirit etched deep within the layers of identity.

Payne’s scratchboard works pulse with rhythm and revelation, where each incised line uncovers fragments of memory, emotion, and the silent truths we carry. Her dynamic gestures map an inward voyage, illuminating the fragile boundary between self and society through bold contrasts of light and shadow.

Ikeda’s linocut prints, carved with reverence and precision, summon ancestral narratives and sacred cosmologies. Drawing on Yoruba Ifa traditions, his symbolic imagery bridges past and present, spirit and form. His work is a meditation in subtraction, where the removal of surface gives rise to profound presence.

Together, their art unfolds as a quiet dialogue between material and meaning, technique and transcendence. Through subtractive…