ELLISVILLE – During Hattiesburg author and artist Francis Lee’s “Art Talk” with Jones College art majors and the art community, she revealed how she visually represents her emotions on canvas. Using her works of art currently on display in the Eula Bass Lewis Art Gallery at Jones College as examples, Lee shared how she layers quotes and colors in her designs as a way of expressing her emotions while painting.
“Because we are very complicated people, each layer of my art represents a part of our human condition, from the inward, the soul, the emotion, into the way that we think, and then obviously outwardly how we present ourselves to the world. I felt like each piece should be telling a story of an individual person,” explained Lee. “I want you to be drawn into the piece and look and wonder what that person is feeling, and what was that person thinking and then think about, what was that person’s life and history as you come upon each painting.”
Lee said she often listens to music while creating, which can influence her art. One example of layering her emotions is reflected in the mixed media artwork, “Resistance” which is part of her exhibit, “Feelings: An Exploration in Texture, Memory and Figurative Abstraction,” currently on display at Jones College through March 12, 2026.
“There’s a piece of the music I was listening to that kind of went into my work. The idea of resistance and struggle being beautiful, was interesting to me,” said Lee. “It’s easy to paint flowers and beautiful things but to find the beauty in things that maybe most people wouldn’t see as beautiful, that intrigues me.”
Another lesson Lee wanted students to learn from her Art Talk was the fact that while technical skills are important to creating art, without expression, there’s something missing.
“There has to be some expression in there, a piece of yourself. I feel like a piece of me goes into literally everything that I do. So, if you’re not putting yourself into the work, then what’s the point?” Lee said.
Every work begins through an intuitive, non-representational process. Layers of collage and modeling paste establish the physical foundation, followed by paint, fragments of journal writing, ink, and additional collage, allowing the work to move from raw abstraction toward refined detail. This gradual buildup mirrors the way emotions and memories accumulate, shift, and reveal themselves over time.
Adding texture, like letters, numbers, and asemic writing appear throughout the surface of Lee’s art as traces of thought, memories, and internal dialogue. These marks suggest what is remembered, forgotten, hidden, or unresolved. Human figures or fragments of the body emerge like ghosts. Through the interplay of material, mark, and form, Lee explained, engages with emotional paradoxes such as joy and grief, vulnerability and resilience, presence and absence. Rather than offering fixed narratives, the work invites viewers to bring their own experiences into the encounter.
For more information about upcoming JC art shows or to arrange a visit to the gallery call 601-477-8401. The Eula Bass Lewis Art Gallery is open Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m., and by appointment only on Fridays. The gallery is closed during the holidays. To learn more about the Jones College Art Department, https://www.jcjc.edu/programs/finearts/ or the JC Art Department’s social media: Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/JCJCFineArts/ and on Instagram @artatjonescollege.