Raised in the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, Mardis’s visual art practice is centered on his culture and community. His recent works include “narrative” quilts, leather pyrography, and assemblage. Through material and symbolism, his work explores themes of identity, storytelling, and collective and lived experiences.
Just as the Nasher exhibition, Homecoming, delves into the complex social issues of inclusion, exclusion, and social responsibility, the upcoming workshop led by Mardis offer participants a hands-on opportunity to explore these themes in their own creative practice. Using leather, stone, and wood, Mardis will guide attendees through the process of creating assemblage sculptures that reflect their personal experiences while telling a broader story of community and cultural connection.
An Interview with Jas Mardis
“Telling a shared story with fabric and leather is very important,” Mardis explains, referencing his beadwork on leather and the symbolic weight each material carries. To him, art is a way of connecting diverse elements—materials, histories, and people. “I’ve never been able to divorce myself or my work from the idea that every single element on earth is connected,” he says. Through leather, stone, and iron, Mardis brings depth to his work, merging craft and meaning in ways that provoke reflection.
His art stems from his personal history and sense of ownership of his community's story. "Even in the face of controversies and nonsense, there seemed to be a place for us," Mardis reflects. "My art comes from that privilege—telling the story of the community and the culture."
There is a sense of shared history that aligns with Hugh Hayden’s Homecoming, where Hayden reimagines a Dallas playground to explore the intersections of memory, place, and identity. Both Mardis and Hayden's works question what it means to belong and how community shapes the individual.
Jas Mardis on Kidsville:
During the workshop, participants will immerse themselves in the physicality of leatherwork and stone carving, reflecting on their own stories of inclusion and belonging. They will explore the differences between viewing artwork and entering it through their differing perspectives. Mardis fosters an intimate, creative environment, sharing personal stories while encouraging others to express their own. “If we give ourselves over to the intimacy of conversation more often, the world becomes a different place,” Mardis believes. “Art becomes accessible—not as an abstract concept, but as an element of life.”
While the workshop will be an opportunity to learn new techniques, it is also a deep exploration of connectivity and storytelling through material exploration. While Jas Mardis may draw inspiration from his experiences in Oak Cliff, DeSoto, and Duncanville, connecting them to elements and material, he invites participants to consider how art can be an empowering tool to navigate and express their own personal relationships with the world.
For Mardis, the essence of art is tied to community involvement, shared experiences, and participation. In this workshop, participants will channel this legacy by creating art that explores how community shapes identity and storytelling.
"There is a place where argument stops and agreement begins," Mardis says. Through his work, he engages with materials to reflect personal narratives while tapping into collective memories and shared efforts. Mardis connects with the work of Hugh Hayden, reflecting on how Hayden explores material. Both artists deeply consider the relationship between community and materials.
In his practice, Mardis uses leather and stone as vessels for memory and narrative. These materials carry history and transformation, each cut, stitch and mark becomes symbolic of a journey and place within communities.
“There's a desire not only to be accepted but also to be shared, reinterpreted,” Mardis says. His approach encourages a reflection of inclusion and exclusion while understanding the effort it takes to foster belonging. Every element carries the weight of both personal and collective history.
Art allows him to express an understanding of these relationships through sculpture. “You hold onto this. It's called trust and belief,” Mardis remarks, highlighting the emotional depth of the artistic process. Having moved to Dallas at the age of six, Mardis grew up witnessing the evolution of Oak Cliff and the cultural transformation of the city.
Our Favorite Story from Jas
Jas Mardis's workshop is an immersive experience that blends community history with personal narrative, material exploration with emotional depth. Through leather and stone, Mardis shows that the stories we tell—and the materials we use to tell them—deeply shape the communities we wish to build.
About Jas Mardis:
Jas Mardis is a multidisciplinary visual artist, writer, and storyteller raised in Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas, whose art practice merges narrative quilts, leather pyrography, and assemblage. He integrates his cultural heritage and familial teachings into his works, often creating narrative art quilts and leather portraits inspired by historical photography. He has a strong background in writing and has won numerous awards, including the Pushcart Prize for Poetry and induction into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. Mardis has exhibited widely and uses his work to explore themes of identity, history, and storytelling, often conducting workshops to engage communities in storytelling through quilting.