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DALLAS -The solo exhibition “donia” features the artwork of Aliyah Cydonia which is a contemplation on bloodlines, memory, and corporeal awareness. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday, March 15, 2025 at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center (OC3). The event is free and open to the public. An artist talk will be taking place at 6:30 p.m. for visitors.

An homage to lineage, “donia” is a vein connecting the past. Paintings and a video depicting her ancestor Sedonia resurrect familial bonds and supplant her awareness of “lives lived before”. In another painting titled “The Pilgrimage,” Aliyah depicts a Cake Walk, a dance that was originated by American Slaves performing a mockery of the Waltz and other traditional European dances. Rendered in oil, the figures in the painting are faint, providing a glimpse of ancestral memory hinting at the permeable connections in bloodlines.

Through research and reflection, her paintings and video installation in the exhibition experiment with the corporeal, attempting to access the information from the bloodline that is stored within her. She likens it to a journey, explaining “this series is an exploration of the pilgrimage going on in our bodies in relation to the experiences and the entropic memories from ancestors that are being stored in us”.

Aliyah Cydonia: the artist

Aliyah Cydonia, native to Dallas, has exhibited works at Daisha Board Gallery, Tureen, SP/N Gallery at the University of Texas at Dallas, the Dallas Contemporary, gallery at the Dallas College Richland Campus, and Paul Voertman’s Gallery. In 2021, Cydonia, along with Hannah Baskin, co-founded the collective “Anti Avant Garde Avant Garde” where they presented a performance piece, Cooperative Conundrum, at the Dallas Contemporary. Cydonia was awarded The Clare Hart DeGolyer Memorial Funded by the Dallas Museum of Art in 2022 and in the same year completed a paint and drawing study abroad program in Florence, Italy. In 2023, Cydonia attended the New York Academy Arts undergraduate residency and in 2024 was an artist in residency at Arts Mission Oak Cliff. Cyndonia has a BFA in Studio Arts from The University of North Texas, with a concentration in Painting and Drawing.

The Oak Cliff Cultural Center is located at 223 W. Jefferson Blvd., Dallas, TX 75208 next to the historic Texas Theater. Operating hours are Tuesday-Saturday from Noon to 6 p.m. For additional information please visit: occc.dallasculture.org

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