Meet the Artists of Rewind
When each new art exhibit opens we swear that it's our favorite, so this year we decided to put a twist on things. What would happen if we merged seven artists creating in diverse mediums, brand new installations, and brought back some favorites from our past? You get Rewind, our ultimate favorite!
Rewind showcases one of our most incredible lineups of local and national artists to-date. Opening in a new location, nestled in the heart of Watters Creek at Montgomery Farms in Allen, TX, Rewind is taking over a 5,000 sq. ft. gallery space to showcase ten art installations. For those curious about the title, Rewind is defined as “Something that rewinds or is rewound. A function of an electronic device that reverses a recording to a previous portion.” Why did we chose this title? Well (drumroll), at the heart of the exhibit will sit a full blown vintage video store full of VHS tapes, with a few hidden spaces for guests to discover!
Rewind showcases a curation of artists, from painters to fiber artists, with purposefully different backgrounds and voices. Artists include Multidisciplinary Artist Andy Arkley (Seattle, WA), Fiber Artist and Graphic Designer Hannah Busekrus (Austin, TX), Fiber Artist and Illustrator Niki Dionne (Dallas, TX), Painter, Illustrator and Graffiti Artist Hatziel Flores (Dallas, TX), Fiber Artist and Muralist Sam Lao (Dallas, TX), Experience Producer Madison Mask (Dallas, TX), Multidisciplinary Artist MOM (Dallas, TX), Twinkie Chan (San Francisco, CA) Jackie Lawrence (Denton, TX), Bobcat & Birdie (McAllen, TX), Joanna Lin - Soft Surprise (Dallas, TX) and Ray Albarez (Dallas, TX). Each artist has been given a dedicated space to create their own unique art installation. For fans of previous Sweet Tooth Hotel exhibits, we're rebooting a few of our favorite installations. But we'll leave it a surprise! Read on to meet all of the artists of Rewind.
Andy Arkley is a visual artist, designer, musician, and animator who often combines these disciplines in his work. He strives to make work that fosters positivity and elation. Some of his work combines sculpture, light, music, animation, and interactivity, while other projects are static installations. His interactive pieces encourage creative collaboration between strangers, while his static installations use brightly colored, simple forms that are meant to invoke a sense of joy about being alive.
Hannah Busekrus is an interdisciplinary artist and designer. Adapting her background in graphic design and illustration, she creates three-dimensional characters and objects ranging from less than 1” tall to over 10’ tall using fiber as her main medium. She introduced fiber art into her practice in 2012, creating a large scale, site-specific, outdoor installation at the Honolulu Contemporary Art Museum (now part of the Honolulu Museum of Art, Spalding House) as part of The Fuzz, a 3 person yarn bomb collective. In 2014 she created her second large-scale, solo installation at Linekona, the Honolulu Museum of Art School featuring two towering 10’ 3” mermaids on the building’s front exterior columns. She is also an author and most recently added textile design to her CV creating her first line of unique punch needle jewelry made from recycled cashmere and other fine yarn fibers for her brand, / h // s / r / textiles.
Niki Dionne is a fiber artist and illustrator based out of Dallas, Texas. She’s an expert when it comes to pompoms and one of her biggest passions: drawing black women, living for care-free moments. Through her work, Niki explores how self-perceived identity shapes how women of color view themselves. Through various mediums including fiber, oil pastels, digital illustration and animation, Niki develops characters that all women can find themselves in. Every single thing she creates has a smart and carefree energy to it - whether it’s fiber art, an illustration or animation.
Hatziel Flores is a self-taught, contemporary artist from Dallas. He was born in Mexico City and has been creating art since a very young age. His passion is to paint in a wide variety of mediums, primary portraits. His diverse collections consist of explosive contemporary mixed media paintings portraying the beauty found within chaos. Internally driven and emotionally charged he continues to explore and convey his ideas. His visions are unique and unlimited.
Sam Lao is a multidisciplinary artist based in Dallas, TX. As a UTA graduate with a BFA in Visual Communications, Lao’s work spans across many genres of art. From designing and painting vibrant murals across the city to crafting textile art that’s meant to be touched, Lao explores the life and source of ideas and of inspiration itself. The tactile nature of her current work subverts the old adage of ‘do not touch the artwork’ by inviting the viewer to do just that and in turn making a visual experience a physical one as well.
MOM is a contemporary and multidisciplinary artist, active in Dallas, Tx since 2008. Her current work features a variety of mediums including vinyl, acrylic paint, and ready made objects. Inspired by experimentation with contrast and balance, her abstract landscape paintings are an optical feat riddled with explosive colors and hard-edge striping, giving the work a sense of trippy depth. MOM was recently featured on the Design Milk Everyday, Tastemade Home, and co-founded Dallas artist co-op & shop, Trade Oak Cliff.
Madison Mask started his career at an event planning agency. Since then he has gone on to produce events and brand activations at some of the largest industry trade shows across the country. With this corporate events background, he's now exploring his interest in creating more surreal and artistic experiences. His delve into creating installation started in 2020 with site-specific large sculpture pop ups under the moniker modest museum and immersive exhibits inside of his studio space.
Twinkie Chan is a crochet designer, author, and Creativebug instructor known for her colorful, food-themed accessories like cupcake scarves, hamburger mitts, and slushee cup purses. She lives in San Francisco with a rainbow wall of yarn and a billion pom poms.
Twinkie’s unique work has been featured online, in print, and on television, from BuzzFeed to Mollie Makes, to HGTV to “Fuller House.” To make her signature designs more accessible, she launched a licensed brand called Yummy You! which was carried at retailers like Hot Topic, ThinkGeek, NYLON Shop, and ModCloth.
The demand for her crochet patterns inspired her two crochet books. She has also written patterns for Michaels.com, a column for Simply Crochet Magazine, and created promotional projects for companies like the Craft Yarn Council, Lion Brand Yarn, Lily Sugar ‘n Cream, Sanrio, Pocky, McDonald’s, Facebook Stories, and TikTok.
“Sucre Fleuf! is an imaginary bakery in the middle of a secret garden. I was inspired by old-world boulangeries and patisseries as well as modern Asian dessert art. Here, you’ll find a combination of my love for yarn, sweets, Wes Anderson movies, and 80s cartoons. I’m a huge fan of all the beautiful and over-the-top desserts that people post online, and since food is meant to be eaten and not meant to stay, I like the idea of preserving and honoring fun food in crochet.
The name of this bakery is also imaginary. Sucre Fleuf! is a riff on “Sacré Bleu!” which is an old-fashioned exclamation of surprise or delight. “Sucre” means “sugar.” “Fleuf” is made-up and a reference to the fluff of a delicious cake and the fluff I use to fill my crochet work.
Crochet is comforting and cozy, much like a fresh baguette or a warm donut. You often go to a bakery for a special occasion, so I hope that you feel like today - and every day - is a moment to celebrate, smile, and share joy with others.”
@twinkiechan | twinkiechan.com
One of Denton, Texas’ finest, Jackie Lawrence is a fiber artist and recent graduate of the University of North Texas’ Fibers program. Under the name “Forest Fibers,” Lawrence works with multiple fiber processes including weaving, latch hook, embroidery, crochet, and knitting. Her work focuses on themes of space and personal environments, shifting from representative to abstract.
“While in undergrad, I began exploring the possibilities of world-making within installation art. The environments I built served as a manifestation of my inner world, letting me air our conflicts through processing space. These large scale installations are meant to feel overpowering yet intimate.
The space I built here is an investigation of the world ‘Intangible’ in relation to fiber. With fiber being one of the most tangible mediums, I knew I could push beyond the surface of this definition to create An Impossible Reality. I dreamt of a space filled to the brim with color, texture, and manic energy. This is a dimension where yarn is intangible, not having a physical presence to our own natural world. My goal with this installation is to inspire impossible realities and dreams to those who become immersed in the space. This area serves as a transitional space from one part of the exhibit to another, and metaphorically working as a passageway from one dream to the next.” - Jackie Lawrence
Inspired by the graffiti and urban landscapes, Ray Albarez paints the lyrics in music and gives them a new context to reinforce their potency and relevance to his everyday life. His art has evolved from graphite on paper to aerosol on buildings, which have catapulted him to use acrylic and oil paint. Ultimately, Ray Albarez’ paintings allow you to view, construe, debate, and repute his artistic style.
Joanna Lin is a multidisciplinary maker from Colorado currently based in Dallas, TX. She received a BFA in Film/Animation/Video in 2015 from the Rhode Island School of Design. Since then she has collected professional experience as a graphic designer, tampon designer, motion graphics animator, artist assistant, and now a freelance designer.
Soft Surprise is an evolving art practice that plays with irony and humor to create a wide range of functional and non-functional objects. In experimenting with traditional and digital mediums, their creative process often mixes high- and low- tech processes. Much of the work attempts to subvert expectations by elevating low brow humor with high regard for craftsmanship.
@soft.surprise | softsurprise.com
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children 2-12. Super Sweet tickets are available for $35 and include a limited edition Sweet Tooth Hotel merch pack featuring an enamel pin, sticker and locally baked mini Wildberry Pop Tart from The Butter Fairy. Children under the age of 2 are free.
Hours of entry are Tuesday - Thursday, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, Friday and Saturday, 12:00pm - 8:00pm and Sunday: 12:00pm – 6:00pm. Entry is limited to every 30 minutes and the number of guests will be limited for the health and safety of all visitors.
