DMST Atelier invites you hold space in the living room, February’s community feed is featured by way of Natty Alchemy a solo exhibition displaying painting, poetry, photography and video by Shalandrea Renee Houchen. The exhibition is on view until March 7th 2025.
Natty Alchemy is borne from reverence for ancestry, astrology, and the unseen forces that shape our world. The title itself is layered with meaning: “Natty,” a word deeply rooted in Jamaican culture, signifies raw, natural beauty, while “Alchemy” speaks to the profound process of change and evolution.
The DMST Living Room is Shalandrea’s offering to Natty Alchemy’s viewers. It is a sacred space, a reflection of home in its most expansive definition. Home has been fluid throughout her life — one found within the walls of DMST Atelier Artist Residency studio space. It is this practice of making home, creating stability wherever she finds herself, which informs this Living Room, infused with infinite love and ancestral echoes. Here, poems, records of musical legends, and messages of affirmation converge, urging all who enter to embrace the fullness of their being.
Natty Alchemy extends beyond exhibition to invitation — to feel, surrender, and simply be. Shalandrea encourages visitors to slow down, breathe, and let the work meet them where they are. This balance between stillness and motion reflects the wisdom of both her Auntie Nikki, who advocated moving slowly through life, and her mother, who moved swiftly like air. This exhibition invites us to embrace the rawest, most authentic self, to acknowledge the alchemy that exists within each of us. It is within the safety of our home, whatever or whoever that feels like home, that we can access authenticity.
At the exhibition’s core are four elemental paintings — Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These works, rendered in acrylic, charcoal, and oil pastel, explore the fundamental forces governing existence. Each painting is accompanied by a poem and photographic prints. While the paintings suggest an ongoing celestial dialogue, Shalandrea’s poetry and photographic prints ground us within her earthly
experience on this plane – expressing love, grief, and ultimately, resilience.
For further questions, concerns or to schedule a private viewing please contact us via email at hello@dmstatelier.com
Featured work by Shalandrea Renee Houchen, photography by Logan Martinez
