In the HAC Gallery

In addition work from 65+ local artists, HAC's Gallery & Gift Shop exhibits art work from emerging and historically unrepresented local artists through its Gallery program. The Gallery & Gift Shop hosts pop-up events, demonstrations, receptions, and artist talks during Last Fridays & the Art Walk and beyond. Read on to learn about the exhibition currently in the HAC Gallery.

Get hands-on experience and learn from local artists exhibiting in the HAC Gallery through our Exhibiting Artist Workshop series!

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Soundscape

By CJ Monét and Jason Mullinax of Music Discovery Lab

CJ Monét:

CJ Monét is a visual artist and musician based in Durham, North Carolina, whose work lives at the intersection of sound, storytelling, and portraiture. Specializing in detailed portraits of musicians created entirely from the lyrics of their own songs, CJ transforms music into visual form—capturing not only the likeness of the artist, but the emotional and lyrical world they’ve crafted. A picture is worth a thousand words, but what if that picture could actually be a thousand words or more?

CJ's background is not in studio art, but in art theory, art history, and neuroscience. She learned a lot about how art and music are perceived by people, both socially and biologically. "My art is the madness to the method; my love for method is the routine to the madness found in the art I create."

As a musician, CJ brings a deep sensitivity to the rhythm, tone, and imagery found in song lyrics. Each portrait is a tribute to the artist’s own words—woven into the contours of their face, the texture of their hair, the weight of their presence. The result is a visual reflection of the music itself: an image made literally out of the words that define it.

A black and white portrait of artist CJ Monet, completely made of words.

Ink portrait of Dolly Parton surrounded by butterflies and illustrated with shadows made of song lyrics.

By creating these lyric-based portraits, CJ Monét seeks to honor the power of music to paint vivid pictures in the mind—and, in turn, offer viewers a chance to see the stories behind the sound.

Inspired by CJ's work? Make your own Lyrics & Poetry Silhouette portraits with micrography art kits found in HAC's Gallery & Gift Shop, $15 per kit!

Jason Mullinax:

A percussionist, music producer, videographer, instrument builder, and educator with nearly 40 years of performance experience, Jason Mullinax is a lifelong explorer of sound. He creates electroacoustic instruments from reclaimed materials, transforming found objects into dynamic, textural sound sources called Springzingers. These handcrafted instruments transform reclaimed objects—old cigar boxes, springs, resonant metal, and other found materials—into sound sources played rhythmically or texturally using bows, sticks, and other sound exciters.

Jason has composed soundtracks for documentary films, produced original music, and performed extensively across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Now residing in Carrboro, NC, he continues to craft unique instruments, teach workshops, and experiment with the sonic possibilities hidden in everyday objects.

His work is driven by the belief that music is everywhere, waiting to be uncovered in the overlooked and the forgotten.