If reality is a nightmare, dreams are liberation.

Community and civic engagement artist Denae Howard contemplates this topic in her eight-piece gallery “What Were You Dreaming When You Were Killed?” is on display at the Ralph Arnold Arts Annex from October 17 to November 16. Howard hosted a gallery presentation on Oct. 22, giving viewers more information about her work.

Through Howard’s mystical, mixed-media style, she uses bold colors and powerful imagery to bring her audience into her liberating dream world.

Howard, also known as X Bunny, art swindler and other pseudonyms, focuses her art on community and civic engagement, according to her artist statement.

During the exhibit, Howard said all the works came from moments when he allowed himself to rest, dream and practice mindfulness. Howard said he kept dream journals and went hiking, and in these times of rest he began to wonder what victims of police brutality like Breonna Taylor and Fred Hampton dreamed about when they experienced violence in safety.

Howard’s work highlights the basic human need for rest and how police violence has stolen the safe haven of rest away from people of color.

“As a civic community employee, I wondered about their rest,” Howard said. “Was Ms. Taylor able to sleep deeply enough that when she died she simply stepped on into an alternate reality where she could experience liberation?”

In the gallery, four sheets of silver metallic mylar sheets hang from the ceiling in the center of the room, swaying as people walk past the pieces. Painted sheets hang everywhere else, creating the meditative effect of a labyrinth as viewers pass through them, taking them out of the nightmare of reality.

When the sun shines through the attached windows, the mylar paintings become slightly transparent, and viewers can see where Howard put the most pressure on the material.

“I’m proud of the way the works speak to each other—the materiality of the works and the flow in the conversation,” Howard said.

In the corner, two Victorian chairs upholstered in brown and turquoise fabric invite the audience into the cozy space. Howard’s piece “God Saves Part 2” hangs above the table and chairs.

Howard said she uses collages as the basis for her works and then paints around them. In the background of “God Saves Part 2”, Howard used images of authoritarian brutality in Brooklyn, Gaza and Paris and scribbled over law enforcement to highlight the victims.

“My intention and focus in creating art was to transform for my viewer the meaning of negative stereotypes of blackness and black culture,” Howard said.

Based in Brooklyn, Howard offers local artists opportunities to showcase and sell through her website DayOnesArtteaches art to Brooklyn kids and gives Black Utopian Fellowship for aspiring color artists, scientists, researchers and inventors.

“I feel ‘What did you dream about before you were killed?’ it speaks to the specific nuances of the dangers of marginalized bodies,” Howard said. “When black people experience violence — especially during periods of rest — that behavior is an extension of racial tropes that demonize black human existence.”

Jessica Lanay organized the show as one of two she will present as Loyola’s Artist and Scholar in Residence for the 2024-25 school year. Lanay said she wanted to feature Howard’s work because of her ability to communicate with viewers in unconventional ways.

“I’ve been aware of Howard’s work for a long time and have always had a lot of respect for their experimental freedom with materials and images,” said Lanay. “There is a fearlessness and wry commentary in the work I’ve seen speaking to audiences.”

During the tutorial, many viewers chimed in and asked about Howard’s piece “Breaking Realities.” The mixed media painting on mylar features Howard’s thumb trying to pierce the image of a yellow flower on her phone screen. Howard said the inspiration came from trying to be present in nature but failing due to the lure of her phone.

Howard said he hopes the exhibit prompts viewers to bear witness to the conversation about the violence black people experience due to police brutalityand how dreams can be a space of liberation.

“I would like them to consider the matter of their realities, their dreams and their nightmares,” Howard said.

Howard’s work is based on collaboration and community, yet Lanay wanted to give Howard a place to showcase his work on his own. Lanay said the lines from “What Were You Dreaming When You Were Killed?” it combines beauty with social commentary and encourages viewers to contemplate the social structures around them.

“I want to support this iteration of their artistic thought process and share it with Loyola and the local communities — to bring something into the environment that acknowledges the moment we live in while providing a productive line of imagination and questioning,” said Lanay.

Loyola students can view “What Did You Dream When You Were Murdered?” at the Ralph Arnold Arts Annex Gallery through November 16.