Jerry Cabrera & Melissa Ellis
Chromatic Dialogues
December 6, 2025 – January 10, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 6, 6 – 8 pm
Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present Chromatic Dialogues, a two-person exhibition featuring Lumen paintings by Jerry Cabrera and layered abstractions by Melissa Ellis.
Chromatic Dialogues explores the conversation between color and light as expressed through the distinct yet harmonious practices of Jerry Cabrera and Melissa Ellis. Both artists employ abstraction to create meditative experiences that transcend the surface of the canvas, inviting viewers into spaces defined by illumination.
Jerry Cabrera’s Lumen paintings capture the preciousness and sacredness of light through his glowing and vibrant rectangular canvases. Although abstract, the stacked canvases give the viewer a visual escape and create the sensation of looking at a sunset or gazing through an open window from a dark place. Cabrera’s intent with these paintings is to, “give the viewer a narrow but vast window of light. Narrow enough not to physically fit through, but vast enough through which to visually escape.”
Melissa Ellis’s work investigates the expressive and sensory possibilities of color through gestural abstraction. Built through layers of pigment and texture, her paintings balance spontaneity and control, revealing shifting tonalities that suggest rhythm, atmosphere, and depth. Through her process, Ellis explores how color interacts with light and how subtle variations can evoke movement within stillness. Her paintings are both tactile and luminous, transforming as light moves across their surfaces.
Cabrera lives and works in San Antonio, TX. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Texas State University and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Cabrera has exhibited nationally in fine art galleries and art fairs, and his work is included in prominent collections, including Neiman-Marcus, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centers, and the AT&T Center.
Ellis lives and works in Houston, TX. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston. Her work has been exhibited throughout Texas and nationally in galleries and juried exhibitions. Ellis’s paintings are held in numerous private and corporate collections, and she continues to expand her practice through experimentation with new materials and processes that explore the emotive potential of abstraction.
