USE WHAT YOU GOT is the debut solo-exhibition of works created by atiya jones. As part of her “Self Avoidance Series (2020-),” these “brain maps” are considered by the artist to be self-portraits, representing her internal mental landscape. This show is a testament to one of her earliest learned skills: make do with what one has access to.

Produced on the heels of a year of self-led residency titled “Time Sensitive” (developed in community with theater artist & director Adil Mansoor), the pieces in USE WHAT YOU GOT were created using mediums jones was introduced to through a propensity for perusing hardware stores for art supplies and observing the work of graffiti artists throughout her life in NYC, LA and Pittsburgh. Industrial Sakura and Art Primo solid paint sticks, and Krink K-66 mops combine with hand-painted images to create a duplicitous union between “fine” and “street” art. She is challenging viewers to consider what is deemed as worthy of a gallery setting, and the value of “archival” materials. Who profits when an artwork lasts a lifetime?

The "Self Avoidance Series" portrays the shift jones experienced relative to her mental health while in isolation throughout the summer of 2020 and beyond. A departure from her previous entangled and precision based line-motifs, these images feature lines that are disparate— searching for one another. This series provokes thoughts of expansion and wander as opposed to tension and obsession. Themes in this collection include childhood/education, portals, means of elevation, transformation/snakes, psychological brain-mapping and transience.

USE WHAT YOU GOT is an artist-funded exhibit, with additional support provided by BOOM Concepts and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.