Austin Lightholder: "Alchemy of Perception" | Opening Celebration @ MOCA

Austin Lightholder is a senior at the University of North Florida working towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He works across acrylic painting, collage, photography, charcoal drawing, and plaster sculpture and likes to explore all three dimensions in his work, both wall and floor-based. His practice centers on themes of transformation, passion, and raw emotional expression. Informed by his neurodivergent perspective, he approaches the world with a unique sensitivity to pattern, contrast, and emotional nuance. His work often resists fixed meaning, favoring layered compositions that seek to invite viewers into evolving states of thought and feeling.

During his residency at MOCA, he created a body of work under the theme Alchemy of Perception—an exploration of transformation as both an inward experience and outward gesture. Through this, he seeks to confront and communicate the beauty and volatility of change, producing artworks that both absorb and express the energy of becoming.

Questions? Contact MOCA Membership Coordinator Le Milford at [email protected]

About MOCA

Located in the heart of historic Downtown, the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville is one of the city’s most significant cultural assets. As the oldest art museum in Northeast Florida and one of the first contemporary art museums established in the United States, MOCA focuses on promoting the discovery, knowledge, and advancement of the art, artists, and ideas of our time.

Among the most prominent contemporary art museums in the Southeast, MOCA’s exhibitions and programs set the pace for arts and art-integrated programming on a regional and national stage. Renowned in this community, MOCA casts a spotlight on Jacksonville as a burgeoning, vital arts destination.

The museum is also a cornerstone of Jacksonville’s multibillion-dollar downtown revitalization plan with exhibitions and programs that bring new visitors to the civic core during the day, at night, and on weekends.

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