Predestiny explores tranquility and transformation through the quiet portraits of Xenia Gray and the secretive landscapes of Sarah Bell Wilson. It represents the phase before destiny and destination are revealed; the calm before the storm, the breath before the scream, the liminality of the in-between, when you can feel something coming but don’t quite know what yet. It is a respite to enjoy serenity and interconnectedness in interlude phases, and know that what is predestined will soon play out. It is the moment before you step from the precipice and gracefully acquiesce to destiny. 

Xenia Gray:
My work exists in the space between solitude and interconnectedness, shaped by both my upbringing in post-Soviet Siberia and my ongoing artistic journey. Growing up in an environment marked by vast emptiness and unspoken emotions, I became attuned to silence—both around me and within. This sensibility translates into my paintings, where empty space and ambiguity invite contemplation.

In my creative process, I strive to let my ego go, allowing intuition and instinct to guide me. Through this, I explore the unseen forces that connect us—to each other, to our origins, and to something far greater than ourselves. My art is, in many ways, a search for the Self—a bridge between personal history and the infinite, between isolation and unity.

Xenia Gray is a contemporary figurative artist who primarily works in mixed media, including oil, acrylic and charcoal. Fascinated by unexpressed feelings and things left unsaid, Xenia explores emotions through paintings of the human body.

Xenia grew up in Siberia in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, and her sense of color and aesthetics is heavily influenced by the industrial environment of her hometown. Xenia enrolled in a local art school at the age of nine and continued her art education in Saint Petersburg where she achieved an MA in advertisement design from Saint Petersburg State University of Technology and Design. She moved to the United States in 2010 and currently resides in Fairfax, Virginia.

Sarah Bell Wilson: 
On my large-scale canvases thousands of small black and white oil marks accumulate to form landscapes that often appear abstract from a distance but gradually resolve into recognizable forms as the marks interact. Each work begins with a scene I encounter by chance in ordinary fleeting environments not sought out but noticed in passing. These moments in the paintings aim to capture their impermanence through careful observation and meticulous mark-making.

By working exclusively in monochrome, I reduce the landscape to value, texture, and light. The size of each mark ranges from fine precise strokes to broader gestures. Dense passages both obscure and reveal forms allowing the marks to interact across the surface and produce a sense of scale and immersion. The canvases are consistently large, often several feet across.

The marks collectively reconstruct the subject through repetition and variation. Recognition emerges gradually as thousands of individual strokes align. The surfaces reflect both the material process and the fleeting quality of the landscape itself. Each painting is a record of time, attention, and the subtle nuances of light and form.

Wilson is an artist born in Kentucky and raised throughout Virginia, whose practice has been shaped by her travels across the U.S. and abroad. Now based in Washington, D.C., she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Painting and Drawing from Longwood University, where she exhibited at The Bedford Gallery and the Longwood Center for Visual Arts (LCVA); her work in the group exhibition Final Departure became part of the LCVA’s permanent collection. In 2024, she was selected by Transformer Gallery to participate in the Transcendence Gala Auction, and in 2025 her work will again be featured in Transformer’s 22nd Annual Gala Auction, Everything is Everything. She also served as co-curator of Convergence at the Katzen Arts Center. Her work has been recognized through awards such as the Ruth Miexner-Bird Scholarship for artistic merit and, most recently, the Carol Bird Ravenal Art Award for artistic research. Wilson is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts, alongside a graduate assistantship, at American University.