The exhibition presents works inspired by local and national histories of activism, layered with bold colors, collage-like compositions, and textured surfaces. By merging aesthetic experimentation with archival research, Jackson creates powerful visual narratives that uncover overlooked struggles and resistance movements. Accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue and public programs, the show invites audiences to reflect on the connections between art, community, and civic life.

Jackson’s work in “Across the Universe” spans a variety of media and modes of presentation. Some artworks are large abstract‐geometric paintings with halftone lines, crosshatching, washes and opaque color fields; others are sculptural or textile works that incorporate awning-style structures extending into the space, vinyl strips casting colored shadows, and layered papers and ephemera. Video installations appear, often drawing on local histories (e.g., events in Houston, court cases, stories from Black communities) to overlay archival footage, interviews, reenactments, or staged performance. An example is Vibrating Boundaries (Law of the Land) (Self Portrait as Tatyana, Dajerria, and Sandra), which layers video clips from incidents of racial violence (McKinney pool party; Sandra Bland case) with images of local artists in positions that mirror both aggressors and the vulnerable. Another work, Minute by Minute (Juneteenth in Five Points Denver, CO 2023 / Leaves Study by my Mother in COVID Isolation in Bakersfield, CA 2020), interweaves personal and family history (including recordings, photography) with broader themes of grieving and memory during the pandemic. Through such work, Jackson creates immersive environments that ask the viewer to reckon with history—not just as backdrop, but as active force shaping identity, loss, and resistance.