Art Exhibit | West Orange Public Library

Cassandra Saint-Jean

Renewal

July 1 - August 22, 2025

This new collection is rooted in the idea that growth doesn't always begin with a clean slate. Renewal, for me, is not about erasing the past, but about engaging with it, and working with what’s already there. Old thoughts, past emotions, and long-held memories all live within these pieces. Some of the works in this collection began years ago, and I returned to them in a different season of life. I painted over them, added new layers, sanded parts down. I allowed the history to remain visible. That process, layered, imperfect, honest, became central to the work itself.

There’s deep emotion embedded in this collection. Some pieces were painted in moments of sadness, others in calm. Certain marks came from trying to forget, while others came from remembering too much. Much of what I couldn’t say out loud made its way into the paintings through gesture and texture.

Materials played a powerful role in this body of work. I incorporated found wood, paint skins I’d saved, fragments that held personal meaning. These elements reminded me of childhood moments, or things I was going through as I painted. In many ways, these works became like journals, or like conversations I never had, but needed to.

I titled the collection Renewal because I believe in the quiet strength of returning to something familiar and allowing it to shift, to evolve. It’s not about forgetting. It’s about staying present with what was, and letting it become something new. That’s what renewal feels like to me. Not perfect, just real.

About the Artist

Cassandra Saint-Jean is a Haitian-born artist based in New Jersey whose work explores themes of healing, liberation, and the quiet beauty of the human experience. Cassandra began painting in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, a time that marked a profound personal transformation. After stepping away from a career path in healthcare, she turned to art as a way to process, to feel, and to reclaim her sense of self.

Her intuitive approach to painting mirrors the nonlinear nature of healing and self-discovery. Rather than follow strict techniques or formulas, Cassandra allows her work to unfold naturally, guided by emotion and presence. Each piece becomes a meditation on vulnerability, freedom, and the often-overlooked intricacies of being human.

Cassandra’s work invites viewers to slow down and connect with themselves.Through abstraction and instinctive mark-making, she creates visual spaces that invite reflection, stir emotion, and open the door to deeper self-awareness.

Artist Statement

My work explores healing, liberation, and honoring the human experience in all its complexity. It doesn’t follow a strict formula, it flows intuitively, much like the process of healing or finding oneself.

I began painting during a period of deep personal transformation, after stepping away from a more traditional path in healthcare. That turning point shaped everything. The weight of that decision, the grief, the freedom, the unknown, it all lives in the work.

I want people to look at my work and feel something real, whether that’s curiosity, peace, reflection, or even discomfort. It's about encouraging others to slow down, to pay attention to what’s happening inside of them, and to see beauty in things that are often overlooked, like the quiet power of vulnerability.

In short: my work is trying to evoke presence, connection, and a sense of wonder, whether about the self, the body, or the act of creating. It's like an invitation to let go, to feel deeply, and to return to yourself, to feel without judgment, and meaning in both the mess and the calm.

-Cassandra Saint-Jean