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, Saint-Jean allows her work to unfold naturally, guided by emotion and presence. Through abstraction and instinctive mark-making, she creates visuals that invite reflection, stir emotion, and open the door to deeper self-awareness.
Renewal, a new collection created specially for this exhibit, is rooted in the idea that growth does not always look like neat, light paths, but messy, cyclical, deeply felt shifts. With this body of work, Cassandra shares moments of healing and reclamation as they unfold in real time: paintings that reveal the raw edge of letting go and the quiet hope of starting over. If painting has become her nonlinear method of healing, then making this imperfection visible, the process—layered, honest, present—becomes central to the work itself.
This piece reflects the weight of silence and the tension of emotions left unvoiced. It explores the inner struggle of holding back thoughts and feelings, revealing the quiet power and complexity behind what remains unsaid.
This painting continues the exploration of silence, not just the things left unsaid, but the voices that were never given space to exist. Buried Voices is about suppressed truths, emotional inheritance, and the quiet echo of what’s been internalized. It asks: What happens to the parts of ourselves we silence to protect others, or ourselves?
This piece came from a place where I finally let myself create without holding anything back. Quiet Rush is about trusting my instincts, letting my hands lead, and releasing everything I had been containing. There’s no overthinking here, just movement, color, and freedom.
This is a piece I return to over an over. Sometimes we don’t have the right words for what we’re feeling, so we hold it in other ways. For me, this painting became that place, I went back and forth with it for weeks, layering, covering, starting over. It turned into a quiet space to say what couldn’t be said out loud.
I included pages from a human anatomy book a quiet reference to healing, both physical and emotional. This piece holds a kind of gratitude for what we survive, and what we carry with us after.
Hey Girl Hey is more than just a painting, it’s like a diary on canvas. It’s about turning inward while still reaching outward. With this piece, I wanted to give myself (and anyone who needs it) permission to be seen and heard, to clear out the mental noise, and connect to that raw, unfiltered space we all carry inside.
This piece is a continuation of Hey Girl Hey, a softer return to myself, but also an invitation for anyone to check back in with who they are. It’s about showing up again with honesty and making space for the parts of us that are still growing and becoming.
This piece felt like a turning point like I was tapping into something new in my practice. The title came to me after it was finished, almost like the work had named itself. Travelers speaks to movement, inner journeys, and the feeling of being guided by something just beyond language.
Vessel came through me, like I was just holding space for something bigger to reveal itself. It’s about letting go of control and trusting the creative flow, but it’s also about how we all carry things inside us that want to speak, if we’re willing to get out of the way and listen.
A quiet, spiritual piece that holds the energy of guardianship and protection, a keeper of stories, memories, and light.
A spiritual piece that embodies restoration and gentle strength, a quiet force of renewal and repair.
This piece is a celebration of childhood, a reminder of carefree days and the simple joy that shaped me. It invites viewers to reconnect with that sense of play and freedom.
An older piece textured with salt, Angry Youth captures the raw energy and intensity of youthful frustration. The title came to me naturally, reflecting the emotions poured into the work.
True to its name, this piece holds moments and feelings from childhood, a quiet reflection on the past that continues to shape who I am.
This piece reminds me of the simple joy of childhood, playing by the sea, the taste of salt on the breeze, and the feeling of freedom that comes with those moments.
This piece is layered with texture, a tactile exploration of what it means to be human, the complexity, the struggle, and the beauty beneath it all.
An exploration of the heart, its complexity, vulnerability, and strength, told through layered textures that invite touch and reflection.
The Journey Behind the Work: