Dr. Jabani Bennett

Dr. Jabani Bennett is a Louisville-based visual artist, writer, and mindfulness facilitator whose practice explores portraiture, food, belonging, and material storytelling through painting, collage, and fiber. Rooted in her Kentucky family's traditions of photography, gospel music, and jazz, she creates expressionistic works that merge representational imagery with painterly abstraction and layered materials to examine cultural memory, folklore, and place.

Working from photographic research, observation, and experimentation, Bennett creates richly layered surfaces that evoke presence through material, gesture, and rhythm. Across portraiture and still life, she investigates how everyday subjects—from the human face to shared meals—carry histories of migration, identity, labor, and care.

Alongside her studio practice, Bennett facilitates arts and mindfulness experiences that encourage creative exploration and well-being. Her work has been exhibited throughout Kentucky and continues to evolve through interdisciplinary practice, bridging visual art, community engagement, and contemporary Black cultural expression.