Friday, April 10th - Thursday, April 30th, 2026

VIP Reception: April 10th, 6-8pm

Opening Reception: April 11th, 6-9pm

LOCATION
812 Royal Gallery

812 Royal St

New Orleans, LA 70116

ABOUT

“This body of work began as a quiet conversation with myself about strength—what it really looks like, and how it lives in the body. Une Femme Forte is not about power as performance, but about endurance, presence, and the kind of resilience that often goes unseen.

I paint women who exist in an in-between space: between vulnerability and resolve, between memory and becoming. They are not meant to represent anyone in particular, yet they carry fragments of lived experience—my own and those I have witnessed. Each figure holds emotion rather than narrative. I’m less interested in telling a story than in capturing a state of being.

My process is intuitive and layered. I build and remove, soften and obscure, allowing the surface to mirror the emotional weight of the figure. The muted palette, the textured skin, and the stillness of the pose all serve the same purpose: to slow the viewer down and create a moment of recognition. These women do not ask to be understood or explained. They simply exist.

The title “Une Femme Forte” speaks to the complexity of femininity. Strength is not always loud. It can be gentle, inward, and deeply personal. It can live alongside doubt, tenderness, and uncertainty. For me, strength is the courage to remain open—to feel fully and to endure.

Showing this work in New Orleans feels especially meaningful. It is a city shaped by beauty, loss, and persistence, where strength is woven into everyday life. My hope is that these paintings offer a space for reflection, and perhaps a sense of connection—for anyone who has learned that strength is often born from vulnerability.”

— René Romero Schuler