Tracy Xavia Karner works at the intersection of painting and photography to explore issues of both internal and external vision. Introspective and evocative, her images offer new ways of seeing the familiar, the known, and the overlooked. She seeks what she calls “talismans and touchstones”—images that suggest a magical sense of the world. Seeking moments of delight and nearly missed possibilities, her work captures the sudden and unexpected glimmers of enchantment found in life’s shimmers and shadows. Tracy Xavia Karner is the Director of Visual Studies at the University of Houston, a new interdisciplinary program that brings together visual experts from across the campus, links to Houston’s rich visual community, and enriches the intellectual opportunities for student education; she is also an Associate Professor in the Sociology Department. An award winning teacher, she offers workshops in creative processes, introspection through photography, and expressive painting.