Modern Muse: Art, Innovation, and Feminine Power in Houston
Updated: April 2026
Before you read this post, I want to tell you something about where it came from.
This post was originally published on Ceyise Studios — the platform I founded before I had the full language for what I was building. At the time, I was Dr. Stacey Denise the artist and designer, and Dr. Stacey Denise Moore the physician, and I hadn't yet found the container that held both of those women in the same breath. Ceyise Studios was that container while I was still becoming. It held my art, my design work, my first attempts at putting my healing into a public form — and it held this exhibition announcement, which was the first time I ever told the world that I was showing my work.
I'm honoring that here. Ceyise Studios was not a detour. It was the bridge. And the Modern Muse exhibition was the moment I walked across it.
That story now lives on drstaceydenise.com because this is where it has always belonged — in the practice, with the patients, inside the framework of the Neuroaesthetic Reset Method™ that grew directly from everything Ceyise Studios was teaching me about myself. The transition isn't a correction. It's a completion.
So read this post knowing it is a legacy document. It is the announcement of a moment that changed everything — preserved exactly as it was written when the doors of The Assembly Third Ward were still about to open.
This fall, Houston became the epicenter of creative innovation as Modern Muse: Houston's Women in Art took the spotlight on November 2, 2024. Hosted at The Assembly, Third Ward from 1 to 6 pm, the exhibition united two of the city's most promising female artists for a vibrant celebration of creativity, innovation, and passion.
Modern Muse invited attendees into a world where traditional mediums blended with cutting-edge technology, offering fresh perspectives on contemporary art. From powerful paintings to mesmerizing digital creations, the event presented pieces that challenged, inspired, and provoked thought — and more than that, pieces that healed.
A Showcase of Trailblazing Talent
The two artists at the heart of Modern Muse were Dr. Stacey Denise Moore and Ashley Simmons. Their pieces pushed the edges of creativity and unfurled deeply intimate stories. Together, they embodied the spirit of empowerment, creativity, and transformation.
Dr. Stacey Denise Moore, a former pediatric surgeon turned neuroaesthetic physician, brought her emotionally resonant Fragments to Fusion collection — seventeen works of figurative expressionist digital art that documented a journey from childhood trauma through surgical training through shadow work through healing, all the way to the Her Series that closed the collection with a declaration of arrival. Inspired by her experience with alexithymia, a condition that limits the ability to express emotions verbally, Dr. Stacey transforms complex feelings into vibrant visual narratives. Using digital tools including Adobe Photoshop and generative AI, her works invite viewers to explore the intersection of emotion, technology, and art.
Ashley Simmons is a dynamic mixed-media artist whose work is as raw as it is refined. Her bold, multi-layered creations explore themes of self-growth and transformation, drawing inspiration from literary and artistic icons including W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Using vibrant colors, textures, and an array of techniques, her work is a visceral expression of personal and collective evolution — an invitation to experience the power of renewal firsthand. Ashley wasn't a supporting act. She was a co-creator of the vision, and her presence made the exhibition what it was.
Art Talks to Ignite Passion and Drive Creativity
The opening reception invited guests to meet the artists, explore their works, and engage directly through live talks — gaining insight into creative processes and personal journeys. Dr. Stacey read a spoken word poem about her own healing journey to a room full of people who came as strangers and left as witnesses. That interactive component offered something deeper than a gallery visit — it offered a space where a community gathered, recognized itself in the art on the walls, and gave each other permission to feel it.
As Dr. Stacey said at the time: "Modern Muse is a celebration of the exceptional talent emerging from Houston's vibrant art scene. We aim to create an environment where these artists can share their voices and where the community can experience the transformative power of contemporary art."
Alongside the inspiring works, guests enjoyed curated bites and fine wines. There was a DJ. There was laughter and conversation and people standing in front of paintings for a long time because something in the work had found them. It felt like a community party where people got to meet Dr. Stacey as a whole person — not just the surgeon, not just the physician, but the woman who had made seventeen pieces of art about her own life and was finally, for the first time, showing them to the world.
Modern Muse 2024 — The Piece That Closes the Arc
The final work in the Fragments to Fusion collection is the piece that carries the exhibition's name. In Modern Muse 2024, Dr. Stacey pays homage to the untapped strength and quiet grace within every woman, captured through an ethereal yet resilient figure who stands as a testament to transformation and self-discovery. She is adorned with butterflies crafted of sapphire and mother of pearl — symbols of constant evolution and metamorphosis. Each butterfly represents the journey of healing, carrying the memories of past trials and the luminous beauty that emerges when we embrace our truest selves.
Her profile is both soft and steadfast, gazing forward with green eyes that suggest the intuitive power we all carry — an ancestral knowledge that connects us across time and space. She wears a single pearl earring, a nod to the wisdom and purity born of adversity, much like the pearls worn by every other figure in the Her Series. Pearls signify the delicate yet unbreakable bond between resilience and vulnerability, especially in the face of Complex PTSD. In her presence, we see both the courage it takes to confront buried pain and the grace that arises from doing so.
What parts of yourself have you uncovered in your own journey of healing?
That is the question this piece asks. It's the question the whole collection has been asking from the very first piece. And it's the question that now lives at the heart of the clinical work Dr. Stacey brings to her menopause practice every single day.
To go deeper into what this exhibition meant and what it gave birth to, read the companion post: Narrative Medicine — When Your Story Becomes the Healing → (coming soon)
The Her Series that led to this moment: Teach Her — What Breaking the Cycle Actually Looks Like → Be Her — The Coming Out Party Nobody Sent Me an Invitation To → See Her — A Declaration of Visibility →
Join the Auntie Menopause Circle →
If this resonated with you, you are not alone in this journey. The Auntie Menopause Circle is where women who are done being dismissed come to learn, heal, and find each other.
NOTE: This post originated as the pre-event announcement for the Modern Muse: Houston's Women in Art exhibition on Ceyise Studios. It has been updated here on drstaceydenise.com with an introductory reflection honoring Ceyise Studios as the transitional container that held Dr. Stacey's creative and healing identity before The Neuroaesthetic MD™ practice took full form. The original announcement content has been preserved as a legacy document of that moment. Originally published on Ceyise Studios. Originally written by Suchismita Pal and published on Ceyise Studios, September 11, 2024 (Modern Muse: A Fusion of Art, Innovation, and Feminine Power in Houston). Updated and expanded by Dr. Stacey Denise, April 2026.
