He stands off to the side, both hands tucked behind his back, and observes.
Seife barely has a moment to himself before someone rushes over to congratulate the 34-year-old, ask for a photo, or discuss his work.
Nearly a week after the opening, the artist is still processing the whole experience. Sitting in an empty conference room at PAMM, he says, "It still feels surreal."
Opening night was the first time Seife could see all of the works for the show come together as he had planned.
"I've always talked about how fruition is my favorite part of the process," Seife says. "I like the idea of picturing how this is going to be framed and how it's going to hang and the whole journey for the work. It's something that I've always found so fascinating and fulfilling."
Aptly titled "Coming to Fruition," the show opened in May at PAMM and is on view through March 2024. Layered with meaning, the title refers to more than just his artwork becoming a reality. It also holds a much deeper meaning for the artist.
Seife recalls his first time visiting an art museum as a child. His class visited the Miami Art Museum, which many years later relocated to the Herzog & de Mueron-designed building overlooking Biscayne Bay. It's only fitting that his first museum show is at the first art museum he visited that inspired his love of the craft.
"There are all these things that lend itself to that name of 'Coming to Fruition,'" Seife explains.
"Very full circle," adds PAMM's assistant curator, Maritza Lacayo, who sits adjacent to Seife and smiles proudly as he shares his story.
Jason Seife. Everything in its Right Place, 2022–23. Oil and acrylic on canvas.
Pérez Art Museum Miami photo
"As someone who does studio visits regularly, and I would like to think that I have my finger on the pulse here, I was excited to see something that I hadn't seen before," Lacayo adds. "So we scheduled a studio visit, and here we are."
After that serendipitous studio visit, Seife immediately started dreaming about what a show at the PAMM would look like.
The exhibition features seven new works by Seife, which took him about two years to complete. Two triptychs made up of three concrete paintings adorn opposite walls. The triptychs are hung on a custom-made wood frame inspired by Seife's patterns. The focal piece is a large canvas piece that stretches the entirety of the back wall and is breathtakingly beautiful.
Seife's work demands your attention. Incredible detail is woven into every corner of the concrete slabs and canvas on the museum walls. Part of the beauty of the work is the aged look of the pieces that appear as if they were archeological relics.
The artist drew inspiration from his Syrian and Cuban background. A son of immigrants, he's a self-taught painter and designer and attributes much of his success to his supportive parents. The first time Seife experimented with a carpet painting, he based it on a rug he had at home. He stretched his finished piece on the floor of his studio and called his parents over. The memory brings a subtle smile to Seife's face.
"They thought it was an actual carpet, and they had this really cool reaction to it," he says.
His parent's reaction fueled a flame, and Seife delved deeper into exploring carpet paintings and creating his unique designs.
In January 2021, Seife had a sold-out solo show at the London art gallery Unit. It was a huge success, except no one saw the works in person. It was London's strictest lockdown period, so the show was hung for photos but never had a proper opening.
The experience left Seife holding his breath until the opening night of his PAMM show.
Looking over at Lacayo, Seife says, "I would mess with her, but I was like, 'Tell me when it's on the website.'" The pair laugh like old friends and kindred spirits.
"He was like, 'Is this really happening?'" says Lacayo with a laugh. "I was like, 'Yes, it's happening. It's happening!'"
Lacayo says about the museum, "Our mission and vision is to bring the best to Miami and represent the best of Miami. We have to be a window and a mirror."
"Miami is a gold mine. We have incredible artists living right here and working in ways you can't even imagine. We can be the place to showcase that, and we can be the place to really highlight what our community is doing," she adds.
Seife and Lacayo encourage people to see the work in person at the museum. There's nothing like experiencing the pieces up close and holistically.
"There is this process of revelations that people have when they come close to [the work], which I love," Seife says. "And that only can happen by seeing the work in person."
"The exhibition itself was designed from the very beginning as a sort of contemplative space," Lacayo adds. "It looks almost like a secular chapel. The lighting is intimate. It creates a space where people can come and have all sorts of emotional experiences inside the space."
"I'm very proud of this exhibition, and I feel like it's a good representation of my work up until this point — but there's more to come," Seife says.
"Jason Seife: Coming to Fruition." On view through March 17, 2024, at Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-375-3000; pamm.org. Tickets cost $12 to $16
