ARTIST: JESS SELF
Art Histories are highly curated presentations of an artists’ life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come.
Jess Self is a contemporary artist in Atlanta, GA who works with wax, wool, wood, and textiles to create mixed-media figurative sculptures. She received her BFA from Warren Wilson College and MFA from Georgia State University. She received the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant in 2024 and 2021, and was a Hudgens Prize Nominee in 2022. She owns and operates her craft fair business, Heart Felt Designs on the side and has taught at universities and workshops around the world.
“I am an archetype. Or, rather, I have embodied a variety of archetypes (the seductress, the lover, the mother, and the martyr) throughout my life.”
COLLECTION: SELAH
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Artist Statement
My Selah series was initially focused on capturing the essence of shaman women I met during expansive travel to Nepal, Mongolia, South Korea, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea in conjunction with the women I seek healing from locally. However, when making the work it turned into so much more.
I began by making life casts of my mentor, mother, and best friends and during this process, many interesting things happened. My friend and mentor Lara (whose body was used in the submitted piece) fainted while making her mold causing it to warp. She had undergone chemotherapy for her metastatic cancer the day before and even though I don’t think this is what caused her to faint, I am sure it did not help. Upon my return to the studio, I started to assess the damaged mold. While doing so I noticed my fingers were beginning to numb. I called Lara and we both gasped when we realized her chemotherapy had been sweat into the mold as well. I could not work with the mold because it was dangerous and because it was warped. I had to figure out how to salvage the work I had done, I could not put her through that process again, and did not want her generous involvement to go to waste. For the next 6 months straight I set out to fix her mold. My friend was dying and this process forced me to think about this reality every day. I was doing surgery on this mold and its casts trying to fix her. This was a ritual, a ceremony that had found me when I needed it. As I created her sculpture Lara was sent updates and would always surprise me by sending me scans of her test results showing that where I had made clusters of embedded ceremonial materials was coincidentally where her tumors were or where she had scars from the tubes and ports put into her. We were deeper connected than we had ever been before. I completed this sculpture on 5/26/23. Lara passed away on 5/29/23. I am so thankful that she could see it finished before her death. And although I am still completely devastated that I lost my friend I am thankful for the ritual of working on her body and making this sculpture that helped me process this time in my life.
I set out to explore how different cultures’ beliefs overlap to create a web of connections by seeking its presence in places that would seem to have very little in common.
My work has always been deeply personal, the figures serve as anchors to my own narrative and, through the familiar visual language of the archetype, allow viewers to find their own story within our shared mold. I set out to explore how different cultures’ beliefs overlap to create a web of connections by seeking its presence in places that would seem to have very little in common. Combining universal themes with the stories and bodies of real women creates a tangible way for us to ponder, promote, and celebrate women’s empowerment and our innate strength, mysticism, and wisdom.
COLLECTION: KNOWING TOGETHER WITH AN OTHER
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Artist Statement
I am an archetype. Or, rather, I have embodied a variety of archetypes (the seductress, the lover, the mother, and the martyr) throughout my life. In my practice, I create figurative sculptures made from life casts, embedded with or covered in wax, wool, wood, or mixed textiles, to ask: why do we cling to archetypes to understand ourselves and each other? By tapping into the power of archetypes, my identity becomes secondary to universally relatable ideas, helping viewers experience empathy and encouraging them to reflect on their own experiences and psycho-spiritual growth. My figures serve as anchor points to my own narrative and, through the familiar visual language of the archetype, give viewers the opportunity to find their own story within our shared mold. Following Jungian archetypes embedded in both the personal and collective unconsciousness we experience and feel similar things, creating a connection or shared narrative experience. By using my own body as an archetype I strive to facilitate an embodied and emotional connection with viewers through narrative shorthands, while also prodding at their validity.
COLLECTION: MORE UPSTAIRS
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PRESS
Highlights Include:
Sculptor Jess Self Becomes the Lover, Mother, and Martyr of Her Own Story
Written By Not Real Art
Headshot of Jess Self. Courtesy of NotRealArt.com
2023 FINALIST
THE KITE PRIZE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART 2023
© Jess Self, Withness, 2021, Journaled Letters to men 2001-2020, wax, metal, mixed textiles, wool, 60 x 36 x 64 inches
© Jess Self, Mother/Martyr, 2021, Wax, Mixed Textiles, Metal, 70 x 36 x 50 inches
To acquire artwork from Jess Self’s collection, email artofjessself@gmail.com.
Click here to download Jess Self’s CV.
To learn more about the artist: www.JessLSelf.com
Banner Image: © Jess Self, You Can’t See Me This Way, 2019, Mixed Textiles, 54 x 30 x 36 inches
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Our Art Histories program features highly curated presentations of an artist’s life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come. Creating your own art history is an important opportunity for artists to shape their own legacy.
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