THE CHILDREN SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH

JS: One of the first things I learned about you was that you don’t sketch out your work prior to working and putting down the piece itself. Knowing this and seeing the abstract nature of your work, what is that process of conceptualization like for you? Especially afterwards when the work is presumably done?

JJ: I’m constantly using references from my environment and placing them within the given pictorial narrative. Painting is problem solving 101, I see the challenge for creatives is continuously always allowing yourself to be fluid throughout the process. Improversation is key, trusting your gut is a cheat code in almost all cases.

JS: In today’s ever evolving social climate, what would you consider is the biggest challenge as an artist? How do you push back in your work?

JJ: The challenges are first defined within the artist, what their going though, how their processing emotionally; both internally / externally. I can only speak as a black person that working within a field that rewards institutional nepotism, it can be difficult finding out the right information to grow within your career. Pushing back is key, firstly being our resistance plays the central role of social & environmental justice. We build our communities based on our lack of resources and like-mindedness. This helps break the barriers down built and sustained by gatekeepers.

JS: Given the themes found in your work, where do you draw inspiration from?

JJ: Everything about me has some form of narrative surrounding the black community and comedic satire. I find myself interpolating the role of Ted talk speaker and stand up comedian. Social justice reform is big for me, our history as a people is deep both beautiful & ugly yet undefined in many ways. I’m continually exploring what that is and how those themes can be extracted and presented.

JS: One of your pieces that I found very intriguing was “Washing my hands in the water you drown me in.” I can see how one can interpret it through the lens of days where we had “White” and “Colored” water fountains. For me I also thought about the Flint Water Crisis. The piece is deep. Can you describe what you wanted your audience to take away from that?

JJ: Yeah so when I was making this piece it was apart of a series made during the George Floyd / Breonna Taylor social outcry. It made deep dive into my research of the Atlantic slave trade and roots of our Black American social demise. Many of the captives aboard the ships to the Americas didn’t make it, thrown overboard as loose cargo. Though it is said in our indigenous African religious occultism, great deities would welcome everlasting life to those deceased people. Protecting the seas against colonists and those that wish evil unto our people. That really brought it home for me.

JS: Which piece of yours embodies who you are the most and why?

JJ: I don’t really have a piece that embodies me as a whole I don’t think. And that’s probably because I have too many paintings at this point, there is extended vessel that creates for me now. I’m honestly sitting back supervising the practice. I think all the pieces have a special place in my mental archive. They hold a space in time that brings me back to moments, thoughts, memories.