Artist Spotlight
Jaclayvious Emmanuel By Sundi Rose
a world full of art and artists, finding new is like finding out Hershey’s Iis nsomeone making a new candy, and Jaclayvious Emmanuel is just that. A wonderful surprise.
the intricacies of old Earth creation as he can about Japanese culture. Although he doesn’t like to talk about himself at length, it is very easy to see that still waters run extremely
Untitled - 2019 Acrylic, Paint Marker & Charcoal on Canvas
Born here in Columbus, he has also lived in Seattle, Detroit and Atlanta before returning to this comfortable home a few years ago. Jaclayvious, aka Clay, has as much talent as he has humility. As we sat talking I learned he is a painter, who mostly lends his time to oil, acrylic, and chalk, and still has a passion for street art and graffiti. He is also a person
him what he’s really loving right now, he names Frank Ocean as one of his favorites. And he absolutely lights up when he talks about his skating community at the Cuckoo’s Nest (1326 10th Ave). It’s a small, supportive group, and he draws a lot of inspiration from the people in his circle. He informed me he’s been skating since he could walk, and says it’s deeply entangled with his love and appreciation of hip hop and it”s certainly reflected in his work. Deeply religious, he draws from his faith as a Christian and his experience as a former atheist. You can hear how thoughtful he is about his own beliefs and value system, and it’s his faith that fuels the themes of human connection and hope in his work. He will find himself inadvertently working Biblical stories or figures into his pieces, sometimes not even realizing it until he’s deep into it. He is also interested in exploring the conflict between good and bad in humans, and a lot of his work reflects his belief in the nature of humans to want to strive for good. Self-taught, his roots are in technical drawing. He was seven the first time he remembers sketching something and feeling really proud of it, although he was reluctant to even tell this story
deep. He is incredibly warm and inviting. Jaclayvious definitely doesn’t fit the mold of what society considers a man of his age to be. He stated that he isn’t “trendy” and chuckled a little when I asked him if he was
Jaclayvious Emmanuel
who values his community, particularly his skateboarding collective, in a big way. I found all of his work strikingly genuine and palpable. At just 28 years old, you may think him shy at first, but you’ll quickly find he is an old soul. You’ll catch him reading philosophers like Alvin Carl Plantinga, who loves to contemplate religion, epistemology, and logic. He can just as easily talk to you about the ideas of astrophysicist Hugh Ross and LocaL
Chaos - 12x16 Acrylic, Spray Paint, Paint Marker, Wax Crayon, Crackle Paste, Charcoal, & Sharpie on Canvas
on TikTok. Instead he’s the type you’ll find watching classic movies from the 1960s, and particularly if they are French and shot in the anamorphic style. He admits he is choosy when it comes to the latest movies and music, and when I ask 18
NOVEMBER -DECEMBER 2021
