We are very excited to have Jessica Rowshandel in Small Space Fest! She's a woman of many trades. Originally from New York City, now living in Los Angeles, she has a background in Social Work, is a self-proclaimed science nerd, is a freelance writer and author of the book, Lupus: 365 Tips for Living Well. We love what she stands for and we are looking forward to the art work she will bring to Small Space Fest!
Jessica's Artist Statement: "Much of my work is gender-based. I don’t sit down and ask: What can I say about gender or feminism today? But the more I make art, the more gender-based work comes to the surface. I am passionate about other justice issues like poverty, racism, food justice, and animal rights. Though these issues all intersect with my personal identities, my work keeps visiting themes of gender. There are likely a lot of forces at play, but maybe in addition to politics, some of it is my age: In my thirties I think differently about body image, motherhood and the pressure to have children than I did in my twenties, and I am more comfortable with my own gender identity.
Some of my other work is exploratory of different life experiences, but also of different materials (e.g. fire, collage) and art-making disciplines beyond painting and drawing (e.g. conceptual, sculptural, video/time-based art). I find these explorations to be fascinating and feel that they only provide me with more options with which to make art. I enjoy experimentation and I enjoy sharing my findings.
Gender-based or not, my work is often very personal. I don’t set out to be “confessional,” but I also take the chance to be personal where maybe some artists choose to make a different kind of art and keep the personal private because that’s what is important to them. It seems to be my impulse to share the personal perhaps because I am rewarded when I discover that you like my work because you can identify with it. Perhaps this is my mating ritual, but in a platonic sort of way (is there a term for that?).
I create online community-based projects (most currently Artist Stories) because of this desire for connection, this passion to interact with you and to experience your creative responses. The Internet is vaster than I can imagine and can reach more people than I ever could in person. I encourage anyone (artist or “non-artist”) to enter a project submission because I believe that everyone has a creative impulse and it’s beautiful when people follow that impulse."
More of Jessica Rowshandel's art work, click Here.
Other related work:
http://artiststories.wordpress.com/