Jess Newton

Artist Statement Vessels of Memory. I get a thrill when I see an old photograph of my hometown. Inspired by the stories they produce from living memories, I explore these subjects and how they can help me connect to my cultural past. It’s amazing to me how the revival of small deteriorating images painted larger than life become vessels of memory. I reconstruct places and events from the past and invite the viewer to enter the space, the vessel. In the vessels of my paintings, beautiful notes sing out of viewers and seep into younger generations like the song of Cajun accent. I find my work has become valuable to my community in inspiring future generations to feel connected to our culture. My work carries themes of Cajun and Creole culture, natural landscapes and musical roots. My designs illustrate a hope for the future survival of my culture with dreamy scenes of local inspired landscapes growing into musical instruments, people or places. Walls of Gratitude. My mural themes explore connections and collections. I connect my Cajun/Creole culture in photorealistic scenes of relaxing landscapes stylized in bold colors. I often paint in palettes of limited colors making my scenes high contrast. My designs usually incorporate a collection of typography elements stating phrases of gratitude inspired by my community’s spoken languages. My signature style of illustrated banners rolling in and out of the space are often connected by decorative scrollwork encrusted with a collection of musical instruments.