Artist Profile | Jessica Robles

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Jessica Robles is the featured artist at Provenance Gallery during the month of May. Robles’ work is a compilation of thoughts, ideas, memories and meaningful objects that she holds on to and brings to life in her prints and drawings. The work often hints at a sense of wit, sensitivity, and sometimes an overbearing sadness which in the end creates a beautifully haunting image.

Read on to learn more about her work and influences and click through the slide show above for more images.

What are influences on your work and artistic practice?

Artists characteristically use their own experiences, surroundings, thoughts and feelings as the influence for their work. This is true in my case, but my artistic practices also play a major role in the influence of my work. Printmaking is heavily process-based and I approach it with a lot of planning. There is a disconnect and multiple steps one must take to get from image making to getting ink onto paper. While time consuming, it is also very gratifying and challenging which tends to spill over into other areas of my art making. In fact, it was printmaking that changed the way I draw and approach my graphite drawings. Working with watercolors tends to be less stressful for me. I am much more casual with the approach and will often finish a piece in one sitting. The hands series was a bit of a break from the prints and drawings I typically make. There was a collection of words floating in my head before starting this series. There was no plan to even create a series. The words came before the images. The emotions influenced the result. After the first one was complete (“doom.”) the others started pouring out. I was free. Each act of creating became a mini therapy session. The immediacy allowed me to quickly release these pent up words and emotions that were trapped in my head. My brain craves tranquility in the repetitive processes of drawing and printmaking and the satisfying release of control when working with watercolor and so I will continue to feed that hunger for as long as I can.

What drives you as an artist? What are you passionate about that you're able to express through your art?

I was (and am) super lucky to have a supportive family to let me be an art major. Growing up with grandparents who were retired school teachers with an arsenal of art supplies was the greatest thing in the world. I was encouraged to build my sense of play, which I have tried my hardest not to lose (although, I think it eventually turned into wit and sarcasm). I have always been more confident and comfortable in the fact that I can say more with a series of images than a series of words. I hope that my work shows that this is my safe haven. It is where I go to get lost in another world for hours and hours. It is the ultimate daydream. I often question if I am making enough art. Am I truly an artist if I don’t? Even if I am not making something with my hands, my head is constantly absorbing and my brain is thinking up infinite possibilities. Keeping my images open ended and leaving a sense of mystery allows the images to be universally relatable. It is not my intention to grab people’s attention (that is not in my nature). But if they happen to catch a glimpse of what I am saying, I hope that my work greets them with a genuine smile. Each series I make is a timestamp, it is simply a documentation of a particular time and place. As Felix Gonzalez-Torres said, “ Above all else, it is about leaving a mark that I existed: I was here. I was hungry. I was defeated. I was happy. I was sad. I was in love. I was afraid. I was hopeful. I had an idea and I had a good purpose and that’s why I made works of art.” I have the greatest privilege of actually enjoying my job! I get to teach others about what I love to do and hopefully get them as excited as I am about it! Hopefully they get to learn how to experience joy of shutting their brain off someday.

Where do you find inspiration?

I have always been inspired by illustrations. I adore scientific and botanical illustrations for their amount of detail, but also for the simplicity and organization in their layout. I obsess over graphic novels, comics and zines for their impact in every single panel and their use of narrative. More recently, especially for this particular series, I have been inspired by traditional tattoo flash, Victorian hand imagery purely for their conviction that the hands contain meaning, and the simplicity and graphic quality of Odd Fellows Iconography. I am constantly listening to music, so sometimes song lyrics will inspire an image or pop up as a title for a piece. My sketchbooks almost always end up becoming journals; writing down things that pop into my head or bits of conversations from strangers. It wasn’t until the last six years or so that I started really enjoying incorporating text into my work, so writing has often become the starting point for a lot of my works. Which artists do you admire most, and why?

I have so many talented friends and professors that I have had the privilege to work with. There are artists who I could only dream of working with and follow on social media that inspire me multiple times a day. I cannot even begin to list them all. But, some artists who I have not only admired but who also have helped me work things out in my own process and changed the way I work and think are: Beatrix Potter for her imagination and dreamy story telling, Walton Ford for his dark Audubon-esque greatness, of course James John Aududbon, Kiki Smith for her never ending exploration and drive to get her hands on anything and everything to make her bodies of work (something I can only dream to live up to and to have that amount of dedication), Raymond Pettibon for inspiring me to work up the guts to incorporate text in my work, Paula Rego for her mix of innocent and dark narratives in her prints, and Andrew Wyeth for his power, eye for detail, strength, and emotion.

Jessica Robles is a California-based artist studied fine art at the College of the Sequoias. She then went on to receive her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and her MFA from Northern Illinois University, both with an emphasis in printmaking. She is now an adjunct art instructor at the College of the Sequoias and teaches printmaking at California State University Fresno. You can see more of her work by visiting her website www.jessicarobles.com or by following her on instagram @jessicaroblesart.​