artist statement:
relationships are not always pretty. neither is life. when you begin tearing at the edges, you start to see for the first time. it hurts. and, it is beautiful. it is only as you peel back the layers, that beauty exposes herself, raw & vulnerable, a papercut of life. beneath, lies pain. there is so much beauty in pain that is never seen from the outside. we are afraid to look. looking in, one connects to another. it is here where cosmetics melt away & pain is redefined as beauty. when, if ever, will we truly begin to look? we are so programmed to see beauty in autumn leaves & white snow, we forget to return to ourselves—holders of what we seek. to face this place is a feared journey, yet beneath the gravity of our skin, truth breathes. look—and you may find, it's not as scary as you thought. or perhaps, maybe it is frightening, but it's all yours.
jess feury has been creating art since she was a small child. she studied fine art at the university of vermont and continued to receive a degree in art education from the university of maryland. after teaching art for two years, jess pursued a masters in art therapy from the george washington university. she is currently working as an art therapist in the washington, dc area. she specializes in working with issues of grief and loss. her current works reflect the empathic nature of her own experience in relation to the clients she serves.
jess does not limit herself to a particular style of painting, rather, she draws from an eclectic mix inspired from dreams, life experience, and emotion, which might be descibed best as working from an intuitive/visionary approach. she admires the works created by outsider artists such as jean dubuffet. however, her most significant place of inspiration, other than her personal unconscious, is the american visionary art museum in baltimore, maryland.
jess feury is most interested in creating works that reflect her life process and inner dialogue. she is less concerend with the aesthetic merit of her paintings than she with the authenticity they express. for her, an image should leave a whisper of the maker’s experience while simultaneously evoking emotion from the viewer. this is where the creator and the viewer meet. whether one likes or dislikes the product is less important than the emotion stirred.
Artistic Achievements: