Jessica Tobin, Visual Artist

I make mixed, media paintings that come out of my day to day as a mother and caregiver. These works are inspired by the routines of domestic living and explore the imbalance of order, chaos, and self that comes with it.

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My process starts with drawing using graphite, crayon or charcoal. These drawings are of items from my home or people and scenes from my everyday. The drawings are repeated and layered until they start to become unrecognizable. On top of this I layer paint. The movements I use to apply paint are spontaneous and energetic.They reflect on the life I live. There is transparent paint applied to record movement and play and there is opaque paint that acts to control or ground. As this process continues the work becomes vibrant, energetic and what I like to call narrative abstraction.

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Large in scale, my intention is for this work to bring my focus inward to celebrate the simple yet complex spirt of domestic life. I am trying to bring attention to the labor of parenthood and appreciation of what is close and unremarkable. I want to imagine a world where the day-to-day is honored and prioritized as something that is beautiful and difficult and worthy.