Founder's Review

Jesse = Chaos, Control, and Connection →

The duality of their work (impromptu + intentional, playful + sincere)

 

At Explore Art, we are constantly reminded that art is not only about what hangs on walls or fills galleries—it is about the lived stories, improvisations, and collisions of ideas that move us forward. Each artist we feature embodies this truth, and none more insightfully than Jesse, a native Louisianan whose collages are as layered and dynamic as the world they reflect.

 

Jesse belongs to a generation that doesn’t just consume content—they transform it. As a Gen Z mixed media artist, Jesse finds beauty and meaning in the overlooked corners of everyday life: scraps of paper from grocery stores, forgotten boxes of media in college offices, the humble ephemera that many might discard. With exacto knives, scissors, tape, and Modge Podge, Jesse stitches fragments of our collective environment into narratives that feel both playful and profound.

 

Their journey began with a mentor’s advice: to collage through the noise of competing thoughts and fears. What emerged was more than art—it was philosophy. Jesse discovered that art is always within reach, that the world offers an endless archive of materials waiting to be reordered, reimagined, and given new voice. In their hands, a torn edge becomes a rhythm, a clash of colors becomes a dialogue, and discarded papers become a mirror of culture, memory, and possibility.

 

What inspires me most about Jesse is not only their vision, but their ability to invite us into it. Their collages remind us that creation is not about perfection, but about courage—the courage to reorder the world, to see connections where others see contradictions, to embrace imperfection as a language of its own. Jesse’s work is a testament to what Explore Art was founded to celebrate: inclusivity, equity, and the power of artistic expression to cross boundaries of time, space, and experience.

 

May Jesse’s story remind us all that art is everywhere. It is in the fragments of our days, the scraps of memory, the overlooked details. And with a steady hand and an open heart, we too can turn those fragments into something whole.

 

Inspiring Gen Z,

Renée L. Rose

Founder/Explore Art

https://www.exploreartproject.com/founder

Chicago, Illinois