Jay-z

Jack Flo, JAY (2022). Acrylic on canvas. 36 x 36 in.

My work explores themes of identity, its relationship with time, and all the different perspectives that exist among us as people.

Working primarily with acrylic paint I describe my work as figurative expressionism.

When creating my work, color and form play a major role in the process. I am inspired by sports and hip-hop, impressionism and street-art. Collage also plays a major role in my practice, and while I do not make collages in a traditional sense, I create work that from a distance appears to be collage but is in fact all painted by hand. Through this collage-like painting style, I attempt to use the figure as a means of expression and as a vessel to tell a story.

Growing up with intense facial tics led me to believe that I had to be someone else when I faced the world. That I had to put on a mask when I left my house and shelter my true identity from those around me. My work is born from these feelings of being held captive within my own body.

My works exploration into identity begins with myself. The rips and tears that I paint into the figure represent the multitude of identities that I have at one point in time felt within myself.