Bio

Jessica seeks to blend fine art and design by creating pieces with an emphasis on clean lines, negative space, and surprising use of color. Jessica is inspired by the cycles and beauty of the natural world, illustrated stories of her childhood, fashion illustration, and design.

Jessica has exhibited in Washington DC, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Her work has been featured in Skirt Magazine, Hook Magazine, and Sea Foam Magazine. Under the moniker of Lady Dame Prints, her designs appear on greeting cards, postcards, and stickers. Her designs can be seen on storm drains across Columbia, South Carolina.

Statement

With a passion for line and bringing order to chaos, I experiment with a variety of processes through the combination of analog collage, illustration, and painting.

My collage practice focuses on extracting and de-contextualizing parts of images found in a variety of print sources. Combining them into new compositions, with the addition of my own illustration or painting, I create a new story. More often than not, I don’t begin a collage knowing what I will create. It is an intuitive process, with a story or meaning revealing itself at the end.

Similarly, when creating an abstract work, I select a color palette while not knowing quite what the outcome will be. Allowing the process to take over, I will have a sense of when something is “complete”. A story, emotion, or subject will present itself in the end.

While my collage and abstract work are fluid, my illustration work is thought out. Parts of an illustration arise from experimentation, but I often create several versions of an item before settling on a final composition, use of color, or use of line. Line is my favorite part of illustration as it can be so simple and convey so much.

I gravitate toward imagery of nature, anatomy, and design, and themes of intimacy, environmentalism, and transformation. Beauty and restraint are used as refining lenses through which to focus and bring elegance to a subject. I seek to blend fine art and design by creating pieces with an emphasis on clean lines, negative space, and surprising use of color.

@ladydameprints
jessicadame.com