Jessica Booth was born in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. They have recently graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in painting.
Jessica works in oil on canvas, using small-scale clay sculptures as reference for their paintings. Their work reflects an interest in interpersonal relationships and how people communicate through the sense of touch.
They have been included in various exhibitions, including Combustion in the Lazarus building at MICA and Virtually Beside You, a virtual exhibition. Jessica Booth currently lives and works in Baltimore.
I paint in reference to small-scale sculptures I’ve made to resemble interactions I’ve had with loved ones. The sculptures allow me to connect with people in my head, how I wish I could talk to them through touch; They show how touching someone is a form of communication.
The figures represent a sense of longing. They touch, but their faces are devoid of any expression. While their bodies face each other in an almost-embrace, there is a tangible distance between them. They have an indistinguishable relationship, but the dark atmosphere and rain indicate a soft kind of sadness. A yellow light shines on them from overhead, alluding to a non-existent street scene. These figures express deeper desires, fears, and realities.
Over the pandemic, we were driven further away from each other, this work is my meditation on that longing. Hands capture the most intense emotions without being verbose; their positions hold so much nuance. With no words, faces, or even recognizable bodies, the figures’ clunky hands swell to express levels of emotions. The stark, simple color choice emboldens a loaded touch. My intention is to abstract the human form, yet still have recognizable emotions.