My life has been a journey of exploration and perseverance in finding my true voice as an artist. My childhood home was referred to as the “Artranch.” Upon entering the biggest room in our custom house, designed by my mother, known as “the studio,” one might feel as if they were coming across either a colossal heap of dirty laundry or a garbage dump. Old family clothing and fabrics, silk flowers, crusty oil paints, and tattered stuffed animals contained by recycled and hardly effective cardboard boxes were just a few of the items creating this overwhelming landscape. The walls were covered in job proposals, finished and unfinished paintings, and bookshelves containing my mother’s most prized possession, her library. The plywood floor which had remained unfinished since we started building the house when I was four, was a colorful palate revealing all the activity that had taken place on it’s surface. As a child, this was my playground. It was a place where I could do or be anything. No mess was too big or too small. This artistic chaos was instrumental in fostering the development of my own creative being.

 

I feel extremely lucky that I have had nurturing and supportive parents that have guided me through the creative exploration of life. One of my mother’s main priorities as a parent was making sure that I would adopt her passion as a life long learner, which included an extremely rich art education. All other areas of fascination that I developed were continually nurtured and explored.

  

The most significant of these interests that continues to be a driving force in my artistic decisions, is my passion for science. It has been a constant challenge for me to produce “art for art’s sake.” I have an obsessive need to search for deeper meaning and understanding in all that encompasses our life experience. I try to reflect this desire in detailed and purposeful art and designs. Currently, I’ve been producing work addressing the ever complicated relationship between man and nature, and other closely related environmental issues. The power I possess as a digital artist is to speak to the real issues of our time with acute awareness and sensitivity through technology.

All throughout my teenage years I produced an ongoing visual culture mural covering three adjacent walls in my room. It was a major mode of expression for me, as the majority of it’s contents came from the pages of fashion magazines, referencing my personal struggles through adolescence associated with body image. The production of this work taught me a valuable lesson in the power of appropriation. I took the images off society’s pedestal and into my own context representing my personal journey. Before I left for college, I made a video documenting the collage before it’s symbolic take down which I hope to incorporate one day into a mixed media installation. Body image is a subject that I continue to explore, as it has always been an extremely influential aspect of my emotional well being.

An instrumental cog in my personal development as an artist has been the affect of technology on my creative process. My mother gave me a Canon digital SLR camera for the Christmas of 2005. Instantly I was hooked. Photography became my artistic lifeline and cemented my move into the digital arena. I began to learn Adobe’s Creative Suite programs and was enthralled in the endless artistic possibilities they presented. I quickly found freelance opportunities creating business cards and brochures, personal web designs, and editorial photography for The Malibu Surfside News. In the year that I have worked with Anne Soble, the editor at the Surfside News, my duties have expanded from editorial photography, to creating cover shots and writing personal interest pieces. This multifaceted work has helped me realize the power of the commercial aspects of art-making.

From childhood exploration and teenage self expression, to professional ventures in commercial design and photography; I’ve accumulated a great variety of experiences to draw from. Currently, I am preparing for a Junior Transfer into UCLA’s Design and Media Arts program.

Jessica Louise Dillon