Artist Bio

Jess Gibson is a mixed media artist whose work explores the intersection of architecture, perception, and spatial phenomena. With a Master's degree in Architecture and fifteen years of experience as a Motion Graphic Designer / Animator, and modern dance training, she brings a unique perspective to her artistic practice. Her work spans multiple mediums including digital art, pen and paper, painting, paper constructions, and linocut prints. Through these varied approaches, she investigates how architectural elements and perspective can be transformed and reinterpreted. Her methodology involves reducing complex spatial structures to their essential components, then rebuilding them in ways that reveal new relationships between form and perception. Through her work, she explores how personal experience shapes our understanding and perception of the spaces we inhabit, creating visual annotations of lived experiences.

Jess lives and works in Oakland, California. She is a dedicated mother, baker, and mindfulness practitioner. Her art work can be seen in the recently published book Refuge In Small Things. She has an upcoming group show at Faultline Art Space in February 2025 and a solo show at Resurrect Oakland in March 2025. Her digital work clients include Airbnb, Google, Vespa, Adobe, Motorola, Cisco, WWE, Xfinity, Intel, GS&P and WTBR. She has returned to California College of the Arts (CCA) as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer.

Artist Statement

My work investigates architectural phenomena through perceptual transformation. By reducing and translating three-dimensional structures to their two-dimensional essence, I isolate singular elements of spatial perception - focusing on how we experience aspects like perspective, flow, or form. These drawings become visual annotations of space, acknowledging that space itself cannot be literally captured on paper. It exists through our perception and perspective, shaped by our conscious and subconscious interactions with it. Through various media, I build upon these distilled elements to create entirely new forms. The resulting works aren't models or representations of original architecture, but rather explorations that emerge from our lived experience of space. Each piece becomes a note about how we inhabit space, how we feel within it, and how our individual perspectives shape our understanding. This transformation process reveals new relationships between space, perception, and our being.