Alissa M Jean-Baptiste
UW Honors Graduates
Alissa M Jean-Baptiste
Art - Concentration in Painting and Drawing
Designation: Departmental Honors
Honors Grads 2020/2021
Proudest Moment: I felt proud when I first saw my paintings hung on the walls of the Jacob Lawrence Gallery
Thesis: Moments of Joy
alissa.mjb@gmail.comBio
Alissa was born and raised in the forest of Monroe WA, and now resides in Seattle WA. She was homeschooled which gave her much time to explore her interests in the arts through dancing, drawing and music. The joy, movement, and colors of nature all show themselves in her art practice. She attended Bellevue college then took an eight-year hiatus to work and travel. Throughout her life she has traveled to eight different countries which have caused her to grow in empathy towards others and gather inspiration that have thus informed her work.
She then attended the University of Washington and concentrated in painting and Drawing. Because of her wide range of interests, she calls herself an interdisciplinary artist with a current emphasis on oil painting, music production/performance, and mixed-media digital art. Her interest lies in depicting the moments of joy and hope found in the simple, overlooked moments, often utilizing the human figure and portraits in the work.
Artist Statement
The word Honesty has been a theme in the artwork that has been produced during my time at the University of Washington. In my current paintings I strive to embody and highlight the glimmers of hope found during these long months of covid lockdown. It is an intimate view of moments of calm and joy and the dark and often soul-crushing loneliness that accompanies that. The ultimate hope in my work is that it would be an encouragement to the viewer by reminding them that they are not alone in their experiences, and to inspire the viewer to have hope. I accomplish this through not only the subject but also through depictions of color, movement and brushstrokes that harken to freedom.
Soon I hope to experiment with different mediums such as pen and ink, gauche and watercolor. I also plan to dive deeper into the world of art and movement via 2D digital and analog animation and find ways to incorporate that with my other passion of music composition and video production.