Jessica_Ward-caterpillar

“The Caterpillar”

04 Feb 2010 | no comments »

16×20″ Graphite and color pencil on board
♦Framed $450.00 available at The Hive Gallery & Studios
for inquiries E-mail: nathan@thehivegallery.com


Notes:
Caterpillars are eating machines. Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. Right from birth the caterpillar seeks out food and feeds for a large part of their lives. In parallel, Binge eaters eat rapidly and until they are uncomfortably full. Large amounts of food are consumed by both the caterpillar and binger, even when not physically hungry. Bingers eat alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten, caterpillars often eat at night to avoid detection form predators.

mirrors

“Dysmorphia Altar”

21 Aug 2009 | 1 comment »

8×10″ Grpahite on paper
♦Framed $250.00, available at La Luz de Jesus Gallery
for inquiries call (323)666-7667 or E-mail: info@laluzdejesus.com


Notes:
When the Mirror Lies.

Jessica-Ward_Beautiful-Grim

“Beautiful Grim”

06 Mar 2010 | no comments »

12×17″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on paper
♦Available through the Beautiful Grim art auction & TBA Group Show for Breast Cancer Survivors.

Jessica-Ward-Divinity of Disorders

“Divinity of Disorders”

15 Jan 2010 | 4 comments »

16×20″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on board
Custom framed, created by Rick Hilgner, Apricot Mantle and Jessica Ward
♦Featured on the “Small Wall” at The Hive Gallery & Studios Los Angeles, CA February 2010
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
This series of drawings are depictions of eating disorders as Goddesses, this one is the Goddess of all disordered eating.

Jessica-Ward-Anorexia-Deity

“Anorexia Deity”

15 Jan 2010 | no comments »

10×10″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on board
Custom framed, created by Rick Hilgner, Apricot Mantle and Jessica Ward
♦Featured on the “Small Wall” at The Hive Gallery & Studios Los Angeles, CA February 2010
SOLD


Notes:
This series of drawings are depictions of eating disorders as Goddesses, this one is the Goddess Anorexia Nervosa.

Jessica-Ward-Bulimia-Deity

“Bulimia Deity”

15 Jan 2010 | 1 comment »

9×14″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on board
Custom framed, created by Rick Hilgner, Apricot Mantle and Jessica Ward
♦Featured on the “Small Wall” at The Hive Gallery & Studios Los Angeles, CA February 2010
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
This series of drawings are depictions of eating disorders as Goddesses, this one is the Goddess of Bulimia Nervosa.

Jessica-Ward-Binge-Eating

“Binge Eating Deity”

15 Jan 2010 | no comments »

9×12″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on board
Custom framed, created by Rick Hilgner, Apricot Mantle and Jessica Ward
♦Featured on the “Small Wall” at The Hive Gallery & Studios Los Angeles, CA February 2010
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
This series of drawings are depictions of eating disorders as Goddesses, this one is the Goddess of Binge Eating Disorder.

Jessica-Ward-Dysmorphia-Die

“Dysmorphia Deity”

15 Jan 2010 | no comments »

11×14″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on board
Custom framed, created by Rick Hilgner, Apricot Mantle and Jessica Ward
♦Featured on the “Small Wall” at The Hive Gallery & Studios Los Angeles, CA February 2010
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
This series of drawings are depictions of eating disorders as Goddesses, this one is the Goddess of Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

compulsive-overeater-deity

“Compulsive Overeater Deity”

15 Jan 2010 | no comments »

6×8″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on board
Custom framed, created by Rick Hilgner, Apricot Mantle and Jessica Ward
♦Featured on the “Small Wall” at The Hive Gallery & Studios Los Angeles, CA February 2010
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
This series of drawings are depictions of eating disorders as Goddesses, this one is the Goddess of Compulsive Overeating.

Jessica-Ward_Pretty-Face

“Such a Pretty Face”

08 Mar 2010 | no comments »

6×6″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on board
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

Cattus-Praecipio-of-Nex

“Cattus Praecipio of Nex”

18 Sep 2009 | 1 comment »

8×10″ Graphite and color pencil on paper
♦In the collection of Shawn Batten-Lukather
♦Showing in “Everything but the Kitsch N’ Sync” at La Luz de Jesus Gallery Hollywood CA, March 2010


Notes:
“Cattus Praecipio of Nex” is Latin for the cat warns of death. The cats in my drawings usually represent a protector or witness. However when in skeleton form they serve as a memento mori. Reminding one of their own mortality. Many women come very close to death while suffering from Anorexia.

hair-gynast-ward

“Hair Gymnast”

15 Jul 2009 | no comments »

4×6″
Graphite on paper
♦In the collection of Shawn Batten-Lukather
♦Showing in “Everything but the Kitsch N’ Sync” at La Luz de Jesus Gallery Hollywood CA, March 2010


Notes:
Preoccupation with one’s own body.

Butterflies_Jessica Ward

“Butterflies”

12 Feb 2010 | 1 comment »

8×10″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

queen_of_cups

“Queen of Cups”

18 Sep 2009 | no comments »

11×14 Graphite and color pencil on paper
♦In the collection of Joe Almeida Studio City, CA
♦Shown in “Tarot Hive″ themed group show at The Hive Gallery & Studios in Los Angeles, CA October 2009.

Leopard-Moth_Jessica-Ward

“Mottephobia”

21 Feb 2010 | no comments »

4×4″
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
♦Showing at The Cactus Gallery’s “Bugs Show” April 2010.


Notes:
I have always found moths to be beautiful and relaxing even though I have a slight phobia towards all other bugs. Moths are often viewed as a pests, some symbols associated with the moth are eating, ugliness, negativity and death. I view moths as a symbol of eating fetishes. Moths have unique feeding habits that may seem frightening to some. In fact, many full grown moths do not eat at all nor do they have mouths.

Dainty-Militarization

“Dainty Militarization”

19 Feb 2010 | no comments »

6×6″ Graphite & color pencil on board
♦Featured on the Girls Drawing Girls online gallery 2009
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

Jessica_Ward-Mother's_Milk

“Mother’s Milk”

03 Feb 2010 | no comments »

9×7″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
This piece is about a Symbiotic relationship. A long term interaction between different biological species a cat and a human. I wanted to convey a maternal and intimate feel to it.

marasmusdeity-jessica_ward

“Marasmus Deity”

25 Jun 2009 | no comments »

5×7″
Graphite & mixed media on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
“We turn skeletons into goddesses and look to them as though they might teach us how not to need.” – Marya Hornbacher, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia 1998

nekoride4web1

“Neko Ride”

25 Jun 2009 | no comments »

5×7″ Graphite & mixed media on paper
♦In the collection of Liliana Feliciano Silver Lake, CA
♦Displayed in the group show at the Hive Gallery & Studios in Los Angeles, CA August 2009


Notes:
Regressive fantasies. Regression is a form of retreat, going back to a time when the person felt safer and where the stresses in question were not known, or where an all-powerful parent would take them away.

control1

“Control”

04 Aug 2009 | 1 comment »

4×6″ Graphite & mixed media on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

jessica_ward_beetwins_for_your_website

“Bee Twins”

29 Jun 2009 | no comments »

8×8″
Graphite & mixed media on paper
Framed
♦Shown in “Bee-rotica 2″ themed group show at The Hive Gallery & Studios in Los Angeles July 2009.
♦Published in the book “Max and the Siamese Twins” by Max Stout 2009
♦Shown in the “Feminality Art Show” at Art Basel Miami, Florida December 2009
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

space

“The Space between”

26 Aug 2009 | no comments »

5×7″ Graphite on paper
♦Featured on the Girls Drawing Girls online gallery 2009
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
It’s never good enough.

applecore4web1

“Apple Core”

25 Jun 2009 | no comments »

5×5″ Graphite & mixed media on paper
♦Displayed in the group show at The Hive Gallery & Studios in Los Angeles, CA September 2009
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
The apple is a very rich symbol with ties to temptation, immortality and youth. In this picture however the apple is represented as a core. The forbidden fruit has been eaten, representing an unnatural relationship with food and health.

hyperphagia

“Polyphagia”

28 Aug 2009 | no comments »

5×5″ Graphite and color pencil on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
The neck separates the head (cognition) from the body (drives and needs) long neck is desire for more separation.

new

“Abolition”

30 Jul 2009 | no comments »

5×5″
Graphite & mixed on paper
Model: Llana Barron
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
Obsession with an empty stomach.

Jessica-Ward-Hyperphagia

“Hyperphagia”

02 Sep 2009 | no comments »

2×3″ Graphite on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

hairpattern1

“Hair Impression”

15 Jul 2009 | no comments »

5×7″
Graphite & mixed media on embossed paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

new

“Force Fed”

15 Sep 2009 | no comments »

5×5″
graphite and color pencil on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
last one of the small pink series. Force Fed is about the struggle with feelings of guilt, disgust, and depression from binge eating. The desparation to stop, but feeling like you can’t.

pain

“Vertebra Malady”

21 Aug 2009 | no comments »

4×6″ Grpahite and color pencil on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
This piece is about cronic back pain.

hunger

“Hunger”

18 Aug 2009 | no comments »

5×7″
Graphite & mixed on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
In a Freudian view, regressive behaviors, like an
oral fixation, can lead to increase over-eating, being overly talkative, smoking addictions and alcoholism.

homesweethome2

“Home Sweet Home”

13 Jul 2009 | no comments »

5×7″
Graphite & mixed media on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
Inspired by the HTP test used in child psychology.

checkerd2

“Blush”

13 Jul 2009 | no comments »

6×8″
Graphite & mixed media on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

King-Bee

“Xerbees, Lord of the Bees”

30 Nov 2009 | no comments »

Collaboration with Apricot Mantle. My half on the left, graphite, color pencil and acrylic. His half on the right, color pencil. Custom toy adorned with Swarovski crystals and gold leaf.
♦Shown in “Price-Less/King Bee Toy” at The Hive Gallery & Studios Los Angeles CA, December 2009
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

can_group_1_final
sketchcan2
can3
candrawing2

Cans for CANceptuel [v.3] at Crewest Gallery

16 May 2009 | 1 comment »

Can in the front:
“amputé dessiné par contorsion”
Graphite on paper
6×8″
Can on the right:
“Hair Mastication”
Graphite on paper
6×8″
Can on left:
“Feline Cannibalism”
Graphite on paper
6×8″
♦Shown at Crewest Gallery “CANceptual [v.3]” Los Angeles, CA May 2009
♦These original pieces are available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.
Buy a Print!

ortho

“Orthorectic Tragedy”

26 Oct 2009 | 1 comment »

Graphite pencil & water color on a porcelain skull made by Gregg Stone
♦Shown in “Top of the Dome VI” Los Angeles CA, November 2009
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
Celebrating Dia De Los Muertos

skull

“In the back of my mind”

16 May 2009 | no comments »

Graphite pencil on a porcelain skull made by Gregg Stone
♦Shown at Crewest Gallery “Top of the Dome V” Los Angeles CA, 2008
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

tumblr_kyqzesjRPt1qafci3o1_1280

Collaboration with Archan Nair

04 Mar 2010 | no comments »

This is a collaboration with the artist Archan Nair. My traditional graphite drawing with his mixed digital media.

tumblr_kvg1t2m8H71qa7s2so1_1280

Collaboration with Anjo Bolarda

02 Jan 2010 | no comments »

This is a collaboration with the artist Anjo Bolarda. It’s a continuous collaborative project he launched to showcase artists everywhere in the world. The idea is to meet the creatives through a collaborative artwork to discover his/her world he/she living. Check out it out at Everywhere Oliver

lil_whale_surfer

Lil’ Whale Surfer

25 Apr 2009 | no comments »

10×10″ Graphite, color pencil and water color on paper
SOLD
♦Shown at Stoked Mentoring’s fundraiser auction, “Stoked Sessions I Love LA” show at Upper Playground Los Angeles, CA May 2009

where-the-wild-things-are_J

“Where the Wild things are”

11 Oct 2009 | no comments »

6×8″ Graphite & color pencil on paper
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
For a contest held by Arc Light Theater of Hollywood “Where the Wild things are” Click here!

daniellegift

“Danielle’s Dress”

14 Oct 2009 | no comments »

5×7″ Graphite & color pencil on paper
♦In the collection of Danielle Beckwith Woodland Hills, CA

The-Enabler

“The Enabler”

21 Nov 2009 | no comments »

40 x 32″ Graphite, color pencil and chalk pastel on on archival board
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
The Enabler is about bulimia specifically. The girl with the long neck is depicted as how she feels on the inside, like a monster. She is ashamed to have even her cat witness her grotesque behavior. The girl on the bottom embodies the sometimes friend that accompanies you on your journey through bulimia, an enabler. Allot of times girls will enable each others eating disorders, often creating pacts. The girl sitting on the head captures the empty feelings which often follows a purge. To further emphasize the detachment of body and mind, she is sitting on her head, which is a common feeling in eating disordered people. The reason why I chose a Japanese girl is because Japan and America have statistically the highest amount of eating disorders in the world.

Self Erosion

“Self Erosion”

07 Mar 2009 | no comments »

Just click on the image to view the piece in detail using my new Flash Zoom!
Zoom View
32 x 40″ Graphite, color pencil and water color
on archival board
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
Self Erosion is a look inside a twisted since of logic. A quote from Mary Hornbacher’s book Wasted: a Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia says it best: “And so I went through the looking glass, stepped into the netherworld, where up is down and food is greed, where convex mirrors cover the walls, where death is honor and flesh is weak. It is ever so easy to go. Harder to find your way back.”
In the trees there are tools and symbols that are often used to help on your journey like rubber bands, tooth brushes, crackers and lemons. She is waiting so long that hair has covered the ground. She is waiting for that goal that number that will make her perfect and complete. The trees are barren and empty like the figure, so empty hair is coming out of her mouth.

Emotional Baggage

“Emotional Baggage”

07 Mar 2009 | no comments »

Zoom View

32 x 40″ Graphite, color pencil and water color
on archival board
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
No matter what, the baggage your burden, it’s dead weight you must lug everywhere. The city scape gives a feeling of it all being on public display. What is in the bag? vomit, shit, waste. You can try to evacuate it from your body but you can’t escape the emotional toll it takes on you in return.

Nightmare Locker

“Nightmare Locker”

07 Mar 2009 | no comments »

32 x 40″ Graphite, color pencil and water color
on archival board
Custom framed by a Master carpenter Douglas-fir wood, stained pale pink
♦Shown at Supreme Trading/False Aristocracy’s “To Make a Nightmare” & “The Nightmare: Masquerade”August – September 2008 Brooklyn, NY
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

Nightmare Locker

“Cat Ride”

07 Mar 2009 | no comments »

Zoom View

40 x 32″ Graphite, color pencil and water color
on archival board
Custom framed by a Master carpenter Douglas-fir wood, stained pale pink
♦Shown in a Duo at Dalessio Gallery in Los Angeles, CA August-September 2008
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
Cat Ride is about regressive behavior. The background is intended to look like a child’s coloring book. Regression involves taking the position of a child in some problematic situation, rather than acting in a more adult way.

Cupcakes

“Cupcakes”

07 Mar 2009 | no comments »

32 x 40″ Graphite, color pencil, chalk pastel and water color
on archival board
Custom framed, by a master carpenter Douglas-fir wood, stained pale pink
♦Shown in a Duo at Dalessio Gallery in Los Angeles, CA August-September 2008
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
Cupcakes is about feeling humiliated and ashamed.

The Cut

“The Cut”

07 Mar 2009 | no comments »

Zoom View

40 x 32″ Graphite, color pencil and water color
on archival board
Custom framed by a Master carpenter Douglas-fir wood, stained pale pink
♦Shown in a Duo at Dalessio Gallery in Los Angeles, CA August-September 2008
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.


Notes:
Amputated limbs and hair cuts/loss are my symbols for a loss of control. Hair is valued as a means of protection, camouflage, power, virility. For example in the story of Samson and Delilah, Delilah cut Samson’s long hair he lost his power. With an eating disorder, a person feels they can at least gain some control in their lives by controlling what they eat. But they are actually being controlled by the disorder, not the other way around. You find your life has been wrapped around food, body image, and you are actually a prisoner to your disorder.

Dream Catcher

“Dream Catcher”

07 Mar 2009 | no comments »

Zoom View

40 x 32″ Graphite, color pencil and water color
on archival board
♦Shown in a Duo at Dalessio Gallery in Los Angeles, CA August-September 2008
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

The Inevitable

“The Inevitable”

07 Mar 2009 | no comments »

Zoom View

40 x 32 Graphite, color pencil and water color
on archival board
♦Shown in a Duo at Dalessio Gallery in Los Angeles, CA August-September 2008
♦The original piece is available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

hair-abjectionnew



“The Bully” 12×12″
Graphite on embossed paper

bully1



“Holes” 12×12″
Graphite on embossed paper
holese4web1

Collection of 4×6″ drawings

25 Jun 2009 | no comments »

Collection of 4×6″ drawings done in graphite or ink on paper 2005-2006
From left to right:
“Monster” “Wishes” “I’m only seven” “Weighing” “Scale” “Watcher” “Twisted” “Thinking of you” “Voices” “Worm”
♦All of these original pieces are available to be purchased, please contact me for pricing.

Spiral-of-Rituals_Jessica-w


“The Contortionist”
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“The Escape Artist”
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“The Sword Eater”
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“The Fat Lady”
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“The Human Skeleton”
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“The Siamese Twins”
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“The Half Woman”
Half-woman

“Spiral of Rituals”

16 May 2009 | no comments »

“Spiral of Rituals” Senior Thesis
Installation of free standing cut-outs, life size graphite drawings on paper 2005

Artist Statement for “Spiral of Rituals” Installation 2005

This body of work is a series of life-sized drawings. They are done on paper with graphite pencils, which are then turned into cutouts that are freestanding from the wall. The subjects are mannequin like, abject women who are drawn as if they are monsters or freaks being displayed on a stage or in a circus sideshow. There is a voyeuristic element to the work because they are torturing themselves on display and we are allowed to watch. The figures are watching the viewers watch them and therefore are in control of the situations they have placed themselves in. At the same time there are no sexual organs on the female creatures and there are allusions to self-inflicted eating disorders as well. These are two different ideas merged together to address the issue of often hidden neuroses.
Distorted and contorted bodies are an important part of my work. They represent the internal struggle that is twisting and pulling in impossible directions. The drawings are a way of visually representing the sense of an uncomfortable and disturbing presence. Eating disorders and the women who house them are similar to how the world perceives and often times idolizes freaks. We are surrounded by images everywhere of idealized females totally devoid of any humanity, and they are fetishized. I place symbols in my drawings that embellish these themes of fetishes with eating and the body, like hair. Obsession surrounds the simple task of eating, how much is eaten, digestion, and how the intake is purged. The purging process becomes a fascination with many gratifications.
My work deals with the abject body, female figures that are grotesque or incomplete. My skills with the pencil draw the viewer in through technical virtuosity. I seduce the viewer to examine the work, and upon further inspection they realize that they are looking at something disturbing. I hope to evoke a negative aesthetic response from people. To achieve this goal I render images that create connection and rejection, repulsion and attraction.