Jessica Frederick
Manhattan native Jessica Frederick has experience as an educator and presently is a full-time artist. After her graduation from Iowa’s Grinnell College, she began working as a Special Education teacher, utilizing art-therapy techniques to facilitate the educational development of children with special needs.
As a prolific artist, her pieces have been commissioned by a number of prominent corporations and private collectors. Jessica Frederick’s artwork defies easy categorization. Working in acrylic, ink, and pastels, she blends traditional subject matters with unexpected drama to create a distinctive portraiture style characterized by her passion for naked expression and an emotional bond to her subjects. A defining element in her work is that each painting embraces the history of its process; the heavily layered surfaces allow traces of the under paintings and drawings to break through. She bases her work on contour line drawings, repeatedly rendering her subjects on one surface, to capture the essence of her subject matter. Densely painted areas contrast her use of lines, which provide each surface with a unique sense of balance and psychological substance. Individual details engage the viewer in an off-kilter way but work together to form a strong and compelling harmony. You may view her artwork by visiting: www.jessnyc.com