Meet the artist
Name: Jazzmin Cox-Cáceres
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Where do you live? Where are you from? I currently live in Laurel, MD, and attend school in Washington, DC. I am originally from West Philadelphia (West side is the best side).
What mediums do you work with? Why? I primarily work with oil paint, but I have recently been expanding my mediums and have started to create installations using fabric, string, and colored pencil. The reason why I work with so many different mediums is to encompass the diversity of texture and tone that exists in reality. I want my art to be as complex as my subjects actually appear.
What responsibilities, if any, do you take on as a creator? As a creator, my responsibility is to reveal to the viewer what they cannot realize on their own. Regardless of race, religion, language, or any other identifier, anyone can interpret art. And therefore anyone can find a message that suits them in my art. I always create with a takeaway in mind, but there are many different ways that I expect for that message to be taken to heart.
What do you want your audience to know about you? My art is like a continuation of myself. I consider every piece a self-portrait whether it literally contains myself or not. When you are looking at my pieces you are seeing all of the parts of myself that I put into my art, and part of the magic is that you can't decipher which parts connect back to myself. I believe that all art should feel personal to the artist, and that's how you know you've created a masterpiece.
What are your hopes for the future? My hope for the future is to have the ability to continue creating art for myself before anyone else. I cannot go through life without art. What has been the most rewarding is the privilege I have to experiment and never feel as though I must paint for someone else. I paint what I feel is necessary for the world to witness, and then let others interpret as they please. I hope that I will always have an artistic outlet and that creating will only grow as a respectable field.
Is there anything else you would like to share? Thank you to everyone that has ever encouraged me to continue making art, even when it felt like I didn't have the time or energy to do so. Art has kept me afloat many times, but the support I have received is what helps me soar.
Website: www.jazzminimani.com
Instagram: @jazzmin.imani.art