Jacquelynn Perkins: Painting / Self-Portraits of My Sisters
Decompose / / Oil on Canvas / © Jacquellynn Perkins
Self-Portraits of My Sisters / / Gallery Show / 2024 / © Jacquelynn Perkins
Self-Portraits of My Sisters / / Gallery Show / 2024 / © Jacquelynn Perkins
Evaporated Milk / / Oil on Canvas / © Jacquelynn Perkins
Soap Dish Envy / / Oil on Canvas / © Jacquelynn Perkins
Who Still Lick Envelopes / / Oil on Canvas / © Jacquelynn Perkins
Self-Portraits of My Sisters / / Gallery Show / 2024 / © Jacquelynn Perkins
Self-Portraits of My Sisters / / Gallery Show / 2024 / © Jacquelynn Perkins
Artist Statement / / The act of painting helps me personally connect to myself and others; it is a way for me to attempt to capture what I find beautiful or to challenge and release social programming to see beauty through my own eyes. Through painting, I have facilitated a new relationship with my body. After years of disordered eating in my 20s, years of challenging the acceptance of my postpartum body in my 30s, and struggling with a body that no longer moved due to autoimmune disease in my 40s, I realized I wanted and needed to accept and champion my body. She is much more than her physical appearance, and that thought led me to understand that I am more than her. For now, I want to continue to nurture my relationship with my body out of toxicity.
I love to paint the human figure—my own and others—more than I love painting anything else and this is what I am currently exploring in my work. As my curiosity expands beyond our physical bodies, it is growing into our individual energies, ancestral energies, and cosmic energies. I feel composed of aspects that seem contradictory—I am both grounded and ethereal. I am on a mission to discover my own language through paint to find where this convergence occurs for me.
Following my intuition daily, rather than conforming to what society deems productive and right, is both challenging and rewarding. After our kids head off to school, I aim to enter a flow state to create space for my subconscious to surface. Regularly spending hours alone allows me to get to know myself and trust myself in profound ways I wouldn’t otherwise. My healing journey has led me to this solitude, and I feel fortunate that my professional career has as well. As the years go by, I am experiencing the value of the relationship I am building with myself and my work. I must hold myself accountable while still honoring an openness to curiosity, which requires treating myself with gentleness. Myself and my paintings. The reward lies in honoring my own thoughts and continuing to pursue
