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Jackson-Collins
“I believe who I am as a person is who I am as an artist.
Therefore, my direction in life is not to become rich and
famous as an artist. I would like to be known first and
remembered later as a forthright person that worked really
hard to become the best human being he could become.”
The decision to leave his hometown of Canton, Mississippi
at 16 to pursue a career as a conceptual artist in Venice, California came with many bumps for Jackson-Collins.
He tells his story in stark terms because he believes that his
honesty helps his viewer to better understand who he is and why he paints the way he does.
His early days in California were spent painting on the streets and selling his small paintings to the eclectic crowd
that thronged the famed Venice Beach boardwalk. His was often a precarious existence. The experiences of those ‘starving artist’ years gave him a lot to reflect on and to yearn for: things as basic as a warm bed, a place to
call his own, stable relationships, family - themes that have found their way into his work. But being an artist was never a question of choice for this artist. It was the only path for him, and the displacement and
struggles were all part of the landscape.
Raw, edgy, and bounding with ideas and emotions, Jackson-Collins’ work defies clear categorization. He has drawn from styles that include figurative, abstract expressionism and surrealism, but has evolved a style all his own, characterized by a highly charged brushstroke, daring distortions of the human form, unorthodox use of color - often monochrome hues -, and a system of personal symbolism. His work, seemingly chaotic at times, reflects, on a deeper level, a search for balance, calm, truth and honesty.
Jackson-Collins has moved from street artist to gallery artist with exhibitions in Spain, Germany, England, Paris and the U.S. A major gallery exhibition of his series on American symbols, particularly the flag, in Philadelphia was positively reviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer. {READ REVIEW}
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