As a member of North Central’s Honors Program, Jessica is developing a thesis that explores art as a form of research and self-expression. By considering how women have historically used self-portraiture to shape and express their identity, psychoanalytic readings of female artwork reveal both intentionally portrayed and hidden aspects of their identity. Her thesis positions the products of art as the research itself, using the act of creation to generate insight into identity and the self.

Over the course of a year, Jessica has continuously created, reworked, and documented this process, exploring her own self-expression in her transition to adulthood. RESPLENDENT, meaning “attractive and impressive through being richly colorful,” visually documents a process of healing where addressing internal pain reshapes perception. What once began as small, black-and-white oil paintings became large, colorful mixed media pieces.

This process was done through improvisation, a method of spontaneous creation that accesses the subconscious. Research shows that during improvisation, reduced cognitive control allows actions to flow without interference from self-doubt or overthinking. Listening to jazz, one of the most popular forms of improvisation, naturally encourages this state, helping the listener improvise more freely, too. Beginning each piece with only a colored underpainting and simple charcoal outline, every piece in RESPLENDENT is a result of this process.