ARTIST STATEMENT
Jess Graham, born in 1977, grew up in Morrisville, Vermont. She has lived in Portland, Oregon; Zagreb, Croatia and Brooklyn, NY. She has been lucky to pursue her joy in mountain biking, surfing and snowboarding locally and in Southern California; Costa Rica’s Osa Penninsula; Whistler, BC; Crested Butte, Colorado and Brevard, North Carolina. She currently lives and works with her husband and daughter in Morrisville, VT.
She started Jess Graham Studio in 2007. She began by creating illustrations and selling prints of her work at the Burlington Art Market. Currently she creates illustrations for surface design and paints both indoor and outdoor murals. She is also the part-time Art Director for the Alchemist Brewery in Stowe, VT. Her broader portfolio of branding and fine art can be viewed on Behance.
Jess Graham’s work is expressive, irreverent and textural. Her life as a mountain biker, snowboarder and surfer influence the lines and energy of her work. To her, landscape and topography are full of life— ever-metamorphosing, entreating us to be present and alive. Her athlete-experience of focused vision, choosing a line, persistance in working through obstacles informs her work as a painter and muralist. As do many people who call the mountains their home, she finds when out-of-doors she is her best self.
Recent Press
VIDEO: 2018 Cherry Street Mural | Stuck in Vermont with Eva Sollberger
Vermont artist Jess Graham speaks to her love of lines in painting and snowboarding
