Artist Statement: Jessie Mahon grew up across the Midwest, Texas, and Louisiana. After earning a BFA in Theater, she spent six years in NYC painting sets for Broadway, Off-Broadway, TV, and film, then five years in LA expanding her visual practice. Now based again in NYC, she works full-time in drawing, installation, and design, blending storytelling with a tender, dreamlike visual language. Her work explores the space between memory, imagination, and identity—unknowable yet deeply familiar. Her first group exhibition was held at Rockefeller Center, sparking collaborations with curators, editors, and art directors across the U.S. and Canada. She has completed residencies in Virginia, New York, Portugal, and Mexico, and is honored to be an artist ambassador for the NYCLU for the third year in a row.

About This Piece: To be fearless, to me, is not the absence of fear but the act of moving forward while still entangled in it. In "You Seem Happier," I explore this idea through a surreal, dreamlike landscape where braids descend from the sky like lifelines. They fall into a lush, undulating terrain that is both grounding and disorienting. "You Seem Happier" reflects the disconnect between perception and reality.

Art Materials: Colored pencil, crayon, graphite, and oil pastel on paper.

Web: jessiemahon.com