Jessica Massey

Historically throughout a multitude of cultures, the curse of the evil eye is said to inflict bad luck on an individual. However, the eye is also considered the most symbolic sensory organ, said to be the window to the soul and a sign of moral conscience. It’s the juxtaposition between these that is of interest to me. I capture the challenge between what is good and true and the toxic forces that may make us doubt this, and how inner turmoil may be a modern-day equivalent to ourselves inflicting our own curse. However regardless of this and outward façades, the eyes remain a display of a person’s inner truth.
I draw on Grayson Perry and his attitude that art should be a conversation between the artist and audience, whether that audience be strangers or the artist themselves. Drag queens and the block shapes they use to sculpt their faces in order to feminise them have influenced the way I draw the eyes dramatically. The area around each eye is harsh and the lines frame the centre of each pupil, forcing you to make eye contact with the person under the façade, and the person behind the artwork.