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Bio
Based out of Brooklyn, Jessie Novik is a Fine Art Painter, Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, and Muralist with a masters in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute and a BFA in painting and sculpture from Alfred University. In her personal work, Jessie is drawn towards imaginative realism, filtering objects and landscapes from observation and travel through her rich imagination. Although she generally prefers traditional methods of oil painting, Jessie is trained and experienced in a large variety of mediums and techniques. She has exhibited work both nationally and internationally and regularly leads public art projects throughout NYC. Committed to the arts since childhood, Jessie fell in love with mural painting in 2014 after assisting as a Teaching Artist on a mural project in Rockefeller Center. She has since been leading community based mural groups as an Art Therapist throughout NYC. She began teaching a graduate level course on mural painting and Art Therapy at Pratt Institute in 2019. Some of her most notable mural projects have included: Mt. Sinai Children's Hospital, NY Health+Hospitals, 72+Sunny, Rikers Island, Manhattan College, NYC Family Court, and many more. Whether it be community based or commercial, Jessie loves to engage with the public in order to create large-scale, evocative works of art. Besides making art and fostering creative development in others, Jessie has a third degree black belt in karate, a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and she teaches self-defense to adults and children. Jessie is passionate about teaching practical skills and feels strongly that both art and martial arts uphold an infinite capacity for healing. |
photo taken by Allison Carroll, 2015
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Artist Statement
Like many artists, I have an overactive imagination. Elaborate ideas for landscapes, characters, objects and narratives swim through my thoughts incessantly, often precluding concentration on mundane tasks. I am an excessive daydreamer, addicted to the surreal, and making art is how I resolve the tension between focus and fantasy.
I find inspiration in the landscape of my thoughts, pulling faded memories and fantastical visions from one side of reality to the other with classical technique. My struggle to focus is an asset that has helped to expand my artistic approach and keeps my process fresh and ever-evolving. Consistent with my style, I move as seamlessly between subjects and mediums as I do between fantasy and reality, from figurative oil painting, to large-scale community-based and commercial mural projects, to more loosely painted watercolor sketches. Fantasy is not just an escape, it is a realm in which complex social and political issues— often difficult to navigate in the present— become personal and accessible.
As a classically schooled artist, I care deeply about craft and technique, while my training as an art therapist adds a level of emotional and psychological insight to my work, Playful and dynamic, my work is an invitation to my audience, to follow me back into the dreamscapes and refuges— lost to many— that I work to keep alive.
Like many artists, I have an overactive imagination. Elaborate ideas for landscapes, characters, objects and narratives swim through my thoughts incessantly, often precluding concentration on mundane tasks. I am an excessive daydreamer, addicted to the surreal, and making art is how I resolve the tension between focus and fantasy.
I find inspiration in the landscape of my thoughts, pulling faded memories and fantastical visions from one side of reality to the other with classical technique. My struggle to focus is an asset that has helped to expand my artistic approach and keeps my process fresh and ever-evolving. Consistent with my style, I move as seamlessly between subjects and mediums as I do between fantasy and reality, from figurative oil painting, to large-scale community-based and commercial mural projects, to more loosely painted watercolor sketches. Fantasy is not just an escape, it is a realm in which complex social and political issues— often difficult to navigate in the present— become personal and accessible.
As a classically schooled artist, I care deeply about craft and technique, while my training as an art therapist adds a level of emotional and psychological insight to my work, Playful and dynamic, my work is an invitation to my audience, to follow me back into the dreamscapes and refuges— lost to many— that I work to keep alive.
