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PalomoArtist

Explore the work of local artist Jessica Palomo, who is busy creating alluring sculptures and powerful drawings.

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Jessica Palomo’s drawings and sculptures tackle uncomfortable topics and situations in a modern and beautiful way. Although her work appears beautifully ambiguous upon closer examination reveals that her work “is in response to disease and the unseen relationships that they can bring”, and that her drawings center around organic and body references “to focus on the tension and balance of the beautiful and the ugly”. Focusing on the more traditional mediums of drawing and sculpture, Palomo is able explore and utilize a variety of materials including graphite, ink, color pencil and clay which both challenge and inspire her creative process resulting in work that is striking, unique and refreshing. Palomo’s recent drawings investigate various stages of growth and death centering on flowers, such as with Antirrhinums. This piece abstractly depicts snapdragons with an almost unrecognizable simplicity, rendered in graphite upon a simple gessoed panel.

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She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University in 2007. From there Palomo focused on teaching at First Baptist Academy in Dallas TX from 2007-2014 where she taught upper level art courses. She has assisted many artists including sculptor and illustrator John Collier, as well as being the artist in residence at the Palazzo Rinaldi in 2011, which concluded with a solo exhibition in Noepoli, Italy. Eventually making the decision to pursue her art further, she moved to Arizona and is currently pursuing her Masters in Fine Art degree at Arizona State University. She currently maintains a studio at the ASU Grant Street Studios, in addition to teaching foundational art to undergraduate students at ASU. She is currently apart of three artist collectives including Creative Push, To Hot Art Collective, and The Art Grads.

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Palomo’s work has been featured in several local publications including Phoenix New Times, Paradise Valley Independent, AZCulture.com and YabYum Music & Arts.  She has exhibited her artwork at a variety of venues around the United States, most recently in Arizona at the Eric Fischal Gallery, the Step Gallery, Harry Wood Gallery, {9} The Gallery and the monOrchid. This past summer she had the opportunity to be apart of a small group exhibition titled Gray Area at Shade Gallery at the monOrchid.

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Gray Area was well received, seeing new attendance record highs and covered in numerous publications around the valley. Gray Area featured Palomo alongside fellow ASU Masters of Fine Arts students AJ Nafziger and Travis Rice, focusing on the theme of Gray Area, reflecting upon “elements of discovery and uncertainty, as well as in the use of gray to create vibrant work in the absence of color and the vague definition of how the process of drawing is represented in art today.”

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Palomo is currently busy in her studio at Grant Street, preparing for her upcoming Master Thesis exhibition and completion of her Masters. Too see more of her work or to learn more about artist Jessica Palomo visit her online at jessicapalomo.com. *All images are courtesy and copyright of artist Jessica Palomo and Nicole Royse. 

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