Welcome! I'm Jessica Greenfield, an artist, designer, and educator based in Boone, North Carolina.
Artist Statement:
My current creative practice reflects my attempt to understand my experiences through close study of the natural world. Artist books lie at the core because they require me to translate these experiences through words as well as images, creating an encounter for the reader that is intimate, vulnerable, and multi-layered. Each book exists as a record of my own grappling with being human — grief, love, loneliness, interconnection — by looking to the land and its inhabitants for direction. My searching takes a variety of forms, including habitual walks where I slowly build intimacy with the land, and working with biologists to research the plants and animals I observe there.
As digital spheres work tirelessly to distract us, it’s crucial that we redirect our attention back into physical spaces. It is there that we can participate bodily in community and connect with the whole of the living world. I embrace the kinship worldview— a shared indigenous-led practice where humanity is experienced as within, rather than separate from, nature. This understanding of the world rejects our desire to control and imagines a sustainable future built on interdependence and mutual flourishing. By working collaboratively with more-than-human beings, I create opportunities to recalibrate our attention and senses away from the constant stimuli of the digital and toward the nuance of the real. I’m guided by the lived experiences of plants, insects, and minerals who encourage us to slow down and breathe with an interconnected earth.
About Jessica:
Jessica Greenfield is an artist and graphic designer, working fluidly across the threshold between the two. She explores artist books, printmaking, photography, and embroidery in an endeavor to build intimate relationships with physical materials and collaborate with the more-than-human world. Her artist books can be found in an expanding list of permanent collections including Bibliothèque Nationale de France, University of California at Irvine, Savannah College of Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Design, Bryn Mawr College, Ohio University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Pennsylvania, Washington University St. Louis, and University of Miami.
Jessica is currently an Assistant Professor at Appalachian State University where she teaches an embodied approach to graphic design, encouraging students to work with their hands through sketching, collage, drawing, and printmaking. She has also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, Arizona State University, and UCLA Extension. Previous to joining the Appalachian State faculty, Jessica accrued over 10 years of professional experience focused on branding and publication design as Senior Graphic Designer at both RIOS and Hillstone Restaurant Group. She holds an MFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Carnegie Mellon University.
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessgreenfieldpainting. For purchase inquiries, please use the form below.