Despite her dark and edgy appearance, Jessica Silverman loves to create with vibrant color. Silverman, a sophomore fine arts major at Shippensburg University, does a little bit of everything — oil pastels, print making, painting, drawing, collaging, mixed media and even her day-to-day makeup.
“It keeps me on my toes. I like to challenge myself,” Silverman said.
Ever since she was little, Silverman has been into art. Growing up, she constantly doodled and drew things. Though she has had other interests, she kept coming back to art. Her parents exposed her and her sister to art quite often as children, visiting the various Smithsonian Museums and Walters Art Museum in Maryland where she is originally from.
Her sister has gone on to be an art teacher, and Silverman aspires to simply “be an artist” in whatever role available. Ironically, both of Silverman’s parents are analytical. Her mother and father are both in medical fields, employed as a nurse and a dentist, respectively. “It makes me wonder where I got it [my creativity] from,” Silverman said.
Silverman’s focus at SU is her art, and she keeps a small sketchbook on her at all times. “I doodle all the time — in my free time, when I’m with my friends, when I’m bored,” Silverman explained as she flipped through the vibrant pages of her worn book. She has a bunch of ideas all the time, finding inspiration in religion, faith and beauty.
“What is religion? Why am I a part of all this?” Silverman said of her work. She aims to make viewers of her art feel unsettled and question their morals and being. A master of intrigue, Silverman wants to take people out of their comfort zones, even if that is just through looking at an image.
After graduating from Shippensburg, Silverman plans to find work making freelance art. Her parents want her to be a tattoo artist, which she thinks would be a nice career path, considering her interest in both art and tattoos.
Those interested in viewing more of Silverman’s work and contacting her about commissions, reach out to her on Instagram @jessica.silverman.
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