Dear Ila Mag Readers,
Today we have the honor of introducing to you Jacksonville artist: Dezzy Jones.
If X marks the spot, then the versatile Dezzy Jones is the treasure. Her art is for her to create, and for us to know that she was here, commemorating all of her moments in time. Jones, a portrait artist originally from Atlanta, moved to the city we hold so dear for university, graduating from Flagler College with a double major in digital media production and strategic communications in 2021. She then went on to pursue her artistry in Jacksonville. As a portrait artist, she has brought an irrefutable beauty to the city through large, and small strokes alike. It is said that art imitates life, and when it comes to Dezzy Jones her natural talent bleeds beautifully onto her canvas as people are her muse. She speaks praise of creative maintenance to prevent blockages that inevitably every creative suffers from. Jones ruminates in artistic fluctuation, viewing creation and consumption as troughs and valleys, maintaining a constant flow of input, output, and inspiration. Art, like all things worth more than a moment of your time is a process. Jones heeds that with too much thought of the outcome, “energy is extracted from the process”. She finds that instead when she sits and connects to the work in each of its stages, inadvertently that translates to a thought-provoking and solaced feeling when gazing upon her pieces.
Engage in the process, resonate with the outcome.
Portraits of Concepts is an Ila Mag favorite among all of Jones’ illustrious work. The collection accentuates the bare bones of pen and paper to illuminate such potent emotions and ideas. She cleverly articulates that she takes everything “from a transformative lens, and there is something profound in just feeling something”. There is beauty to be found and acknowledged in the duality of her simplistic expression that seamlessly coincides with the acute symbolism of this collection. Jones has explored this by conceptualizing said dichotomy on paper, seeing as “portraits are depictions” of feelings, words, etc. They build no such boundary for what they can, or cannot be. It is no wonder that with Jones’ prolific vocalization of her purpose in creating art and her overall goal being communication through different mediums, writing is the piece of the puzzle in which Jones is complete. While her presence on social media undoubtedly portrays the artist she is, writing is a large, if not larger part of her creative output. Whether it is written or drawn, spectators are invariably left in awe.
Keep an eye out for her ever-evolving journey, that regardless of the outcome will always be a wondrous ode to the process we hope you’ve gained a familiarity towards.
By: Rosemary Aziz