Approach
The need to create has always been a passion of mine. Being an artist isn't a job but a way of being. Sharing my art with the world is one of the most authentic ways I can connect with those around me.
My work is developed through an intuitive process inspired by intense emotion and grueling self-awareness. The first layers of a piece are always the most raw and satisfying. I see myself as a vessel through which energy and emotion are released in the form of shapes and colors. Then comes the interpretation and self-reflection part.
Once something interesting begins to emerge from the emotional chaos, the real magic can happen. I evaluate what came out in those first layers and refine the composition. Acrylics allow me to work quickly and build up layers with minimal drying time. I also use inks, paper and oil pastels. My work is made up of many overlapping layers and I often let the materials inspire me throughout the process. When I get blocked or hung up on a difficult piece, I look within to find the answers. What am I not seeing? What is the lesson? My art has built on itself and continues to evolve along with who I am as a person.
My creative practice is my therapy. Whatever I’m going through or working on in my life is always mirrored in the artwork. Art has guided me through agonizing heartache and creating it has brought me peace and allows me space to grow. I talk to my paintings while I work. I sing and dance around them. In turn, they heal me, and hopefully bring healing joy to the viewer as well.
Biography
Jade Brady was born in South Louisiana in 1984. First introduced to art at the age of four as a way to transform her emotional trauma into creative healing, it would take Jade many years to return to art. Though never having strayed from her drive towards healing, her journey took her in many directions. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences with the intent on becoming a reconstructive surgeon, imaging she would help her patients heal through a physical, visual change, and in turn, heal herself. She soon realized her drive to heal needed to be channeled through art, not medicine. Jade’s artwork is not only reflective of her emotional healing; it is the healing itself. Her artwork is a direct expression of her emotional growth: Her first works expressed dark, moody undertones made with acrylics and tar, reflecting a turbulent emotional state focused on seeking beauty through darkness and solitude. Through the years, however, Jade’s artwork has brightened in color and sharpened in focus, revealing a restorative, life-centric outlook. Her current work centers on florals and nudes, expressing how life’s beauty is found in the most delicate and vulnerable of moments. Jade does not know what her future artwork will look like, because her process of healing is still underway.
Jade has also trained as a teacher, specializing in middle school science. She brought to her students the same passion that drives her artwork, and drove her interest in biology, that is, an excitement for life and healing.
Jade has been commissioned for projects by the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, has works in the permanent collection of the East Baton Rouge Public Library System alongside artists such as Clementine Hunter, and has donated her time and works for dozens of regional and international charities.
Jade lives and works in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, creating wholeness through her artwork.