NAME: Jessica Whiteside
BIRTH PLACE: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
BIOGRAPHY
My name is Jessica Whiteside, but I go by the nickname Tink. I started out my life in the bayou's of Louisiana. My father is a successful 3D special effects artist who taught me to draw when I was just a small fry. Very early on I developed a love for painting and drawing which has been an all consuming obsession ever since. My family moved to Australia when I was ten and returned to the United States when I was eighteen years old. After returning to the US with a quirky southern/ Australian combo sort of accent I decided to follow my father's footsteps to become a professional artist. I received a scholarship to attend The Academy of Art University in San Francisco where I learned the importance of good drawing, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Illustration in 2004. I have exhibited my work in galleries in California since 2001 and also work as a freelance illustrator.
In my work I often visit themes of uncertainty, outsider or underground culture, contemporary feminism, American culture clashes and sexuality which I paint through the lens of pin ups, neo-Burlesque and references to pop culture. My decidedly journalistic messages are presented in a fanciful, sometimes erotic, satirical and often girlie painting style.
I attribute my ultra feminine and somewhat erotic painting style to my fiercely independent nature and desire to push buttons through my work. I have been extremely outspoken and opinionated since childhood which often landed me in hot water with many authority figures. These days, I try to project through my artwork what I have often been unsuccessful in expressing with words. My artwork describes the values in life that I hold in the highest regard. Some of those values are freedom of expression, human rights and education for all children.
I am constantly trying to push the boundaries of what it means to live as an artist; propel my work beyond the realms of my own imagination.
