Jada Tuffin

Artist Statement

Painting Portfolio 2022-23'

Expressing myself is just something I do, and I like to do it often. Whether it’s dancing in public, scream-singing at home, or wearing handmade jewelry, my personality always shines through to make the mundane exciting. I got to let my creativity free while exploring a wide range of materials and processes leading up to my senior portfolio. 

In this recent body of work I highlight my connection to horses. This artistic journey has been extremely grounding for me. Building this portfolio gave me time to connect to the young me who would beg my mom for books about horses and steal printer paper from her desk to sketch them in broken crayons. 

I chose watercolor for my earliest works because, as a kid, the only paints I was permitted to use were these harmless squares of watercolor that promised no stains. While creating “Homestretch” the joyful memories all came flooding back. I took the time to remember the kid I was then and how both everything and nothing has changed about me. Sometimes, I still find myself lying on the ground, painting pretty horses even though I’m thirteen years older and three times the size. 

As I started to fall in love with growing as a person, I began using new mediums and basing my pieces on stages of my life. My oil painting “Looking Forward” is representative of how ready I am to leave for college. After everything in my life finished “Falling into Place” all I could think about was how eager I was to start my future. The latest piece in my portfolio “On the Table” is about all the parts of me I’ll be leaving behind when I go to college. I’ve incorporated a mixed media aspect that has symbols of my childhood from broken pieces of my wicker basket to twine I use to wrap all my gifts to friends and family.

Other works below: