Photos by Vania Evangelique
Jada G. Patterson is a multidisciplinary artist, gallerist, and teacher currently based in Pittsburgh. Their practice spans across ceramics, sculpture as well as traditional craft mediums such as broom making and basketry. While working primarily in clay, beeswax and assemblage, Patterson explores beauty, adornment, girlhood and material culture as it relates to the human condition. The intersections of identity, material culture and personal histories are the basis of their work.
Patterson, a Milwaukee native, began their studies at the Kansas City Art Institute where they received their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics and Art History. They’ve since continued their studies as a fellow, mentor and resident artist across the country including the Ox-Bow School of Art, Charlotte Street Foundation, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, John C. Campbell Folk School and the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences.
In this interview, Patterson, who completed the BOOM residency in February 2024, discusses their unique multidisciplinary mediums and the Black traditions embedded within their work.
Q: What motivated you to apply for the BOOM residency? In hindsight, how did it enable you to move your work forward?
JP: Last June, I moved to Pittsburgh from the south and wanted to find a community in Black spaces. BOOM was a perfect fit. I started the residency in December 2023 while teaching high school art full time. BOOM gave me an opportunity to begin to immerse myself in the Pittsburgh art scene. It was nice to be at the Radiant Hall studios for three months where I could meet artists and have a space to make work. That was really the biggest thing. Just having space in a new city to focus on my work and experiment.
As a multidisciplinary artist, how did you first get into working with clay and beeswax as your primary mediums?
I studied ceramics in undergrad. I got my degree in ceramics and art history which are both really foundational for me, but I’ve always worked very interdisciplinary. Whatever skill I can learn I like to incorporate into my practice. I got into casting with beeswax, Black soap, and Shea butter during the pandemic when I could no longer work in a ceramic studio, but took the mold making skills I learned in ceramics with materials I used everyday. Those materials are part of my daily rituals of moisturizing, healing and protecting my skin and hair. I brought that idea of “protection” into my practice through materiality including, but not exclusive to those materials and began incorporating it with my ceramics.
What was that early experimentation process like?
I experimented with whatever I could cast. It was just body parts in the beginning, and then I started to incorporate other objects as well. Around 2020, I was inheriting church hats from women in my life who had passed away. I wanted to cast the hats, but I was hesitant about it because they were from people I really cared for and looked up to. I finally got past the fear of ruining their hats and decided to go for it and started to cast the hats the same way I would cast ceramic work, by first sealing them. And from there, I made these molds where I was able to paint the beeswax and clay into them and create exact replicas in different materials. Beeswax is used as a sealant for hair and skin, so I envisioned it as if I was sealing the legacies of the women who helped me raise and shape me into the person I am today.
Black traditions of home interior and hair/body adornment are core themes within your work. How would you articulate the deeper meaning behind those themes?
Out of all the places we go, the home is one of the safest places to explore parts of ourselves and our identity. A lot of it takes place in the home. With interior design too, it’s a place where you get to curate. Especially Black folk, we grew up with very curated houses – my grandmother’s home was a perfect example. It’s a place where I first discovered beauty as protection. The objects inside our homes give us some authority over our life, authority that we don’t always necessarily have when we step outside. So a lot of my work tries to replicate those feelings of safety and beauty, especially since beauty is something that can be weaponized against women.
I’ve been exploring different ways of working with adornment and objects in the home and daily rituals. Brooms and baskets have been occupying most of my time right now. Adornment was a passageway for stepping into my womanhood. Black soap, Shea butter and beeswax surfaces reference their ritualistic use to heal, protect and seal hair and skin, but also to bring Black folk closer to our ancestors whenever we cloak ourselves in it. This extends into other materials in my work such as hair used in protective styles and objects like brooms used in ritual to tend to place and imbue power in the everyday.
You’re currently teaching art in Pittsburgh with the Westinghouse Arts Academy. What do you value the most about being a teacher and sharing your talents and passions with future generations of artists?
I was privileged in the fact that I had some amazing art teachers and mentors while growing up in high school. So it feels important to pay that forward, especially since a lot of students don’t realize the opportunities that a life in the arts can provide. I just like to show and share my experiences. Like, yes, people will pay you to express yourself creatively through your work. Spaces and careers like that exist, and there are so many forms of art where you can express yourself creatively while also still following other passions and pursuits. It has been really rewarding to share that with the students and help spark a love for it within them.
What are your goals for the future with your work?
I’ve been going with the flow a little bit. I was living in Kansas City for a while working in a lot of galleries and museums. I had a curatorial practice, but realized that I wanted more time for myself and to make my own work. I’m feeling a similar energy now after moving to Pittsburgh. I’ve really enjoyed teaching since moving here, but I would like to prioritize more time for my studio practice and pursue more residencies and apprenticeships during my free time. I’m planning on eventually moving back down south in the next few years and immersing myself more in my craft. Combining teaching with my art practice and having more of a balance between the two is the goal.
To learn more about Jada G. Patterson, please visit: https://www.jadapatterson.com/
Chris Mueller is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh and Denver. Twitter/IG: @bychrismueller
