CV
Born in Washington, USA, 1983
Currently based between Portland, OR, USA and Glasgow, GB-SCT
Education:
2006-2008 Bachelor of Fine Arts (major: painting)at Eastern Washington University, WA, USA
2002-2005 Associate of Fine Arts (major: painting)at Spokane Falls Community College, WA, USA
Selected Exhibitions:
2026 Beacon Arts Centre (group exhibition) Summer Exhibition 2026, Greenock, GB-SCT
2025 The Waterfront Gallery (group exhibition) The Wales Contemporary 2025, Milford-Haven, GB-WAL
2025 The King’s Foundation, The Garrison Chapel, Chelsea Barracks (group exhibition) The Wales Contemporary 2025, London, GB-ENG
2025 Royal Nebeker Gallery, Clatsop Community College (group exhibition) Au Naturel: the Nude in the 21st Century, Astoria, OR, USA
2025 MarkArt, Gladys & Karl T. Wiedmann Gallery (group exhibition)À La Mode: The Language of Fashion in Art, Wichita, KS, USA
2024 Covet Art Gallery (group exhibition) Nature Lover, Oceanside, CA, USA
2024 Shockboxx Gallery (group exhibition) Not An Art Fair, Hermosa Beach, CA, USA
2020 Vision Train (group exhibition), virtual exhibition
2018 Parallax Art Center (formerly Elizabeth Jones Art Center), (group exhibition) The Artistic Sketchbook, Portland, OR, USA
2018 Parallax Art Center (formerly Elizabeth Jones Art Center), (group exhibition) Tree Emergency Response Team, Portland, OR, USA
2018 Rainbow Serpent Festival (group exhibition), VIC, AUS
2015 Envision Festival Tribe13 (group exhibition), Uvita, CSTR
2015 East Bank Building Gallery (solo exhibition), Portland, OR, USA
2014 Hart Gallery (group exhibition), Beaverton, OR, USA
2013 Gallery 114 (group exhibition), Portland, OR, USA
2011 Great Shape Inc. Fundraiser (group exhibition), Spokane, WA, USA
2011 Art Conscious Gallery (group exhibition), Post Falls, ID, USA
2011 Spokane for Japan Live Auction (group exhibition), Spokane, WA, USA
2011 Emerge-N-See Festival (group exhibition), Portland, OR, USA
2010 Second Space Gallery (solo exhibition)Amplified Growth, Spokane, WA, USA
2009 Montage Studios Gallery (group exhibition), Spokane, WA, USA
2008 BFA Graduation (group exhibition), Cheney, WA, USA
2005 AFA Graduation (group exhibition), Spokane, WA, USA
Publications & Interviews:
2025 The Daily Astorian, Weekend Break: The Return of ’Au Naturel'
2025 The Shout, Stitches in Time: 'À La Mode' at Mark Arts
2011 Direct Art Magazine, Volume 18, SlowArt Productions
2010 (Sept) Spokesman Review, Voices Section
2010 FM Radio Interview with Bernadette Vielbig, Readymade Radio-KYRS
Collections:
Private collections in the United States of America, Mexico, Australia and the United Kingdom
Awards & Residencies:
2017 Luminous Flux Artist Residency with David Heskin, Aloria Weaver, Katia Honour, and Wolfgang Widmoser, Ubud, IDN
2015 RACC's Professional Development Grant
2010 Sculpting Anatomy Residency with Alex Grey, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
2007 The Eleanor & Clifton Rock Art Scholarship
Professional Contributions:
2022 Selected as a juror for ApexArt, Open Call for New York City, New York, NY, USA
2019 Mural commission (400 sq. ft.), Elite Care at Fanno Creek, Tigard, OR, USA
2012 Art Therapist Internship,100th Monkey Art Studio, Portland, OR, USA
2009 Gallery Assistant Internship, Lorinda Knight Gallery, Spokane, WA, USA
2008 Mural commission (55 sq. ft), Missing Piece Studios, Spokane, WA, USA
Bio
After gaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Eastern Washington University/USA in 2008, Jess LaPrade further pursued mentorships to learn the Renaissance Master’s painting techniques. She has now cultivated her own hybrid of direct and indirect oil painting methods with a keen interest in figurative paintings of women in both mediums of oils and ink. Her paintings are a blend between representational figures and abstract atmospheres that reflect psychological themes of identity, introspection, and realizing one’s full potential in the midst of a chaotic world.
More recently in 2025, she was selected to show in the Wales Contemporary Exhibition at the King’s Foundation: Garrison Chapel in Chelsea, London, UK. Her work has been shown in galleries nationally and internationally, and in publications such as Direct Art Magazine, SolPurpose, and Unify. For part of the year she gains inspiration through sketching and small painting studies while sailing to new harbors around Scotland aboard her sailboat, and the other part of the year she acquires various land-based art studios all over the world to further develop her sketches into finished paintings.
Statement
In my figurative paintings of women, I aim to evoke a timeless era of regal, feminine beauty that is distorted by the noise of the mind and the outside world. Some of the figures in my work convey a somber resilience in the face of adversity while others display a more psychological push and pull of overwhelming emotions and thoughts. Overall, I aspire to evoke a raw truth and an emotional vulnerability that perseveres through all the collective noise.
Bold use of color and texture are an important element throughout my oeuvre. I use a combination of the Old Master’s techniques and my own impasto-like revision as a mixed formula to give a defining human touch to my paintings.
I draw inspiration from artists such as Ann Gale, Barbara Kruger, and Daniel Richter to name a few.
The ideas for my work stem from travels, art history, literature, and interpretations of obstacles I’ve overcome in my own life.