How did you get into making art?
I’ve been making art since I was very little! My mom is an artist, so she was my first art teacher. Both of her parents were artists as well. Her dad was a sculptor (his last name was Jaccarino, which is where my name comes from), and her mom was a fashion illustrator, so we always had lots of art around the house. As a kid I loved drawing and painting, and would make stop motion animations with my brother. I ended up going to Parsons for illustration, and worked as an illustrator and animator for about 10 years before pivoting towards painting.
What are you currently working on?
I just finished up my solo show “Carry It With You” at Yossi Milo in New York, so now I’m back in the exploration phase. I do a lot of drawing, reading, and looking at art, and try not to settle on a new direction too soon. Right now I’ve been getting back to drawing as much as I can, from friends/models and from nature. My best ideas tend to come when I let them emerge through the drawings.
It felt (and feels) like there is so much upheaval in the world at the same time as beauty and joy, and I wanted to express those ideas together.
J. Carino
What inspired you to get started on this body of work?
My last body of work for the show was inspired by the simultaneity of disaster and paradise. It is a narrative of environmental and political crises, and a search for hope and the building blocks for a new future. It felt (and feels) like there is so much upheaval in the world at the same time as beauty and joy, and I wanted to express those ideas together. As for the new body of work, I’m not quite sure yet! I still want to investigate these same ideas, but possibly from a more intimate perspective.
Do you work on distinct projects or do you take a broader approach to your practice?
I like to think of all of my paintings existing within the same body of work, but I like there to be distinct vignettes within that for each exhibition. “Carry It With You” was focused more on the idea cataclysm, whereas previous shows have explored ideas of an imagined paradise and personal transformation. There are always throughlines of queerness and nature, but I like to look at those ideas through different lenses: personal, societal, global, and mythological.
What’s a typical day like in your studio?
I like to work on multiple paintings at one time, so I’ll typically have 4 or 5 going at once. I’ll kind of hop between them, like a bee going from flower to flower. Some days I’ll have a friend come model for me, or I’ll spend the day out drawing in nature. Then I bring all of the drawings back and put them all over the walls. I also have dozens of art books out on the floor and leaning aginst the walls. I’ll use bits and pieces from the drawings, or see something in one of the books that shifts my perspective and I’ll incorporate that into a composition or color palette for a painting. Whenever I get stuck on one painting, I’ll hop to another one or start something new, and generally just try to keep things moving.
Who are your favorite artists?
It changes every day! I always love Gustav Klimt, Matisse, Diego Rivera, and Tamara de Lempicka. Right now, I’ve been looking at a lot of Degas, Rico Lebrun, and Marsden Hartley. But I really like to have as many sources of inspiration around as possible. Art deco, medieval tapestry, Edo-era prints, Frank Stella, Grant Wood, and Ben Shahn are always big influences as well.
Where do you go to discover new artists?
For artists in general, nothing beats a good day at a museum. Seeing old favorites in a new light or discovering paintings you didn’t notice the first time. For discovering new contemporary artists, it’s typically on Instagram. I think it’s wonderful when artists and collectors share artists they like, and I’ve found so many incredible artists that way.
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