Jess Pouncy

My practice spans sculpture, painting, design, video, and installation, with an emphasis on color, abstraction, and scale. I use a variety of materials, mostly repurposed or recycled, to create objects and spaces that fall somewhere between an alternate reality dreamscape and architectural domestic interiors. I aim to evoke introspective reactions regarding the body, space, and the environment—both built and natural, urban and earthly, inhabited and barren, domestic and otherworldly. 

Growing up in Florida, I was surrounded by color, whether it was the ocean and sunshine, Art Deco architecture, or the vibrant handcrafts of Latin American culture. I use a similar oversaturated palette to form relationships between the viewer and my sculptural objects. My childhood was also filled with both colorful plastic kitsch and environmentalist directives to “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!” These conflicting influences, coupled with the working-class struggles my family experienced, encouraged creative problem solving and evolved into a resourcefulness reflected in my work’s materiality. I attempt to provoke questions of body and space relations, acknowledge the global impact of plastic and manufacturing pollution, examine the dynamic of nature and industry, consider material history and material lifecycles, and push viewers to form connections between fantasy, consumerism, popular culture, and the human imagination.