Jacob Watts is a strong example of someone who OH student artists can look up to for inspiration. His growth and success as an artist since graduating from OH in 2008 are seen most easily within his expressive works, which have spread across the Chicagoland area.
“You just have to put in the work of honing your craft and choosing the resources around you, which does depend [[…]] there are also a lot of resources outside of [classes] to help push our careers as well,” said Watts.
As an ’08 OH alum, Watts has made artwork series and projects for several years. “Socially Distanced,” a series of pieces based on safety practices during pandemic times, is at the University of St. Francis art gallery in Joliet, IL, from Oct. 22 to Dec. 3. The gallery is managed by USF Art Gallery Director Jennifer Moore, who has worked with Watts for several years.
“He and I were both judging the Oswego 4×4 [a couple of years ago], and we were both put together to judge the photography competition… He was telling me about the kind of work that he was creating. I was extremely interested, because it was sculptural photography that wasn’t quite , it wasn’t quite [two-dimensional]. I wanted to see how he was working with the photographic medium [[…]] and I viewed his work,” said Moore.
During the Artist Talk at USF on Nov. 2, Jacob demonstrated the way he formed his art.
“It starts with photography, where I go to busy areas [such as] downtown Chicago… I’ll just gather a lot of photographs of people, and then from there, it goes into Photoshop, where I cut them out, and I paint their outfits different colors,” Watts explained.
“Then it goes into a print… that’s where it becomes physical media [[…]] I cut out each individual figure, but I leave their feet attached to the print, so it sits as a piece, but at the same time a piece,” he continued.
“They lean forward, but they still stay attached to the artwork,” said Watts. “So it’s really everything from traditional photography, but it adds this little element of sculpture almost to it.” He also made the frames seen with his works at the gallery.
The art series focuses on the aspects of life that COVID-19 has impacted upon people’s lives, specifically the distancing practices. However, it does dive in deeper than just quarantining methods.
“When I explain the concept to people, I use the title so that when people come in to view [the art gallery], they kind of know right off the bat, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what this is about.’ The project itself was sort of like a conscious decision to get through rough times on my own prior to COVID and lock down… wanted to do something I hadn’t done before. I knew I needed to make some sort of real physical art,” said Watts.
Watts’ experience here at OH was one prosperous to his work, being under the guidance of Mr. Skura and Mr. Whipple. Skura is the head of the Fine Arts Department.
“The minute we met him… he’s been a tour de force ever since… extremely creative, innovative with photography, [Adobe] Illustrator, photoshop, just really incredible,” said Skura.
Skura mentioned Watts is known for many extraordinary pieces, such as his large mural Moose Bubblegum Bubble, which towers over a parking lot on a wall of Columbia College in Chicago, IL.
“There was a competition where they had people, artists, submit artwork for the spot. And so I’d won that competition… It went up 10 years ago,” said Watts.
Rising student artists can find inspiration to share their experiences and ideas from artists such as Jacob Watts, as they can develop connections from the emotions Watt’s work conveys. It allows upcoming artists to find creativity in presenting their work to others.
“Whether it’s actually talking about [art] with other people who also make art [or] just connecting through art that we make and comparing it [[…]], art in general, I think, is a good way to connect,” said OH senior AP Drawing student Addison Tyner.
I am a 1st year Staff editor for 42Fifty, a senior at Oswego High School. I know plenty that I wish to share with all, but most will remain as is for the meanwhile. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
I am a senior and this is my first year as a student journalist for 42Fifty. I currently play the trumpet in the OHS Marching Band and I am a member of BIONIC as well. I am excited for learning and gaining experience in journalism this year. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
