Sometimes, the key to artistic success is the alliance of skill with the perfect medium. It may be a little soon to pigeonhole Jessica Nalbandian – who only recently graduated URI with an art major – but her recent foray into linocut prints has produced some of this young artist’s most polished and praised works.
Like most students, Jessica tried her hand at multiple forms and techniques in art classes and as a member of the art club at North Kingstown High School, where she graduated in 2008. A painter first, Jessica didn’t even like printing when she first took a class in the medium in college, but soon grew to love linotyping, a variation on woodcut that involves cutting into sheets of linoleum (yes, the same stuff used for flooring) to create reverse images for printing.
Jessica recognized early on that being an artist requires perseverance and, usually, struggle. In college, her minor in English and a stint at URI’s award-winning student newspaper The Good 5-Cent Cigar, were part of a broader strategy: “I’ve always wanted to be a writer and an illustrator,” she says. “There’s so many things I want to do, but I knew I wanted to keep drawing and painting even if it was not for a living.”
Despite a 50-hour-a-week work schedule which includes jobs as an assistant teacher at the Goddard School in South Kingstown and the Ruff Life pet daycare program in North Kingstown, she found time to put together a gallery show that’s on display through the end of the year at the BankRI branch in North Kingstown. The exhibit highlights include Jessica’s signature piece to date: a linocut of a woman talking on a banana phone.
Before you start thinking Raffi, however, this is no child’s play: the work has a noir-ish, if somewhat whimsical, feel, and is intended as a commentary on overwork in a “cubicle world” office environment. It’s also reflective of her self-described dark side and delight in strange subject matter – another linocut, of a bat and grapes, is called “Predator vs. Prey,” for example. On the other end of the spectrum are prints of a giraffe, and a Dali-esque dog wearing sunglasses (it’s her min-ature schnauzer, Shelby), two favorites of the animal-loving artist.
Jessica has also staged a 40-piece exhibit at the Bill Krul Gallery in Narragansett and displayed her work at the former Skyleen Mustang steampunk clothing store in East Greenwich, the Cranston Art Festival and the annual Hempfest at URI. Despite her heavy workload, she tries to put in at least 15 minutes per day on her artwork, and spends entire days painting or printing when she can find the time. “I live by my planner,” she jokes.
Will art become her career? Jessica isn’t ready to commit. “I’m getting more recognition than I thought,” she says. “Just getting into stores and galleries is a good feeling, even if that’s all it turns out to be.” Still, she admits: “I’d also be happy working 40 hours a week doing art. That would be amazing.”
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