Jessalyn Levesque is a mixed media artist who focuses on drawing, painting, sculpture, performance and photography. She originally comes from Missoula, Montana, and moved to the East Coast in her senior year of high school. She spent five years and received her Bachelors of Fine Arts at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
As you find your way along, it always will be a lot of trial and error, but you finally will find your true self. The reason Jessalyn spent five years at UMPI is that she was a psychology major before she was an art major. She decided to change majors because she wasn’t happy and missed expressing herself.
Jessalyn worked and continues to work within her studio. She had solo and group shows at UMPI. Jessalyn was also the recipient of the Robert C. Wanbaugh Memorial Art Award, where pieces from her senior thesis are on permanent collection at the University of Maine in Presque Isle.
Jessalyn has a full art belief. The only thing she concentrates on is to sustain and elevate it by the power of purpose. After graduating from UMPI, she decided to continue her art road to attain her Masters of Fine Arts at the Maine College of Art.
Like other artists, Jessalyn Levesque also has her understanding of art. She said, “The definition of beauty and art: that’s hard to do, because both are subjective. I would say that beauty is what the eye/brain finds aesthetically interesting. And art is a creative outlet for philosophical, social and personal thoughts or ideas.”
The passions of her own art styles come from true life. It is very personal to her. Jessalyn believes the personal is political, so what affects her in life also will have the same effects on others, which is a lot about the human condition but also a human experience. What she focuses on–at this stage–is to try to concentrate on using alchemy as a metaphor for the transformation of identity, which means she is looking at the use of symbols to be able to tell a story.
“I definitely like her videography and what she is focusing on. The body language can send a strong message to others: it is a power to connect with people’s communication. She combines her life experience with practice, body language and innovations to express who she is,” Tong Liu, an UMPI student familiar with Jessalyn’s work, said.
UMPI is where Jessalyn began her dream; UMPI is where creativity and imagination could flourish. UMPI is her art home that made her never give up and always follow her dreams. She will always care about UMPI. She has advice for all UMPI students, not only artists: “Do what terrifies you, thrills you, gives you goose bumps. It is the most rewarding thing you can do in your life. If you take that chance, your life won’t be the same. You may succeed, you may fail, but at least you tried. And in the end, that’s what matters.”
Jessalyn Levesque is a talent of art. We can be glad she studied at UMPI: she is an UMPI family member forever!
If you have interests in her artworks, here is her personal website: www.jessalynlevesque.weebly.com.
