about the artist
Jean Blackwell Font is the co-founder of Font Squared, providing arts marketing to nonprofit arts organizations and artists, and collaboARTive, a nonprofit arts organization that provides resources to visual artists in Miami-Dade County. She is a mixed media artist, an arts marketer, and arts administrator based in Miami, FL.
Working in assemblage, mixed media, and collage, Jean uses everyday images and objects to explore complex themes and emotions, delving deep into the human psyche to reveal the unexplored nuances of the human condition. Influenced by artists Betty Saar, Doris Salcedo, Julie Mehretu, and Mark Bradford, Jean is constantly developing her visual vocabulary to express her bold ideas and concepts.
By telling the stories of everyday people in a way that is both universal and deeply personal, she is creating a timeless body of work that will continue to resonate with viewers for years to come.
Jean is a member of ArtTable, the foremost professional organization dedicated to advancing women's leadership in the visual arts, and Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline honor society. Her artwork has garnered the attention of several important collectors in Miami and is now part of Florida International University Special Collections.
Artist statement
My work addresses the diverse beauty, mystery, and inherent power that connects generations of women. While autobiographical in nature, I explore the personal while expressing universal themes, and often focus on intentionally small details that invite the viewer to lean in for an intimate moment of discovery and quiet reflection.
I seek to connect to our deepest selves and uncover intuitive and ancestral memories that lie within all of us. Through my practice, I work to build a cultural and emotional symbolism to communicate ideas of memory, grief, and the unseen connection that binds generations of women, specifically, across centuries and geographies.