Because it’s the only way my brain can translate everything I’ve survived into something bigger than just me.
You decide who will appear in Artforum Magazine, take home $25,000, and display their work at The Art of Elysium's Salon!
I create mythic, romantic, politically charged work, gods in chains, mythic animals, and keffiyeh portraits. I love mixing sacred and profane, soft and brutal, to show how power, memory, and trauma live in real bodies. Texture is huge for me: thick paint, metallics, and visible brushwork that feel like scars on the surface.
Where do you find inspiration?From everything people try to sanitize or hide: colonial history, religion, propaganda, grief, and the way ordinary people still make beauty inside all that. I pull from Umbanda, mythology, conspiracy lore, news cycles, and my own nervous system. If something feels cursed, politically loaded, or ‘too much,’ that’s usually where the best images live for me.
What would you do with $25,000?I’d invest in stability and scale. First, I’d clear survival debt and secure a safe living situation so I can keep creating without constant crisis. Then I’d upgrade materials, printing, and shipping so my textured, political work can actually reach people, shows, better scans, and ethical production. The goal is to build a sustainable practice, not a one‑off moment.
Vote for Jhessicka Gomes to become The People's Artist while supporting a great cause! Cast your free daily vote or make an even bigger impact when you vote by donation, supporting The Art of Elysium in their mission to use art as a catalyst to help people triumph over difficult life challenges.
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