Jessie Borsellino

She/Her
  • Storytelling
  • Painting
  • Drawing
  • Illustrations

As a writer and illustrator, my artistic practice is rooted in space: creating artwork that tells the stories of and honours our natural and built environments. I keep these tales at the center of my artwork as I create botanical illustrations with the goal of fostering connection with the natural world and telling the quiet lessons it teaches us: the hope it holds in the growing of seeds and the return of the seasons, the slow growth it encourages, the community it fosters with its neighbouring flora and fauna. In addition to cultivating kinship between our own growth and that of the seasons, I also aim to illustrate how community is grounded in place, and to commemorate the spaces that offer connection and home. In pursuing this goal, I create architectural paintings and illustrations of the welcoming places I stumble upon.

In creating artwork rooted in the environment, my primary goal as an artist is to practice as sustainably as I can: something I define as (1) telling the stories of the Earth to foster connection with the natural world, (2) ensuring that what I create does minimal harm to the planet, and (3) my work and my practice having the ability to endure. As such, I aim to use materials that have reduced environmental impact, such as plant-based paints and agave papers, and high quality to ensure the longevity and quality of my illustrations.

In my written and visual work, the final goal I keep at the center of my practice is community. As an artist practicing on the unceded territory of Treaty 3, otherwise known as Hamilton, I have found a rich community of creatives, local entrepreneurs, and artists that have provided me with so much inspiration and support. The connections I have made are integral to my work, and as such, one of my primary goals is to cultivate meaningful relationships with other artists, immerse myself further in the Hamilton arts community, support current and emerging artists and small businesses, and be inspired by others.

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