Risa A Jackinsky (She/Her/They/Them)
The colors and patterns in Risa Jackinsky’s art and designs are reflections of a rich personal history that began in her/their native land on the Kenai Peninsula, a small finger of land jutting from Alaska’s southcentral coastline.
Risa’s early childhood summers were spent at the family beach site, catching the salmon in Cook Inlet’s waters. Eagles soaring on coastal winds. Smooth sand, rough gravel, and swirling tides formed a backdrop for her/their imagination.
As a very young child, Risa received many dream-visions of Animal Spirit Guides, and this served to strengthen her/their connection in Nature. Winter’s frozen silence offered a stark contrast perfect for listening to stories of her/their heritage: Russian/Alutiiq, Irish/Mexican (Maternal) ancestors forming a pattern that serves as her/their template for design in all her/their artwork. Later Risa and her/their family moved to Southeast Alaska, a rain forest where towering Sitka spruce in thick carpets of moss and mountain peaks jut skyward from glacial waters with little thought to beaches.
As a young child, Risa received personalized drawing lessons from a well-known Alaskan artist, Mary Westfall. Following a personal path to creative expression, Risa explored many years and forms of art and craft. Risa earned a Fashion Designer Certification after apprenticing with an International Designer in Tucson, Arizona.
Risa’s art and designs pull together modern colors and trends with traditional native patterns, combining a variety of shapes, textures and found objects, often including small faces carved from pieces of cottonwood bark or stone washed up onto Alaskan beaches, or “naturally formed fetishes” found on nature walks.
She/They work in Mixed Media, Collage, Acrylic, Watercolor, Wearable Arts, Beadwork, Drawing and just about anything else she/they can get her/ their hands on.
A greater sense of Unbounded Courage and Freedom. The feeling of a Universal Flow. Rich colors and textures. The feeling of a fluidic and deepening sense of the wildness of Spirit of Nature. Myth and Totemic influences. Challenging the Self to dive deeper and go further into the Mystery. These are all goals in every piece of work.
Risa’s purpose in art is to continually expand her/their journey into (creative) freedom, and to invite the viewer in-to experience a greater sense of their own authentic journey.
