About

Jada Patterson is a multidisciplinary artist and crafts person born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their work spans across ceramics, sculpture as well as traditional craft mediums such as broom making and basketry. Working primarily in clay, beeswax and assemblage Jada explores beauty, adornment, girlhood and material culture as it relates to the human condition. Jada began their studies at the Kansas City Art Institute where they received their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics and Art History. They’ve continued their studies as a fellow, mentor and resident at art and craft schools across the country including the Ox-Bow School of Art, Charlotte Street Foundation, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, John C. Campbell Folk School, Berea College and the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences. Jada is currently based out of Pittsburgh, PA pursuing their practice full time as well as teaching at the Westinghouse Arts Academy.  

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The intersections of identity, material culture and personal histories are the basis of my work. I am deeply interested in Black traditions of hair and body adornment especially those related to girlhood. These traditions are often embedded into my work, as adornment was a passageway for stepping into my womanhood.

My work consists of hand sculpted, cast and crafted objects in predominately clay and beeswax, as well as found and inherited objects used for assemblage. Materials used as protection and sealants are heavily prioritized in my work. Black soap, shea butter and beeswax surfaces reference their ritualistic use to heal, protect and seal hair and skin, but also to bring us [Black folk] closer to our ancestors whenever we cloak ourselves in it. This extends into other materials in my work such as hair used in protective styles and objects like brooms used in ritual to tend to place and imbue power in the everyday.

Assembling hand crafted and found objects is my way of telling a story or lettering a poem. Most of the stories work to remember girlhood and offer some reflection and healing for myself and those who feel called to.