Fireflies Print

Jazzlynique Wilson is an African-American woman living in New Jersey. She recently graduated from the College of Saint Elizabeth with a B.A in Art and a minor in graphic design. Her art is influenced by African-American culture and history as well as Japanese culture. Having been influenced by Japanese animation at an early age, the techniques and style rooted themselves in the way she draw and how she perceived things. When she was young, she watched an animated fantasy film titled Kiki's Delivery Service. However, as she grew up and became more aware of her surroundings as well as the everyday issues African-Americans face, not only New Jersey, but across America, she started to gain more interest her culture. This aspect of herself became something she wanted to cherish and show through her work because it was a huge part of her identity. Though she was proud to be African-American, her interest in Japanese culture remained. Being a culture fusion artist, she combines two cultures of interest in her artwork. Jazzlynique loves to create art. Her main source of inspiration is Hayao Miyazaki who introduced her as a young child to Japanese culture and the art of animation that fueled her passion. Later on, she started to notice how scarce African-American art is shown in social media, especially art by African-American women. Her goal is to break those boundaries and introduce something new as she combines both African-American and Japanese art; to show a bridge between two cultures that she values, and bring different perspectives mainly to how people view African-American culture.