Jay Miriam's paintings, known for their bold, expressive brushwork, often portray women in personal, intimate settings, balancing realism with a dreamlike quality. Her figures firmly inhabit their space, expressing a self-assured presence that commands the viewer’s focus. By focusing on everyday routines and personal rituals, Jay captures the quiet emotional depth of daily life. Her use of both observation and memory ties into broader ideas about how reality is shaped by perception, placing her work within the conversation on feminism and contemporary figurative painting.
Hard to say. I love both. In the daytime I am more concerned with the emotion of the figures, and at night emotions seem to fade and I am more focused on the relationships between colors.
I take a few moments to internally sink into myself....to create a tranquil space where I can swallow myself.... regardless of how I am feeling.... so that I can better connect with the paintings.
Oil Paints :)
I'm inspired by the everyday. My paintings are a reflection of moments in my life. The moment can be an experience, a thought, a dream, a distant memory. Rather than painting what happened in a literal form; I reflect on the memory and try to understand the feelings behind the memory. I'm always sketching little line drawings in my sketchbooks.
After reflecting I begin to create characters that give life to the feeling. The colors, composition, and characters come together to depict the feeling of the memory. The memory is still there, but because the emotion takes precedence I am not overly concerned with depicting realism in form. The titles give a clue as well as to what the memory is.
Pink Pony Club (2020) by Chappell Roan
Normally I'm listening to 1960s - 1980s music; Joan Baez, Cat Stevens, Whitney Houson, Leonard Cohen. These past few weeks have been out of the norm.... I've been listening to Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan on repeat.
Sandra Bullock.
One day, when I am in my older age, I would love to fill a museum with paintings from the decades.
I'm not sure.
Everyone is on their own path. Don't compare yourself to others. 🩷
They're all wonderful.
If they are kind or funny.
Garbage bags and oven knobs.
I love any tea with honey.
Cultivating the Mind of Love: The Practice of Looking Deeply in the Mahayana Buddhist Tradition (1996) by Thich Nhat Hanh
Cultivating the Mind of Love: The Practice of Looking Deeply in the Mahayana Buddhist Tradition by Thich Nhat Hanh.
To be able to breathe underwater.
My only vice at the moment is embarrassingly a Juul. I'd love to give it up. Everytime I inhale from what looks like a USB stick I think to myself "what am i doing?"
I've always felt inspiration in Poland. It reminds me of my childhood.
This is more of an anything-is-possible distant dream, but I would love to work on a wildlife sanctuary preserving natural habitats and rehabilitating wildlife.
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