My paintbrush is my fine companion. We’ve been hanging out for a long time.
What I most love to study in a face is the thread of human emotion that connects us all. I look outside at external events, I rant and rave and paint. I look inside and try to paint all of the tenderness and heart that I know humans to be.
It is my hope that my work tells our life stories, as written on our bodies, line by beautiful line. Scarred, wise and resilient, depicting beauty that comes from within.
Originally from New York, Jinny Isserow is a self-taught artist living and working in Northern Virginia. Growing up the only thing that made sense to her was using her hands in paint, crayon, paper mache, pencil, clay, welding metal, collaging, and carving stone.
Jinny moved through life and other careers: in the 70’s training and working as a carpenter and in the 90’s earning rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College.
Always an artist at heart, she continued seeking mentors, museums, workshops, beloved books and quietly, persistently pursuing the “10,000 hours” of painting practice.
Jinny most often uses the newspaper as reference and collage material. It gives voice to the things that are urgent to her: conflict, beauty, tragedy, and importantly, resilience. Working in collage is especially meaningful because there is delight in the visual complexity of a multi-layered and deeply textured painting surface; additionally, Jinny’s mother and grandmother taught her to sew and to craft. Much of the paper and fabric she uses today comes from their sewing baskets. Using these materials allows her to imbue them with new significance, as they become part of her current work. They are a bit of the past used in curating a future, and now her daughter collects collage materials for her.
In addition to selling her work, Jinny has chosen to use her work to benefit justice causes, as it is her belief that her art is most meaningful when it can be used to advance worthwhile goals.