North Carolina

East Carolina University - BFA, Sculpture

University of Iowa - MFA & MA, Printmaking

Graduate Certificate - University of Iowa Center for the Book

Jessica C. White grew up in Taiwan where she learned to love storybooks and traditional crafts and is now a studio artist in Asheville, NC, where she makes prints, books, and illustrations.

I create humorous, but sincere, images that convey messages not through complex imagery, but in multiple layers of simplicity. I use imagery of animals and children telling stories in an attempt to make sense of uncertainties in our world today, similar to the way traditional folktales and ancient mythologies tried to explain the unknown. I’m inspired by children’s book illustrations, folk tales, walks through the forest, and the daily news. Much of my exploration revolves around fear and courage, blind optimism, naïveté, and wonder.

Along with drawings and prints, I also make editioned artist books under the imprints Heroes & Criminals Press and Little Phoenix Letterpress. I print on antique letterpress presses using a combination of printing materials including metal and wood type, woodcuts, engravings, and photopolymer plates. The printed sheets are then individually bound into book structures that suit the content, such as traditional codex bindings or scrolls housed in custom boxes with cranking mechanisms. All works are made in-house from start to finish in my studio nestled in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Jessica White