Dana here to introduce the first artist in our Open Studios profile series: Jemal Diamond. Jemal has been a very active studio member for the past year or so, participating in exhibits, art critiques, workshops, and groups at Visual Philosophy. He works primarily in "immediate" media such as pencils, markers, crayons- anything that will allow him to start working as the mood strikes him. His drawing style comes from the grand tradition of doodling. In his own words:
The smooth, gentle roll of a pen across the pulpy texture of paper is meditative and soothing. It’s the marks we make in the margins while our focused minds are elsewhere I find most interesting. Most of the work is improvisational, with no intended outcome – only hopeful surprises. Over the years several natural visual motifs developed that I return to again and again, “The Goddess,” “The City,” and the “Map to Heaven.” You’ll find these themes at work here, often a mix of two or all three. There are embedded intentional dichotomies to create a playground of visual cues and possible meaning. When I was in art school I would take my abstract drawings to my peers and ask, “What would you title this?” That simple question activated their imagination and engagement, and when I began posting drawings online with the caption, “Title Me,” imaginative, creative, and inspirational titles poured in. I collect them all, and make selections whenever the work is shown.
Jemal is a resident artist at Kaleid Gallery in downtown San Jose, and an artist member at WORKS San Jose. Check out Jemal's website here and connect with him on instagram here. If you want to check out his schedule for Open Studios you can see that here
