Meticulously rendered on paper, a solitary figure rests, suspended in a dreamlike, tiled expanse, body and environment shifting as they connect. Filled in red with starry bursts of electric green, the figure’s surface feels both peaceful and invigorated, offset by a relaxed posture and softly rendered texture. Honoring the gradual pace of her craft, Jesse Mahon found a natural gravitation towards colored pencil as her primary medium. Through careful etchings, her works take on a satisfyingly peaceful quality with smooth planes and soft curves. Mapped across crimson skin, vines constrain the body within the space. This element hints at the slow, creeping
pressure, which complicates the otherwise calm, floating sensation and alludes to how, as humans, we are often shaped by outside forces in terms of both freedom and constraint.
The floating figure appears buoyant, as if swimming in a tiled pool, but the setting also suggests something more expansive, like drifting through space or memory. The ability of water to distort, morphing itself and that around it parallels the mind as it flows and changes through one’s lifetime. Taking inspiration from her husband Arya Shahi’s novel, An Impossible Thing to Say, Mahon recalls the quote “…in nature you can be whoever you want to be,” as a central philosophy to this piece. While one’s surroundings often bleed into their life story, the same can be said in terms of how humans manipulate the environment as their bodies move through space and time, whether consequentially or intentionally.
Inviting viewers to quietly contemplate this work and assume themselves as the lonesome, anonymous floating body, Mahon creates a meditative space for self-reflection. Separating one’s self from the whirlwind of society can bring a sense of calm to the mind, allowing the free flow of introspection without the clouding of outside expectations. Comforting the soul while simultaneously prodding at deeper questions, Mahon gently guides the viewer to a place of possibility and acceptance in her largest colored pencil drawing to date, float.