Jude Mertens
Pronouns: They / Them / Theirs
BFA Illustration
Artist Statement
I am an illustrator and textile artist. I have mainly been working in hand embroidery and blending found fabrics to make my illustrations and it has been a really rewarding process. I feel very connected to the work because it is so hands on the entire time. It’s more personal to me in that way than drawing in other mediums. I’ve said multiple times while making my thesis that I’ve put most of myself into this body of work. It ended up a lot sadder than I intended when I first started making it; let's just say my feelings about this year influenced the direction of the work. In short, my thesis is about finding the beauty in a life that's hard.
VIEW THE PDF
Click through the embedded PDF to see the full scope of Jude's thesis project.