Artist Spotlight: Jaiye Farrell
Jaiye Farrell
Factory Obscura Artist Spotlight
“I start with a void, a black canvas, because that comes from a place of wonder and I want to explore that.”
Jaiye Farrell’s patterns are enigmatic: lines and interpretations of lines. Sometimes you sense a boundary. Sometimes you’re not so sure.
That’s kind of how Jaiye is too.
If you’ve ever encountered him at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art where he works, you likely didn’t notice him. His head is usually down, he’s quiet. If you ever passed him in the street, your attention might have been drawn to the paint stains on his jeans or his signature braids, if anything at all.
But his art is pretty hard to ignore. It’s fearless and physically large, emotionally intense and traffic-stopping. Literally.
“Oftentimes, people tell me that they see something moving in my work, or they see an image that is unique to their experience,” says Jaiye. “There’s a thing called ‘pareidolia.’ It’s where the mind perceives familiarity in a place where it doesn’t exist. People see something in the abstraction of my art that’s personal. It sparks something for them. I think that’s pretty cool.”
He thinks it’s pretty cool being a part of Factory Obscura, too...and that didn’t happen by accident. He took notice of the collective early-on when we were experimenting, creating temporary experiences, and testing the waters in Oklahoma City.
“I said ‘that is something I want to be a part of.’ And I just started showing up. And I kept showing up and kept showing up,” he says. “And here I am.” His half grin opens up into a smile.
And just like in his personal art, Jaiye channels that quiet intensity to fill a void in our collective.
“Jaiye's ability to adapt his practice to multiple materials never ceases to amaze me,” says Tammy Greenman, Factory Obscura co-founder and director of strategic creativity. “Whether he's working on a canvas, a wall, or clothing, he adapts and creates with such clear vision and speed.”
With intuition as his guide, Jaiye is afraid of neither setting nor pushing boundaries: always up for a challenge, always ready to collaborate and explore, always ready to contribute to the wonder that is Factory Obscura.
