17 | Sunshine

Jaylei Art was created with passion and a love for creativity. Over the past 5 years of developing an artsy foundation, Jamari has been able to expand connections in a variety of ways through the art community. Such as starting up a tutoring program in the Battle Creek, MI area for the youth to take art classes, building a creative and healing space with students in the Grand Rapids and Holland, MI community, and designing murals for multiple businesses in West Michigan. While also teaching adult paint classes and selling products at pop-up shops, all of these creative outlets are what inspire Jamari to continue to develop portraiture work that encourages others to engage in the art world. Many artists that are a part of the art field have also inspired Jamari in many ways with her usage of art symbolism. Some of them are Kehinde Wiley and KaraWalker who both explore storytelling of the black culture, gender and identity through their work; Chuck Close and Oliver Sin who both create in-depth portraiture work through the usage of black and white. Overall, portraiture goes beyond the meaning of storytelling without the usage of words and with the power of focus, drive, and mystery of one's beauty.