Jas Turk

Year of birth: 1990 
Where do you live: Louisville, KY
Your education: MBA Candidate (Marketing + Organizational Leadership), Northern Kentucky University
Master of Arts (Cultural Sustainability), Goucher College
Bachelor of Arts (Human Service Administration), University of Baltimore
Describe your art in three words: Fluid, free, and Black
Your discipline: Mixed media + analog collage
Website | Instagram

How did you first discover analog collage as your artistic medium? What drew you to this form of art?

So, this is an interesting story! What led me towards analog collage as my artistic medium, was linography. Some years ago, in 2022 to be exact, I was working on a linocut print and I wanted to add some additional complexities to that current piece. I have always been quite the exploratory artist, open to mixing materials and mediums to articulate my messaging, so the thought of experimenting with a few analog components felt quite fertile.

I gathered various collage materials, and immediately got to work. As I began to map out a complimentary concept for the linocut, I realized that not long after beginning, I was now mapping out concepts for complete other works, absent from the previous project and its accompanying materials. I found myself completely captivated by collage and swallowed by the immediate attunement that the artistry allows for. I was no longer surrounded in my workspace by carving tools, rubber stamps, or linoleum, but instead by fragmented pieces of paper, adhesives, vintage photos, and magazines.

The extra funny thing is that the collage elements that I intended to use for the linocut never made it to the print, nor do I think that I have engaged in that artform since. I highly respect the medium, however collage spoke to me as an artist, in a completely different way. While collage was the wrong medium for the piece, it was absolutely the correct medium for me as a creative. I am grateful for that day, and for that happy accident. That trial and error experiment opened me up to indulge in a practice that continually proves itself to me as beautifully expansive, rangeful, and imaginative.

Your work integrates archival photographs and repurposed materials. Can you share the significance of these materials in your storytelling process?

Absolutely! I have found throughout my practice that incorporating archival photographs and repurposed materials into my work fosters a sense of foundation and dynamism that allows for storytelling. I enjoy using vintage photos rather than more modern ones because I feel as if they embed a sense of groundedness and cultural familiarity into each piece, for viewers to witness and hopefully be able to attest to.

I have found over the years that we can learn a lot from our past, and create a sort of pathway to the future when we ebb and flow from understanding where we’ve been in the past, and compare it to where we stand in the present. Additionally, pairing memories of the past with contemporary ones allows for a third, liminal space to be birthed–this space is also what contains and allows for the storytelling, for viewers to reflect on what is occurring and/or being conveyed throughout my artwork.

As a Cultural Sustainability Practitioner, how do you see your art contributing to Black ancestral remembrance and preservation?

My collages are based off of and rooted in memory work. I use a lot of vintage archives from past decades, and use past stories to paint reminders and educational experiences for contemporary times, as well as future endeavors and legacies.

Recently, I have created and rolled out a campaign that is centered around advocating for “collage + archiving as a vehicle for storytelling” and “memory + remembrance as a means of ancestral bonds.” In this series I create and pair relevant collage art with a range of topics that are centered around sharing Black diasporic histories and traditions with the world, working towards sustaining Black cultural preservation and remembrance.

Jas Turk, Angel in Cotton Clouds, 2024

In your opinion, what role does art play in amplifying cultural voices, particularly those of marginalized communities?

Art cements and often legitimizes our experiences. For me, it allows me to see myself and my community, regardless of the culture or subculture, represented – and I think that many people could likely relate to this take on the subject. Art is so honest and so raw that you cannot hide someone’s voice or presence in it; expressions cannot be denied – so it plays a large role in amplifying cultural and/or marginalized voices. However, those expressions must be supported and uplifted by others and by those with access and privilege to do so.

Art creates reverence. It fosters collective and communal, cultural preservation; and it advocates for continuity. Regardless of medium, it is such an important tool for education, advocacy, thought provocation, and communication. Marginalized communities need and deserve that, we all do.

The piece ‘Angel in Cotton Clouds’ is visually striking. Can you tell us about the inspiration and message behind this particular work?

Thank you! I appreciate and receive those kind words. This piece has multiple meanings. It was a piece that I arranged when I found myself daydreaming a lot. I found myself wonderfully lost in the clouds and created a series of several pieces over multiple months that incorporated the sky as the focal point of each piece.

Some pieces conveyed an essence of darkness, while other pieces provided a pith of lightness, and/or something ambiguous and in-between. This piece is one of the ones that felt more ambiguous. Sometimes I look at the piece and I find it joyous, while other times I stare at it and unearth a sort of sadness in the angel’s contemplation and in the branches of cotton that morph into the clouds. For me, this piece intends rumination. It intends for viewers to consider the entanglement between how visually and aesthetically appealing things can sometimes possess complication and convolution.

What stories or emotions do you hope viewers take away from your creations?

More than anything, I hope that when viewers take in my creations, that they sit with them and understand that Black stories and experiences are not monolithic. I hope that viewers see the range of emotions, storytelling, and fervor embedded throughout each piece.

Do you have a specific process for sourcing archival photographs and recycled materials? How do you decide what elements to incorporate into your pieces?

My process changes and does not look the same day by day or piece by piece. I have a bank of images that I have cultivated over time, so sometimes my process looks like thumbing through that photo bank to look for what images will support the execution of an idea that I have already conceptualized. Other times, my process requires that I source additional imagery through archives, vintage and contemporary magazines and newspapers, or more. Most recently, I have begun to sew and incorporate textiles and fabrics into my collage work. I incorporate and source what speaks to me. My process is, truthfully, somewhat that I have no process. My creativity is sometimes sporadic and fluid, and I believe that is what keeps my practice in alignment and attunement with my concepts.