Jess Erickson is a native of Providence, Rhode Island.  She presently lives in Memphis, Tennessee with her five children and husband. She began painting academically in 1995. Her BFA was completed in 2007 at the University of Memphis. She received her MFA from Memphis College of Art in February of 2011.

Jess is primarily a traditional and representational oil painter. She utilizes the human metaphor of vernacular architecture to express the mesmerizing tension of beauty and decay that embodies the entire process of redemption.

Jess has a variety of influences from which she continually draws.  She is an avid reader of twentieth century British and American Literature. The history of philosophy and Literary Theory are also areas of constant direction and inquiry, as is Puritan Theology and the work of poets such as Edna St Vincent Millay, Dylan Thomas, and William Carlos Williams. Visually, it is Edward Hopper, William Christenberry, Joseph Cornell, and the courage of Philip Guston that have had an enduring influence upon her work for many years.

Personal website: jesserickson.blogspot.com