In alchemy, “stone and water” are fundamental materials of transformation. In the alchemist’s hands, the excremental becomes the substantial—fuel for growth, change, and hope. For Ross, painting draws from the same deep well, operating at the boundary between scientific inquiry and spiritual hunger.

A key substance in both alchemical practice and Ross’ recent work is ammonia, a volatile chemical that emerges from the breakdown of organic matter—plants, animals, and bacteria alike. A natural byproduct of metabolism, ammonia is expelled from our bodies through urine, earning it the designation of a “common nitrogenous waste.”

In creating this body of work, Ross engages in the age-old alchemical act of sublimating common waste through failure, experimentation, and intuition. The homuncular forms that emerge are rendered in paint, time, sweat and a drive towards understanding.

MEDIUM(S)

painting

ARTIST BIO

Jesse Ross (b. 1991) lives and works in Vancouver, Canada. He is of predominantly settler heritage (English and Scottish) and is a member of the Stó:lō Nation through his maternal great great grandmother. His painting practice deals with figuration, embodied knowledge, surface and indeterminacy as a means of transformation. Jesse Ross received his MFA in Visual Arts from the University of British Columbia and was a recipient of the SSHRC Graduate scholarship and Fred Herzog award.