ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is about layering. It's about the coming together of texture, color, movement, and brushwork, all of which create an archeological quality in each piece. This layering often gives my work a narrative element and a feeling that there is a story being told beneath the surface.
As a child, growing up in the desert town of Tucson, Arizona, I was intrigued by things being weathered by the hot sun and was fascinated by the way the sun illuminates the layers, color, and texture on the desert floor. I’m also attracted to the notion that objects found and discarded depict the culture and condition of the society and environment from where they came.
All of this is mirrored in my artwork, with layers of paint, text, images, and found materials. My paintings are archeological, with images, textures, and colors peering from underneath the surface. The layers illustrate the bombardment of time, climate, and human consumption while coming together in an abstract composition.
Each painting series starts with a central idea, then evolves with this layering process. The paintings become more complex and engaging as I use layering to develop the idea and content of the painting further.
ARTIST BIO
William Jaggers grew up In Tucson Arizona. He moved to San Francisco and studied at the San Francisco Art Institute where he received a degree in painting.
While at the Art Institute, he studied with Bruce McGaw, Larry Thomas, and Shari Lamanet La Londe. He studied drawing with Shari Lamanet, painting with Bruce McGawLarry, and printmaking With Larry Thomas who had the greatest influence on him. Jaggers says that he still remembers conversations and critiques I had with Larry Thomas.
In his second year art, SFAI Jaggers was included in the San Francisco introductions. He was featured as an important emerging artist by Breckenridge Gallery. Jaggers was described as Neo-Expressionist. From 1996 to 2016 he mainly worked on collaborative paintings with Outsider artist Momo. These paintings were expressionistic figurative works with a social and political satire narrative. Their paintings were championed and promoted by Lawrence Ferlinghetti who also collaborated with Outsider artist Momo.
Since 2016 Jaggers has been a member of the Global Arts Project (GAP). GAP is a group of over 60 international artists who work collaboratively and show their work in several international locations.
In 2015 Jaggers started exploring and developing purely abstract works. He has been working solely as an abstract painter since 2017.