Jay Miriam Captures Eleven Muses in the Feminine Nude
We had brunch with the Brooklyn-based artist who debuted her solo exhibition with Wolfgang Gallery in Atlanta, titled From the Mouth of Babes, on view until July 22.
The female gaze takes the cake. In her latest body of work, From the Mouth of Babes, Polish-American artist Jay Miriam creates large scale expressionist oil portraits of eleven muses painted in the feminine nude, a central theme throughout the artist’s signature style. Using bold mark making, loose brushstrokes, and body distortions, Miriam’s contemplative practice examines beauty in the mundane, painting life’s leisurely moments with playful confidence in larger-than-life scale.
Earlier this year, eleven women posed for the Brooklyn artist at her studio in Greenpoint. Five friends, six strangers — organically morphing each portrait into the sitter’s personality through the exploration of movement and distorted dimensions. “My process gives women the power and ownership to be confident in their pose,” the artist says.
Miriam’s playful paintings have garnered attention from from many creatives and collectors, including the likes of New York designer Jenna Lyons. Upcoming exhibitions by the artist include a group show titled Cousins (in-law) at Esquina in Lisbon, and another show called Cousins (by-accident) at Arco Madrid.
JAY IN 3 WORDS: Tall, soft, strong.
CURRENT CITY: Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
PROFESSION: Traditional Oil Painter.
WEEKEND: Saturday and Sunday. Mars goes to school M-F <3
ALTER EGO: Tom Cruise in Risky Business (1983).
NIGHT OUT: Balthazar or Le Crocodile.
HANGOVER CURE: Leftovers like there is no tomorrow.
CAFFEINE FIX: Espresso and foam.
ARTWORK: The Visitors (2023) – I would love to live in that painting.
DECADE: Reincarnated as Dora Maar’s lover and bodyguard.
MUSEUM: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
GOSSIP: I have a pigeon head tattooed on my butt cheek.
DESTINATION: Krakow or Berlin.
PLAYLIST: “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia and “Truly Madly Deeply” by Savage Garden.
ART CRUSH: Margot Robbie.
SPLURGE: New floors for the studio.
ART HEIST: The crown jewels of the United Kingdom.
STAYCATION: McCarren Park with a picnic blanket on a sunny day.
EXCUSE: It’s raining, can we raincheck?
COMPLIMENT: I love you.
ART FILM: Jaws (1975).
BOOK: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
STYLE ICON: Jenna Lyons.
ART HANDLER: Matt Gliva.
SELF-CARE: Stay hydrated and wear sunscreen.
LEISURE: Kava Social in Williamsburg for a relaxing tea.
ADVICE: My first boss out of college, Glenn O’Brien, gave me a piece of advice that he said Andy Warhol gave him, and it was “Never say no to a job. Doesn’t matter what it is.”
LIFE MOTTO: Never complain, never explain.
