JESSIE SOOS
Jessie Soos is an artist born in New Jersey but currently based in NYC.
She’s dabbled in everything from illustration to 3D modelling but is currently focused on perfecting her tattooing skills, drawing and printmaking.
She’s dabbled in everything from illustration to 3D modelling but is currently focused on perfecting her tattooing skills, drawing and printmaking.
All Photos of Jessie were taken by Nella on 35mm.
All photos of artwork are credited to Jessie Soos.
All photos of artwork are credited to Jessie Soos.
Right now, I’m looking for jobs, spending time walking dogs, drawing, looking for ways to make cash, looking for other tattoo artists, teaching myself to tattoo, watching Twin Peaks, going to the park and reading lots of books.
How did you get into tattoo ?
I was always very attracted to modification of the body and never thought it was fair to leave [the body] alone. As I’ve grown up, I’ve come to have a more purist mindset about tattoo placement and meaning. I always view it as a sacred ordeal even if the tattoos are “meaningless.”
I got into it by using a pencil, needle and india ink on one of my friends when I was 14. I thought it was so cool that it would be there forever and that I sort of captured that moment in time.
It didn’t matter what it was of, just the fact that I did it for her and that we have that connection now. My friend also did one for me and I’ll always have her because she’s on my skin.
Naturally, the way that I draw, no matter the medium, has always been flash-esque. At the end of the day, I just have a love for the ability to modify “who you are,” because you have the autonomy to do so, and tattooing can be one representation of that.
In relation to that, how do you feel about curating your life / having the ability to do so ?
I’m a very strong believer in beauty and making sure that everything in your life has sentimentality: as well as being a conscious consumer and creating, as much as possible.
I don’t want to bring anything into my life that has no intrinsic value. I like surrounding myself with people who feel similarly in that sense.
Do you think this view on life drew you to art ?
Yeah, I’ve always been design-conscious about everything in my life.
I’ve always wanted things to be adorned or accessorised. Not to necessarily make them more than what they are, though, because some things are better left untouched.
Bringing art into every aspect of my life was always such an unconscious thing. I think it’s easy to lose that when you start going through harder times and you don’t care or aren’t able to care about things as much.
The goal is to just feel pleased and proud of what you have and what you’ve made with your life. It also has a lot of communicative power.
If you could visualise your life, like the first image that would come to mind, what would it be ?
I see some sort of glass ball: not like a snow globe, but a very fragile glass ball full of condensation, with junk rolling around.
The outside of the ball is clean and everything is contained within it, but there is a lot of gross-ness rolling around in it.
A lot of your artwork is very biomorphic, what is your relationship with that ?
I don’t think about it consciously when drawing. I am always thinking about the body, not necessarily restricted to the human body. However, I feel that I’ve always been attracted to anything distorted and as I draw I’m always recalling memories - that are distorted.
I find vagueness important in a lot of my work because I’m not looking to elicit a particular reaction from others. I look for interpretation in the moment and whatever I make out of that, I make, which after that point no longer belongs to me.
Do you view artwork as belonging to the person who “creates” it, or that there is a process of separation where the creation becomes its own autonomous thing ?
I think it’s both. I think there is a parental relationship between the creation and creator, but whatever the child (the creation) does is whatever it does.
You always have to think about: Why did I make this ? Who is looking at it ? Who do I want to look at it ? but you don’t always have control over that and it becomes its own thing, just with your name on it.
With the work that you’re making right now, what are you thinking about ?
I’ve been thinking about playfulness, being looser and why I started drawing in the first place, which is something I don’t think I will ever really have an answer for. It’s not a thing I necessarily “decided” to do. It’s just trying to mimic the feeling I had when drawing as a child.
I think I’m starting to feel that again without the constraints of critique, not that I don’t think critique is helpful, because I really do. It’s just that at the moment, I’m trying to trust my instinct and see where my mind wants to go without judging it.
So we’ve talked about age before: When you think about it, do you view it linearly or nonlinearly ?
I think I view it linearly but it’s probably not that. I think about growing up and how you’re “supposed” to get better each year you live, but I’m still young and that’s not true.
It’s not linear.
What are your other illuminations on age ? We’ve talked about how you’ve always imagined yourself as someone older, which I think is interesting because a lot of young people tend to fear imagining themselves older.
I never look at an old woman and say “ Oh my god. I can’t imagine myself being like her, being like wrinkly and stinky yada yada yada.” I don’t think my physical-ness will “change.” I will just be me, with more experience.
I can’t remember a moment in my life when I didn’t want to be older. I was always surrounded by significantly older people in my family and felt very unheard: which caused me to associate age with the quality of a person and valued opinions.
I’m still not at an age where I feel like I know much of anything and I’m very accepting of that, because there isn’t anything I can do about it other than continue to live.
So, I’m very excited each year that I get older, because everything I experience, makes for better stories. That, I think, reflects in my art. I love things that look worn in. The same goes for bodies and tattoos, which can show age and experience.
Pick one and elaborate: Past, Present, or Future:
Present.
Why ?
There’s nothing else. You can conceptualise the past, but I find myself recounting and making stuff up just to make it more interesting, so it just becomes storytelling.
The future is also just storytelling, but full of more anxiety because it hasn’t happened yet.
Second by second is the only thing that really counts.
What’s your favourite word ?
My favourite word is clay. It starts from the back of the mouth and goes to the front.
Saying clay feels like clay in your mouth.
Any Hot Takes ?
Summer is the most depressive season.
Why ?
There’s too much pressure to have fun in summer. Too much of a good thing makes you realise that you need fluctuating emotions.
Any more Hot Takes ?
I think it’s fine for super-rich people to visit Mars first and check it out.
I feel that we need to have some volunteers to scope out the scene and see if it’s all alright out there.
I don’t want to be the one to do that: so, they can give it a go ...
What does substance mean to you ?
When I think of substance, there are a lot of different definitions.
In the context of art: fulfilling.
Are you attached to being an American artist ?
I don’t try to represent that in my artwork, but I do feel like such an American in my behaviours and thoughts. Not necessarily in love with that, but it’s an inevitable thing.
There’s no denying that I grew up in New Jersey. It’s not something I’m trying to showcase, but it is prevalent.
Thoughts on journaling ?
It’s the core of my being, I’ve written in my journal every day since I was maybe 7 years old.
It’s a super cathartic outlet.
I never go anywhere without my journal, for sure, like ever.
How do you feel about repetition in that regard ?
Because when you journal steadily there’s bound to be things that repeat.
It’s almost every day that I write the same things.
There are two things I write every day that I don’t mean to:
“I did yoga today or I didn’t do yoga today,”
and I end it with,
“Okay I’ll talk to you later Jessie, I love you.”
How do you feel about referring to yourself outside of yourself in that way ?
I kind of look at myself as another person often I think.
When I wake up in the morning, I’ll look at myself all frazzled and be like:
“Hi Jessie.” and I’ll stare at myself really deeply for a long time.
It makes me feel happy because I look like such an idiot.
How does humour factor into your daily life ?
I find humour extremely important, if anyone else is around it’s like priority number one [to make them laugh.] That is like the driving force to living life.
Having a good laugh is the most experiential part of your day.
[After laughing about something relating to watching a YouTube compilation of cats]
How do you feel about the rise of short-form content ?
I think that it’s dogshit, but I’m obsessed.
Okay last part is recommendations:
Oh shit, wait, let me pull up this YouTube channel I watched this morning.
TO DO:
Start walking dogs. Don’t recommend it for actually making money, but definitely if you just wanna hang out with a dog for an hour and get $20 bucks.
TO SEE:
Go to the ocean, any ocean. Lakes are not as superior but they’re good too.
TO WATCH:
There’s this woman’s channel that I like, that I watched this morning: [Existential Therapist] Emme van Deurzen. Usually, when it’s like some self-help video it’s just like, “Yeah right, give it a rest buddy...” but she’s the type of person who simplifies and still talks about nuances.
I looked at her and she was wearing this pink lipstick and pink shirt and had this fuzzy white hair and I saw myself.
TO LISTEN TO:
I’ve been listening to I Want You (LP) by Marvin Gaye a lot. That album is fucking sick.
TO READ:
If you’re in an artistic rut: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Also, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.
AN OBJECT:
A good pair of socks and one of those lint eaters (shavers.)
TO THINK ABOUT:
Maybe, being slow.
Maybe this is relative to the area that I live in, where everyone is kind of just like tweaking and waking up and having to get their grind on, but your nervous system can’t take it if you’re always going and never stopping. The best way to calm yourself down is to just slow down.
Jessie is @jootsoos on instagram
and you can find her work at jessiesoos.com.
Jessie was interviewed in August 2024.