Jacob Watts

Some Time Alone

In 2018 my wife’s health took a dramatic turn that left our lives on pause. The reality of that experience left us feeling distant and alone from normal life. The early days of the pandemic in Chicago oddly brought us comfort because our limbo was matched by many in our community. While my wife and I have struggled with when she will get better and return to normal, I’ve come to realize “normal” is changing for everyone. In order to process this next level of isolation, I turned to my art as a form of therapy. With a collection of images I have shot across years, I used photoshop to isolate people into empty dioramas. I actively placed people in these rooms to reflect on and preserve the mundane moments many of us are experiencing during this strange time.

Building A Universe

I remember being very young when I first saw the Pleiades star cluster. Peering into the summer night sky, watching the faint lights twinkle, I wondered why no one else around me seemed fascinated with it. That night burned into my memory and my interest in the cluster emerged again as an adult. Research revealed to me that many other people were fascinated with it: almost every other civilization for thousands of years had their own mythology about the Pleiades. The story was told in many different ways, but a common thread involving the Seven Sisters was ubiquitous. Believing that this ancient story should be given new life, I wanted to create my own version to pass on its tradition of storytelling. Building A Universe is a modern retelling of the mythology of the Pleiades and the Seven Sisters in the realm of science fiction.

Using a process of photography rich with photo-manipulation, the images follow a story of the Seven Sisters on their journey to help a dying Earth from the destruction of nature. Hailed to the last civilization, Aymatoposem, the Sisters discover the planet’s nature is being consumed by large cube structures. Having been hailed by a man named “The Inventor,” they travel to his laboratory to find his book he left behind for them. This book holds writings and blueprints to build machines for different tests to run on the large flying structures, and maybe even stop them.

Images are available as 14 x 17” / 14 x 21” and 20 x 24” / 20 x 30” pigment prints made in editions of 10 and 7, respectively, for $700 (small) and $1200 (large).

Please call: (312) 266-2350 for prices of specific pieces.
Prices are print only unless otherwise indicated.