Jessi Cross

My artwork is a series of vibrant visual mythologies of more-than-human experiences that link to our own. As painter and printmaker, I tell stories reminding myself and others of our place within and among the plants, animals, waters, stones, and landscapes of this incredible planet. I believe humanity is an extension of the earth rather than a species separate or above it. I show this through my paintings, drawings, and prints. Wild flora and fauna engage with us both as companions and teachers rather than subjects to be depicted.

Jessi Cross is a painter and printmaker working in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jessi attained her BFA in Printmaking from Maine College of Art in 2000 and her MA in Art Therapy from Southwestern College in 2007. Raised by an artist in rural Maine, she made art throughout childhood when not in the forest, attended life drawing classes in high school, and was involved in public arts projects and gallery events in New England. Since 2003 Cross has lived in New Mexico, immersed in the mountains and high desert. She paints with gouache, ink, and acrylic. She creates block prints and woodcuts. Cross has shown in multiple community settings and has engaged in community murals in Maine and New Mexico. Cross is a recipient of the 2023 Artist Grant on Water and Scarcity through the City of Santa Fe. She has recently shown work in Hecho A Mano and Sun & Dust Gallery in Santa Fe, Taos Center for the Arts, Light Art Space in Silver City, and Mariposa Gallery in Albuquerque, NM. She exhibited in the 34th Annual ArtsThrive event at Albuquerque Museum in March 2025. As a grantee of the Railyard Art Project, she will present a public installation of wildlife woodcuts titled “Bodies of Water: Water Mythology in the Southwest” in the Railyard Park in Santa Fe, NM in April 2026. Cross’ works are done on paper, wood and cloth.

2-D, Installation, Multi-Media, Painting (all materials), Printmaking/Lithography