Bio & Artist Statement

Jade Lowder was born on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana.  He received a BFA in Painting from Montana State University in 2012 and an MFA in Painting from Washington State University in 2015.  Lowder works as a Comic Book artist and Professor of Art at Montana State University.  His comics have been featured at notable conventions such as San Diego Comic Con, Baltimore Comic Con and the Denver Comics & Arts Festival. He is an active contributor with publishers including Lesser Known Comics and Apollo City Comics and teaches workshops on comics, zines and narrative art in his local community.  Currently, Lowder is working on new horror comics, exhibiting his comic art in galleries and helping others make their first comic.

How we connect with space is a question that we must focus on and give awareness to if we hope to  possess a broader understanding of ourselves. I believe that through painting and the examination of  images and places that I find important, or inversely unimportant and banal, I can construct a picture of  what identity is. By using the questioning of a metaphysical interaction with places and spaces as the  focus of the work, the mediums act often as conduits for a larger conversation. 

Painting exists in tactility. We feel the brushstrokes and the movement of the paint in our bodies, the  painter’s presence is known through the interpretation of the act of painting. The ability to perceive  touch through visual cues in an image forms a direct link between the viewer, the painting, and the  painter. Beyond the basic tendencies of the medium of oil paint, whether the work is executed through  drawing, acrylic or sculpture, that sense of touch is a constant focus in the work. Through this  connection or conversation, the questions I seek to formulate are based in the development of a system  of methods to contribute to the creation of identity. 

Looking at images of spaces, places and people that we find important in our day to day lives, and by  utilizing this process of communication through painting, I want to engage on multiple levels an investment in the spaces that I am interested in. Space can reveal much about our personalities and our  perceptions of the world around us. We identify ourselves by where we are from—where we live and  where we choose to spend our time. Our perception is directly tied in to our understanding of the self.  

In contemporary life this connection has become even more strenuous with the addition of social media  and constant instant gratifying distractions. Our perception of these places, that once formed a direct  connection to our psyche, are now disconnected or are at the very least in flux. This question and  disconnection doesn’t necessarily mean that we are losing our ability to connect with space, but it does  mean that it is changing. My project, my work, my goal is to examine these disconnects in painting and  by working with them in a process that is directly connected to a conversation between maker, image