Jessica Watts’ work explores modern femininity, merging nostalgia and empowerment through an inventive palette of artist oil, house paint and domestic materials. By repurposing wallpaper, concrete, wood panelling, and tiles—materials traditionally tied to notions of home and domesticity—Watts reframes the narratives surrounding femininity, elevating these familiar elements into a celebration of individuality and strength.

In addition to her evocative use of materials, Watts transports her figurative subjects beyond the confines of traditional domesticity and into the outdoors. By situating her figures in open, natural settings, she breaks the boundaries of interior spaces, symbolically freeing her subjects to inhabit a world of possibility and self-discovery.

Her paintings juxtapose the sentimental charm of vintage floral wallpapers with the raw physicality of industrial surfaces, creating a dialogue between softness and resilience. Each material carries its own cultural resonance, yet in Watts’ hands, they shed their conventional roles to become metaphors for adaptability, self-expression, joy, and the redefinition of identity.

Jessica received a Bachelor of Design with Hons and the University Medal from the University of Technology Sydney before a long career working as a multi-award winning advertising art director, including working for a decade in New York. She has been a full time artist since 2010. In 2017 she co-founded Sydney Road Gallery. That same year she teamed up with Japanese art dealer Rocky Degawa and together they have staged many successful solo shows at the prestigious Bunkamura Gallery in Tokyo and beyond. Watts has exhibited extensively in Australia and abroad. 

She currently works from her Sydney studio, in the company of her macho dog Kevin.