Description
About the Series
The Belle Jet Series continues the investigation of identity by integrating images of myself with those of my grandmother, great-grandmother, and other relatives dating back to the early 1900s, alongside historical stereographic images of Native and Black American women from the Turn of the Century. The stereograph, being a popular medium for disseminating images of Americans during the Turn of the Century, was also instrumental in helping create visual representations of American life and inform American identity—investigating both shifts in time, ideology, and representation—capturing the nuances of identity development, conceptualization, and intersectionality with social and political frameworks across generations.
As the series evolves, references begin to shift between both photographic images from the turn of the century to popular culture printed images, such as JET Magazine’s Beauties of the Week—investigating both shifts in time, ideology, and representation—capturing the nuances of identity development, conceptualization, and intersectionality with social political frameworks across generations. The incorporation of JET Magazine’s Beauties of the Week also speaks specifically to the formation of African American representation of the ideal African American woman, whose image and text serve almost as an instructional guide within printed media from the 1950s through the 1990s. The merging of multigenerational representations through photography and printed media exposes the nuances of inherited ideals and beliefs about how we construct ourselves.
Artist Bio
Jessica Wimbley is an artist/curator based in Sacramento, California. Wimbley utilizes the literary term biomythography, defined by poet Audre Lorde as a combination of “biography, myth, and history,” as an interdisciplinary visual arts practice and framework for curatorial inquiry. Her art practice incorporates the building of visual archives via a variety of photographic/material cultures. With these images, she creates interruptions and juxtapositions within histories of identity, digital photography, video, performance, and collage. Her works are included in academic, museum, and public art collections, including the CA Public Digital Art Collection, Crocker Art Museum, and LACMA.
Her public art projects include True Story of Edges: Leimert Park (2025), a video collage featured in Love, Leimert at MetroLA Leimert Park Station K Line, and Fieldworks: California State Railroad Museum (2024), part of the Sacramento Public Library’s Parks and Tranquility program. This project is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library. Other works include Fieldworks: Califia (2021), part of the CA Public Digital Art Collection, the “Social Justice Billboard Project” in collaboration with the Northeast Sculpture and Gallery Factory in Minneapolis, MN, and Masking Series (2021), featuring video and still photography created in partnership with the State of California and The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, to speak directly to Californians impacted by COVID.
Wimbley received her BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design, M.F.A. in Visual Arts from the University of California, Davis, and her MA in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University. Wimbley is currently Artist in Residence for the Twin Rivers School District in Sacramento, CA, and a consultant with the California State Railroad Museum. She also served as the 2023–2024 Creative Corp Fellow for the City of Sacramento.
Exhibitions & Collections
2023–ongoing
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Still I Rise Gallery, MLK Tech Academy, Sacramento, CA — Twin Rivers Artist in Residence*
2022
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Artist of the Month*, Sacramento Kings
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Juneteenth Artist of the Month*, Sacramento Kings
2021
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The College of New Jersey Art Gallery, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ — Thread, curated by Margaret Pezalla-Granlund
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Laband Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA — Jessica Wimbley: Belle Jet and Cabinet Cards, curated by Karen Rapp/Pamela Lewis
2020
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College of the Canyons Art Gallery, Santa Clarita, CA — Jessica Wimbley: Belle Jet and Cabinet Cards, curated by Pamela Lewis
2019
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Harris Gallery, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA — Zodiac Ballet, curated by Dion Johnson
2018
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Boston Court Pasadena, Pasadena, CA — Art Up Front: Jessica Wimbley, curated by Gabriel Cifarelli
2017
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Woodbury University, Burbank, CA — The Photographic Imaginary, Nine Approaches to Photography Today, curated by Vincent Johnson
2016
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Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA — SKIN, curated by Isabelle Lutterodt
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University of La Verne, West Gallery, La Verne, CA — Jessica Wimbley: Recent Works
Collections
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University of La Verne
Artist in Residence
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University of La Verne
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College of the Canyons
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Loyola Marymount University
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Twin Rivers School District
Auctions
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Crocker Art Museum
Reviews
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