Jaelyn Hill

Jaelyn “Yaya” Hill is an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus in Printmaking from Louisiana State University in 2023 and is now pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Georgia. Jaelyn’s artistic practice encompasses lithography, ceramics, painting, and drawing, reflecting her exploration of themes related to identity, expression, and the complexities of the Black and Afro-Hispanic experience. Influenced by her culturally rich yet often-censored community, her work aims to highlight the beauty and resilience of her culture. Jaelyn has exhibited her art throughout the South, including at The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Yes We Cannibal, and StudioBe. She most recently featured in the 2024 Louisiana Contemporary at The Ogden Museum and in Jingdezhen, China.

Research Detail

Growing up in the city was about seeing the ladders too close to the street. It was mosquitoes eating me alive in the humid heat. It was a wet cold, that doesn’t come around often, but when it does, it’s so harsh. Gunshots but no sirens. It was knowing exactly which one of your neighborhood friends did it. This is my New Orleans experience.

They come for the culture, yet my culture is silenced. It’s censored when it becomes too raw, too real, too vulnerable, or worse. They commercialize our culture for their own economic gain and tell the natives to “play for scraps elsewhere”. They pack their bags after the beads have been caught, the party has ended, and WE grow to pick up the pieces.

I am an artist because of my community. The primary theme that drives my art practice today is celebrating the beauty of black childhood and how black youth practice their artistic expression. At the same time, my work serves to correct the biases, stigmas, and assumptions surrounding New Orleans culture. As a native, I share the stories of not only myself but others.

As an interdisciplinary artist, I showcase these stories through different techniques including lithography, intaglio, graphite, painting, and ceramics. I find that an interdisciplinary practice sharpens my vision, illuminates unexpected facets of subjects, and generates new approaches and ideas. Each medium allows a new freedom of expression and the images and narrative offers a different slant; a new way of more complexly conveying emotion and looking at emotion.

My work uses images to engage in forms of youth expression, imagination, and themes of the black urban experience. I aim to create a space where black children can see themselves having good moments– being allowed just to be. The way kids grow into their unfixed identity is the product of multiple factors, including the influences of family, community, and the culture of home. Each piece is filled with fully rendered figures juxtaposed with adolescent illustrations. I add youthful and energetic elements to my compositions in order to help create a sense of self-empowerment and inclusion for any viewer.