Jessy Wilson-McFarlin
About Jessy Wilson McFarlin
Artist Overview
For Jessy Wilson McFarlin, making is more than a practice—it’s a lifeline. A GRAMMY-nominated recording artist, songwriter, filmmaker, and sculptor, she has spent her life moving between disciplines, led always by intuition, emotion, and the body. Originally from Brooklyn and now based in Austin, she creates sculptural canvases under the name Palette—a material-driven exploration of presence, rhythm, and form.
Material and Process
Her work begins with a feeling. Using raw canvas, sculptural plaster, and mineral-based matter that carries both weight and silence, she coaxes each piece into being through a tactile, improvisational process. Creased, folded, and pressed by hand, the works behave like low reliefs—hovering between painting and sculpture, softness and solidity. From afar, they may appear delicate or textile, but upon closer encounter, they reveal their density—more stone than silk. That quiet contradiction becomes part of the work’s emotional charge.
“As a songwriter, I’ve learned to trust the muse and find comfort in the mystery of making,” Jessy says. “Over time, I’ve become less concerned with outcomes and more attuned to what’s asking to be revealed through me. In the studio, I approach with the same instinct. I listen with my hands.”
Philosophy and Influence
Her process reflects a deliberate turning away from polish and perfection—favoring instead the honesty of material, the rhythm of pressure, and the expressive tension of imperfection. Informed by the spatial philosophy of Lucio Fontana, the raw materiality of Arte Povera, and the meditative restraint of the ZERO movement, Jessy’s work holds space for contradiction: fragility and structure, absence and weight, restraint and emotional resonance. A distinctly feminine sensibility pulses through each piece—bodily, intuitive, and unapologetically tender.
Presence and Recognition
A self-guided artist across all forms, Jessy’s work has garnered attention from curators, collectors, and designers alike for its architectural poise and emotional depth. Whether installed in homes, hotels, or cultural spaces, her pieces invite a slower, more felt way of looking—anchoring the room with stillness, texture, and breath.