Jackie Sarah Brown (b. 1980, Philadelphia, PA) is a visual artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work takes the form of drawings, paintings, embroidery and etchings, in order to highlight the illogic in everyday systems or failures in the built environment. She examines constructed systems and uses them as a starting point to reveal the absurdities that are either hidden or obvious. She has a background with a previous career as a front-end developer, when she created interactive art on the side. Before transitioning to art, she also worked as an illustrator, where she created illustrations for startups, murals and park signage.
Artist Statement
My work is inspired by systems. They are systems within which our society operates, and is inescapably beholden to. I focus on the absurdities of systems that we live with and cannot escape. At other times, I am fascinated with the visual mechanics of structure and order on a surface level. These two points of view can manifest themselves separately, or they can collapse into each other.
There is also a sense of humor that I try to amplify when we cannot escape a system. Humor is useful when there is a sense of helplessness. The kind of humor I'm trying to cultivate is in the absurdities between failing, and being perfectly correct. These nebulous spaces can look intentional, but on closer inspection, maybe not so. The idea of something being "wrong" has a strong force, and the question is, what is this wrongness? How long will this wrongness last? A lifetime? ---
For exhibition inquiries or studio visits, please email hello@jackiesarahbrown.com
Follow current work and process on Instagram, or subscribe to Studio Notes for occasional updates.
---Selected Group Exhibitions
2026
- I Have Considered the Lilies, or, Everything Is Fine and Alright Forever, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
- Art of the Fold, ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA
- In Plain Sight, Greenwich Art Society, Greenwich, CT
2024
- We Make Art in Richmond, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA
- Art Passages, Contra Costa County Business Admin Building, Martinez, CA
- Richmond Open Studios Preview Exhibition, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
Earlier Exhibitions
2011 — Mostra 3M de Arte Digital exhibition, Sao Paolo, Brazil
2009 — Colors of Money, Expo Carre de Rotondes, Luxembourg
2008
- ZXZW - Independent Culture, Tilburg, Netherlands
- Interactivos? Technologies of Laughter, Mexico City, Mexico
- Interactivos?, Madrid, Spain
2007
- Conflux Festival, New York, New York
- NOSO, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Awards
2026 — Irene Buynoski Free Hand Drawing Award, In Plain Sight exhibition, Greenwich Art Society, Greenwich, CT
2021 — World Illustration Awards, Shortlist
2007 — Creativity Annual Award, MTV Movie Awards Encyclopedia, NY
Residencies
2026 — Kala Art Institute, Artist-in-Residence, Berkeley, CA
2007-09 — Fabrica, Benetton Communications Design Research Center, Treviso, Italy
Public Art / Murals
2026 — Installation at Tilden Park (by the Tilden Nature Area Environmental Education Center), The Watershed Project, Berkeley, CA
2025 — Installation at Shield-Reids Park, The Watershed Project, Richmond, CA
2024 — Ohlone Greenway Mural, El Cerrito, CA
2021 — Mural, Google, Mountain View, CA
2017 — Mural, 826 Valencia, San Francisco, CA
Selected Commissions
Google, 826 Valencia, Brilliant.org, The Watershed Project, NIAD Art Center
Lectures
2021 — Pecha Kucha presentation at ICON (illustration conference), Kansas City, Missouri
2008 — Dorkbot - CD Mexico Presentation, Mexico City, Mexico
Teaching
2008 — Teaching Assistant, IUAV University of Venice, Venice, Italy
2006 — Instructor, Pratt Institute, New York, NY
Publications
2011 Artist Profile, Mostra 3M de Arte Digital
Education
2005 — MFA in Design & Technology, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
2002 — BA in Studio Arts, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
* Previously worked under the name Jacqueline Steck.