Art Diaries | Jesse Mockrin

A couple of years ago I feel into a Pinterest hole and fell in love with a piece of art. I was looking for pretty, fluffy art and recalled the term Rococo from a late night quizzing my freshman-year roommate on her art history terms. I figured that there had to be modern rococo somewhere. I ended up finding something so much more.

Jesse Mockrin’s Progress of Love Exhibition pieces were romantic and dark and had the kind of deep maximalist feel I don’t let myself indulge in daily life. But even more, her work challenged the established perspectives of classic pieces and explored gender fluidity.

In a recent interview she revealed that her attention had been captured by the novel Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman. The film adaptation evoked similar feelings in me as the ones I experience when viewing Garden of Love. My favorite from the Progress of Love Exhibition. It’s kind of like the overwhelming feeling of something coming. It’s almost there and you’re waiting, holding your breath.

Unfortunately for me, and well-deserved for her, her pieces start somewhere in the thousands and go up to somewhere ranging in the tens of thousands. And she generally does not do prints. So I resigned myself to following her on Instagram. (There’s a theme here if you check out my Tawny Chatmon Art Diaries!) About six months ago I noticed a post from her announcing that she would be releasing a limited edition print of Garden of Love. I was not prepared and had saved no money for this. And on top of that my computer had just cost me $500 to fix. But I couldn’t pass it up, because who knew if I would ever have this chance again. And it was Garden of Love! How could I say no to my favorite piece? I couldn’t.