About Me

Hi! My name is Jillian Thompson, most people call me Abby or JT. I’m a 21 year old artist from rural West Virginia! I mostly work in textiles, mixed media, and photography but I also have a love for graphic design and wood working. I am the owner/creator of five fashion brands: Fenyx, Lucent, Sapphire Scales, JT Athletics, and Jillian’s. Each brand has it’s own unique catalog and style!

I graduated high school and began my career at Marshall University in WV in 2022. I started out as a biology and education double major who planned to go into marine biology, and although I switched to art the next spring, I still have a very strong passion for the sciences. When I switched, I also added four minors to my agenda: anthropology, art history, criminal justice, and women gender studies. Together with the art program, these courses have helped me to find what concepts and areas progress me to make the strongest pieces and art that means most to me.

Most of the art I make is centered around a handful of ideas. Functionality, gender/sex, marine biology, politics/activism, and the natural world. I have made pieces outside of these areas of course, but rarely are the concepts as strong or thought out. Functionality is mostly used in my fashion and wood designs. It can also be seen in my ceramic and one of my video pieces!

Gender and sex are big for me as an AFAB person. For years I identified as a woman (and some days still do!) so making pieces about being female and even now about being genderfluid are a go to! Marine biology derives from my original career plans. I do very much love the sea and still work towards marine conservation outside of art. Politics and activism have always been a big passion of mine and has bled into my art for sure. And like most artists, I of course use the natural world as my muse. Most of my photography is nature photography, and it inspires the ideas behind multiple of my pieces.