Who you are and where are you from?
I’m Jess Valice and I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in California

How long have you been creating art and how long did it take you to find your artistic voice and style?
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, then started painting in my sophomore year of high school in 2012. Since the beginning of my interest in art, I have been painting and sketching people, I especially admired how every face was so unique, with immeasurable variations of ears, eyes, noses, head shapes, etc.

Once I left my studies in science to pursue painting, I decided that my paintings were not allowed to bore me. I wanted those who saw my figures to conceptualize what it may mean to be this figure trapped in their tired gaze. I learned that after about a year and a half after leaving college in 2017. The idea of some kind of gaze acting as some kind of psychological warfare subsumed permanently in my work in late 2019.

What inspired this piece featured on the bandana?
The piece featured in the bandana is a collection of works I’ve painted between 2020 and early 2021. Dan, my boyfriend, surprised me with a T-shirt of a collage containing almost every face of every painting I’ve exhibited in that time printed onto a t-shirt. That was wild and super cute: thanks again, Dan ❤️

I was initially having a difficult time trying to decide what could really work on a scarf for The Hundreds. Like, what actually sums my work up to be printed on a piece of clothing or accessory? Nervwrackingg. I decided that the collage Dan made was actually perfect for the scarf. Each face has its own idiosyncrasies but a consistent piercing gaze throughout the ocean of faces. The collage seems to sum a collective world of individuals in itself.

For The Hundreds, as they breach toward so many different vocations of art, culture, food, and fashion, the collage format of these figures which come from completely different environments in my head is fairly fitting.

What gravitated you to this project?
I LOVE THESE BOYS. The co-owners, the entire team of staff, and everything they stand for is enough of a reason for me to create something with The Hundreds. I am thrilled about the opportunity to be a part of their collection and the opportunity to donate to an organization. This is an incredible feat in terms of leaving a mark and a contribution. Not to mention… I have always wanted to see my art on an article of clothing… shamelessly.

What organization/charity are the proceeds going to and why did you choose them?
I am donating the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in honor of my Father who lost his battle just a few months ago, my Grandfather for whom I am their namesake, and for the rest of the world, because no one deserves the pain of developing cancer, and no one deserves the pain of losing someone they love to something they cannot control.

What would you tell the younger version of yourself, just beginning their artistic journey?
I almost wouldn’t say anything to turn my younger self into another direction. Maybe a “follow your gut”, or “don’t stress yourself out too much”. I’m grateful for every accomplishment and mistake (I’ve made so many) that I have experienced. At this point, I am still at the beginning of my journey and continue to tell myself to follow my [often very sensitive] gut.

How will you use this bandana?
The question is, what will I not do with this bandana?

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