Meeting Myself︙Jebediah Long

Oct 30

Written By Zoe Moldenhauer

*Creep*, 2023
38 in x 30 in
Oil on canvas

“Have I ever met myself right here, without judgment, just understanding?”

*Ride*, 2023
46 in x 38 in
Oil on canvas

“How do I get where I’m trying to go? Strapping myself to a heroic beast sounds good.”

*Meeting Myself Where I'm At*, 2023
30 in x 40 in
Oil on canvas

“For years I tried to make a painting about my dads death, finally the skeleton laid and the gooey spirit emerged.”

*Little Spirits Step*, 2022
40 in x 30 in
Oil and acrylic on canvas

*World Knot*, 2022
30 in x 40 in
Oil on canvas

Existential and philosophical questioning is at the root of my process. I cast versions of myself as the protagonists in my narrative oil paintings. Joyful, relaxed, anxious, and erratic. They take on human, animal and spirit forms. These dreamlike scenes are both specific and elusive, much like my memory’s retelling of my own history.

This slippery instability is represented by figures that spill around the frame and bend awkwardly. Lips multiply, eyes bulge and legs twist and touch with a strange tenderness. My unnatural palette adds to the tension. Warm highlights next to cool shadows, periwinkle flesh and magenta limbs make a relatable world feel uncanny.

*Whence You Came*, 2021
30 in x 40 in
Oil on canvas

*Round 'n Round*, 2021
20 in x 16 in
Oil on panel

Curiously, it is exactly this offbeat uneasiness that reflects my own humanity. I can feel like a ball of perception trapped in a skin sack, but by materializing that sentiment I get to rejoin the world. My own fallibility is reflected in these paintings, by celebrating their imperfections I begin to touch on just what existence is all about. So these stories of self involved idiosyncratic characters are the stories of me and my journey.

*Thank You*, 2022
28 in x 20 in
Oil on canvas

About Jebediah Long

Jebediah Long is a visual artist living and working in Ridgewood, New York. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut. At six years old his family moved to the suburbs of Detroit where he was introduced to the murals of Diego Rivera, techno music and baklava. Jebediah received his BFA in Illustration from College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Following college he moved to New York. He has exhibited with institutions such as Kunsthalle Galapagos, International Print Center New York, and Lauren Powell Projects. In 2023 he was the recipient of the James Bernard Haggarty Scholarship Award with NYC Crit Club’s Canopy Program. After spending two and a half years in the sunshine of Los Angeles he is back in New York where he has strong roots and a rich creative community.

Website: https://www.jebediahlong.com

Instagram: @jebediah_long

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