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— my story —

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photo credit: Adam Wells (@ajwells)

 

Why do i do this?
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I live with a form of PTSD called complex post traumatic stress disorder (cPTSD). Each day involves sorting through emotions, feelings, and memories my body carries with me from my childhood and young adult life. I am slowly confronting and releasing the hurts I carry with me and learning to heal both my mind and body. Cutting woodblocks; carving into glass; and hiking in the woods have been soothing and healing processes I have learned to use to ease this and reconnect my mind and body. There is something meditative and calming about encountering the natural world and translating it into something that comes from me and through me as ink on paper before moving out of my hands and into someone else’s. This restorative cycle is further supported when I can share the process and connect with others in the printmaking community.

Nikki Jabbora - Barber (she/her), a gay Seattle-based printmaker and teaching artist, was born in Bellingham, WA to a Lebanese-German mother and Anglo-Swedish father. Her work focuses on her mixed race identity, centuries of storytelling, and womanhood through symbolic depictions of herself, flora, and fauna.

Nikki graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with an Interdisciplinary Visual Arts degree with a focus in printmaking and a separate Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences. She primarily teaches printmaking at Pratt Fine Art Center, Pilchuck Glass School, and other art schools in the Seattle area. She is represented by MESH Fine Art in Chicago, IL. 

Nikki regularly leads community engagement projects, including with the Seattle Art Museum. She sits on the advisory board for Seattle Print Arts and coordinates juried shows, in partnership with Davidson Galleries. Nikki balances making and selling her hand-pulled fine art prints; photographing works on paper for Davidson Galleries; and teaching community art classes. 

Things I do besides make art

Teaching Artist

Fine Art Photographer / documenter, specializing in 2d works

Seattle Print Arts Advisory Board Member

Paint murals

Give talks at universities, community centers, colleges, etc

Creative gigs

 

 

 

I’m working on getting this woodcut print framed and ready for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival this weekend. Queer love is sacred. It can be such a brief moment in time, but every instance of it ends up soaking into my system and adding its o
I’m working through more layers of color on this reduction woodcut series. #seattleartist #printmaking
I’m vending tonight! I’ll be one of the incredible vendors collected together through @wondercollectiveseattle hosting us all @labourtemple from 6pm-9pm. You’ll also get to check out the incredible exhibition of @_kingspen so defin
I’ve been working on this piece for years now, beginning with a drawing in 2019. She’s not complete yet, but I am getting sooo close. It’s a 6ftx4ft tall woodcut and packed full of symbols. Much like my Shahrazad piece, it’s a
Landscape candies coming along. #seattleartist #printmaking #reductionwoodcut #freegaza
Winter has been a bit rough (an understatement for genocide and homophobia/transphobia). I’ve been craving some color, so decided to start some landscape brain candies. Here’s the start. 🌈
My teen screenprint class @prattfinearts has become the highlight of my weeks. Teens are juggling so much in their lives on all fronts, but they still show up to the space ready to create and find comfort and joy through the process. Remarkably, they
Copied from the @zinneducationproject On March 13, 2020, Louisville police officers opened fire in the home of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, shooting and killing her. Three plainclothes police officers had a no-knock warrant to search Taylor’s