Meet the artist—Jess Nora

Jess Nora (they/them, zi/zir) is a disabled, queer, Jewish art activist who works in a variety of media. Jess uses their art to express their lived experience, speaking out against socially accepted ableism and systematic oppression. Louise Bourgeois is known to have said, “An artist can show things that other people are terrified of expressing.”  This one line acts as my strongest motivation in my artwork.  As an artist, Jess appreciates this ability to bring up uncomfortable and scary topics that others shy away from.  With this ability, comes a responsibility—a responsibility to talk about the uncomfortable things that need to be said.  Jess’s artwork examines fear and the internal struggle that is caused by being forced to live in a colonized society set up against many people. These resulting emotions are the focus of their work—the uncomfortable topic that needs to be shown.  

One of the many worlds Jess creates in is Judaica, making unique dreidels and genderless beaded kippot. Jess began this series when looking for a yarmulke that they felt connected with them as a nonbinary Jew. When searching for this personal spiritual connection, they couldn’t find something that truly spoke to them, especially as genderfluid, so they decided to begin creating their own. Jess now has a series of genderless kippot available and makes custom ones so that each client gets a piece that truly speaks to them.