I Spy

by Jane Demarest

Jane Demarest, I Spy, pen & ink, digital color, 2023. Courtesy of the artist.

I SPY


Jane DemaresT | June 2024 | Issue 34

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am an illustrator living in Philadelphia. Having grown up in New York City, I like to draw mazes of buildings, fire escapes, and busy streets. My stories and drawings have a root in Jewish humor: a bit of wordplay, irony, and a little self-deprecation. I draw characters that have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and just kind of stayed there. My gender identity has also shaped the way I draw people. Similar to how I feel, my characters do not have set gender expressions. Occasionally, I will use names or some kind of gender markers, but there’s no sense of strict gender presentation. When I am not drawing plants and fields of flowers, I like to garden. 

Jane Demarest is an illustrator, based in Philadelphia, PA. They studied Communications Design with a focus on Illustration at Pratt Institute. They are currently the In-House Illustrator at Off Assignment, creating editorial work for the column, Witching Hour. Some of Jane’s clients include Universal Music Group, McSweeney’s, Field Meridians, Courtney Barnett, Wilco, and Waxahatchee.

EssayGuest CollaboratorRobyn Perros