Jack Wray
Mexican American
b. 1980 Seaside, CA
Award winning fine art painter, adventurer, husband and father of two. Working in an Abstract Realism style, he is best known for detailed and colorful portrait paintings of flora and fauna. Sometimes creating images from dreams, other times they are carefully chosen to fit a narrative, as in his solo show at the Dali museum in Monterey, CA “Progression of the North American Diet”. He has shown in many juried group shows in galleries along the west and east coasts of the USA, and regularly attends festivals and markets all over the North American west. After relocating from Monterey, CA. to Portland, OR. in 2019, Jack became a member of the Portland Saturday Market which celebrated it’s 50th anniversary in 2024. His spirit is with his family in Oregon, and with his family in California at the same time, while his body alternates spending time in both lands.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

It all started with the way I see things. When I look at a reference photo, I see the animals as made up of smaller interlocking shapes, like a jigsaw puzzle. And many of those shapes are hearts. 
I decided to make them bright red because I want people to think about love while they are looking at the paintings. These animals may never enter the thoughts of many viewers, and I hope that my work can inspire those viewers to care about, and for, our wild family. My journey to sobriety and spiritual healing led me to seek older, spiritual wisdom from first cultures. The myths of indigenous people are teaching me about the love that binds all things. The amount of knowledge lost due to conquest and colonialism is astounding and heart breaking. The land specific knowledge shared through the myths that inspired these works, has been very helpful in my healing process, and through sharing what these stories mean to me I hope to keep this useful information available for others.