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When we encounter a painting, we typically expect it to have a dry surface, its vibrant colors hardened deep into the canvas. But Chris Jacoub likes to paint with a twist—or, in this case, a drip. Over time, the Los Angeles-based artist has developed a remarkably engaging style, pouring paint across his compositions. It’s a process that he often films for his audience of 1.7 million on Instagram, expertly capturing how paint oozes across his canvases in waves, drops, and streaks. One of Jacoub’s newest painting series highlights this technique as well as its various manifestations.
Titled Mother Nature and the Four Elements, the series consists of four canvases dedicated, as expected, to the four elements. For water, Jacoub depicts a blue woman bursting out of the ocean, alongside a frenzy of dolphins. She cups a pool of water in her palms and, as Jacoub carefully lifts up the painting, blue paint drips from her hands and into the dark waves rolling beneath her. Earth, on the other hand, is expressed through a green woman nestled in a lush forest, her body composed of trees and moss. A luminescent stream snakes down from her chest and into the river below her, nourishing the plants, animals, and flowers around her.
Unsurprisingly, fire is more bold and explosive, showcasing a woman rising out from what appears to be a volcano, a phoenix superimposed over her body. Thick streaks of red paint flood out from her fingers as Jacoub reveals the canvas, slowly joining the magma that flows toward the bottom corners of the composition. Finally, air unfolds as a more delicate and quiet narrative, seeing the artist opt for a monotone color palette. Here, a woman blows onto the moon and, as her breath hits its surface, silver liquid drips into her hand and, later, into the swirl of dark clouds that surrounds her.
The Four Elements series does, of course, incorporate Jacoub’s signature dripping method, but it’s also distinct in its subject matter. The artist’s work typically revolves around skeletal motifs, featuring skeletons whose hollowed-out eyes drip with purple fluid or skulls full of pink and blue rivers. Last fall, Jacoub even created two paintings celebrating Dia de los Muertos, pulsating with cyan and orange hues. Still, no matter its theme, Jacoub’s work defies expectation, challenging us to revisit how we engage with painting not only as a medium, but as a concept.
To learn more about the artist, visit Chris Jacoub’s website.
For years, Los Angeles-based artist Chris Jacoub has incorporated paint that oozes across his dark canvases in waves, drops, and streaks.
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Chris Jacoub often films that dripping process for his audience of 1.7 million on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Skeletons serve as a major motif throughout the artist’s practice, offering intriguing juxtapositions between subdued and vibrant color palettes.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
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Chris Jacoub: Website | Instagram
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