Villainous Visuals

Art/Design Villainous Visuals HomeArtTote BagsBioNewsPodcastContact Muses Jaszmine Asha Hawkins is a compelling visual artist and instructor based in New Jersey. A born creator, Hawkins displayed a strong aptitude for art early in life, and her artwork experiments with beautifully vibrant and colorful subjects. Her paintings boldly explores the sensuality of the female figure, combining it with color and imagination. "The whole idea of having these characters with exaggerated lips started from my Mom's obsession with lips,” she observes. “When I became an artist and started painting, I realized that lips have their own personality, and having the absence of other facial features makes the onlooker create their own person and story." Hawkins studied visual art at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Experiencing the city incorporated a brighter palette of colors into her work. "While [in New Orleans], I started using these vibrant color schemes that I would see around town and add more of an urban, alternative feel," she says, as she reflects on the city's influence in her earlier works. "I pretty much use colors to reel people in. Then, when they take time to really observe my work, they can see the story or make up their own." Hawkins' work is shown in multiple venues across New Jersey and Brooklyn, and we are excited to feature her work at The Art Factory Collective in Rochester. "I paint to bring people together," she says. "It's not about race or what category you put yourself in. In life, it's just about having a new perspective on life and the roller-coaster ride it takes you on."