Opening Reception:

Please join us in welcoming Jimiyo to The Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association’s Art Center at our opening reception on Saturday, June 6th, 2026, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Refreshments will be served, and the evening offers a perfect opportunity to mingle with fellow art lovers and community members in celebration of creativity and connection.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Jimiyo is an Atlanta-area artist working primarily in cardboard and paper. His sculptures transform common packaging materials into stylized animal forms that sit between craft, design, and folk sculpture. Built through cutting, layering, and shaping corrugated cardboard and other paper-based materials, the work emphasizes rhythm, surface pattern, and the structural potential of an everyday medium.

His creative career began in Gallatin, Tennessee, designing NASCAR T-shirts, and later expanded into online pop culture apparel design and art direction during the early boom of internet-driven commerce. Along the way, he spent a year winning design contests that helped establish his name and momentum as a commercial artist. His client work has included Billabong, Quiksilver, Fleetwood Mac, Harley-Davidson, and others.

During the rise of Instagram, Jimi also built a large following around his cats, combining character, image-making, and brand sensibility in a new format. At their peak, the account attracted roughly 80,000 followers and led to greeting card lines carried by World Market in the United States and by Woodmansterne in the United Kingdom.

He later stepped away from the art world to earn a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy, working briefly as a hand therapist before ultimately returning to art. That return brought him back to physical making through cardboard, a direct and accessible material that aligned with both his visual instincts and his interest in construction. His current body of work explores animals as archetypal forms, using repeating patterns and simplified geometry to evoke movement, texture, and personality.

Artist Statement:

“My sculptures begin with cardboard, paper, glue, and paint: ordinary materials that exist quietly in daily life as packaging, protection, and disposable structure. I’m drawn to their familiarity, and to the challenge of turning something common into something expressive, warm, and unexpectedly alive.

Cardboard is not a refined or obedient material. It bends, crushes, resists, and reveals its structure. I think of the process as a partnership with the medium rather than total control over it. I usually begin with a loose direction, then let the character of the piece emerge through cutting, layering, shaping, and surface treatment. The reveal is often a surprise to me too.

Animals are my main subjects because I love their presence. In the studio, I like being surrounded by curious eyes and expressive faces that seem to watch as I work. They give the room company. They also give me a wide visual language: posture, pattern, humor, dignity, and personality.

After years of making commercial 2D art for specific markets, my focus has shifted toward work that feels more open, tactile, and personal. I want these sculptures to be accessible without being simplistic, carefully made without being precious. The goal is delight, and maybe a small moment of disbelief: seeing something playful and expressive, then realizing it is only cardboard and paper.”