EMAIL | CV

My current work focuses on bridging community and self-actualization through connecting the past with present conflicts and joy. I am inspired by making connections between different mediums of art. My hope is that these connections however visual become tangible to the viewer. It is important that my work speaks both to and represents the voices that are too often not heard and spoken over. The voices of the communities that I occupy in both space and spirit. The voices of the people. My people.

Jillian M Rock is a multidisciplinary artist currently pursuing a degree in English Literature with a Minor in Social Justice at Rutgers University – Newark, where she is also an Honors Living Learning Community (HLLC) member, BOLD Women’s Leadership Fellow, and Price Humanities – Mellon Scholar. ​

Her ongoing work utilizes documentary photography and printmaking to explore issues surrounding the transition of life to death, addiction, and homelessness. Her current work bears witness to the Black experience through both written and photo essays, with a primary focus on ensuring that Black stories are living and breathing in an archive. ​

Rock is a teaching artist, an active member of the LAND Collective, faculty at Studio Montclair, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Newark Print Shop.

She resides in Newark with her two daughters.