The following original artwork is a commissioned psychological portrait of Jojo Truant — an artist, video creator, writer, and activist.
In a world like ours, individuals are routinely wedged into systems of atomization and exploitation. Jojo embodies a noble strain of the “doomer who seeks action.” Whether through protesting, androgynous fashion as gender expression, post-ironic video production, or hilariously threatening to kill the mayor of Aurora over a police killing — Jojo channels their subjective frustrations with the modern world into careful moral action.
Rather than dissolve into desire or complacency, they rage against the machine in a way that cultivates community and connection.
Usually, I make self-portraits — maps of myself that reveal things I didn’t know. This, however, was an experiment: a process of attempting to understand and graph another person’s existence through portraiture. My goal is not to capture what is, but what could be. Hopefully, my subconscious reveals something the client might not have noticed in themselves.
Jojo will continue marching through time long after this piece — just as they did before. But it’s nice to have a snapshot. A framework. A kind of picture that attempts to fluidly capture one’s essence — something photography or AI could never quite grasp.
So get bent, Sam Altman.
This portrait will assist Jojo on their journey — and will probably give his grandchildren a bunch of giggles and questions. It also makes a hell of a conversation starter.
Anyway, I’m open to doing more of these.
Dm me on Instagram or email me at ashtonherres@gmail.com to inquire about getting a psychological analysis portrait of your own.
I’ll leave a few resources if you are interested in getting to know Jojo and his work.
