Jaik Elliot has 47 pounds of beeswax that he’s not sure what to do with yet.  “I always think of everything in terms of how can I use that to make something and I always use things not what they’re meant to be used for.”  In addition to the beeswax, his room is lined with portraits of Tupac, Marilyn Monroe, Freddy Krueger, and Prince to name some.  And it doesn’t stop there; Jaik is a Renaissance man of sorts and does airbrushing, sculpture, woodworking, and costuming.  “I do everything. I go ooh, Squirrel!” For Jaik, art isn’t just about expression, it’s about practicality. He learned to make clothes early on as well.  “I’m very frugal and I always say, why would I spend this money when I see the material that I would need to make it?”

Growing up adopted presented challenges for Jaik and the need to learn how to survive.  He didn’t ever have new clothes and learned how to dye his own socks. He said his love of art was born out of sheer boredom from being locked in a van for long periods of time with nothing but paper and a pencil.  “I started drawing hands, feet, eyes, and hair when I was seven or eight.”  He was undeterred by the more difficult drawing subjects because, “I started the hardest stuff when I was a child.”

Jaik got involved with Art From the Inside because he was always starting art classes and helping others out who were getting bullied.  The most amazing part for him was seeing the transformative powers of art.  “You’d see the real them. They’d come out of their shells and you’d see that spark of humanity.”

What are you hoping to achieve through your art?

“That they too can see beauty. No matter how bad it is, there’s always beauty.”

What is the key takeaway for people in viewing your art?

“I want to see the spark in them; that they saw something. I want to see that I emotionally affected them. Hopefully they’ll want to make something themselves. Maybe they might come up to me and say, Hey, I got an idea and they might want to collaborate and do a connective piece.”