Jazmine Nieves is a multidisciplinary artist based in Harlem who works under the brand Old Art Soul, often referred to simply as “Soul.” She began her formal artistic career during the pandemic, though creativity has long been central to her identity. Shaped by travel through Italy, Nigeria, Ghana, France, and across the United States, her work explores cultural memory, movement, diasporic identity, stoicism, and the politics of representation. Her practice is informed by the psychological interiors of Dorothea Tanning, the narrative warmth and social commentary found in Annie Lee’s storytelling, the symbolic authority of ancient African masks, and the intricate detail and visual storytelling of Mughal art and Etruscan art. The fluid movement of dancers and the saturated color language of her Caribbean heritage further shape her visual vocabulary. These influences converge around central questions in her practice: who gets archived, and how can art inform the philosophies that shape the way we live today?

Her work spans collage, printmaking, sculpture, photography, drawing, mural painting, public speaking, and performance-based practices. She actively experiments with materials, believing that working across mediums is akin to speaking multiple languages, each offering a distinct way to communicate lived experience. Woodcut carving, metal fabrication, layered paint, charcoal portraiture, jewelry-making, mural work, and documentary-style photography become tools for exploring resilience, transformation, inner duality, and joy within chaos. Rather than committing to a single motif, she allows her lived experiences, travels, spiritual inquiry, and academic research to guide each body of work. Her intention is to create work that feels intimate yet monumental, inviting viewers to reflect on rites of passage, cultural memory, love, courage, and self-understanding. She ultimately hopes to establish a permanent presence in multiple international museums while building a collaborative studio practice that uplifts artists from diverse backgrounds, creating space for collective growth, sustained health, and large-scale visionary work.