Artist Statement Rainn Forrest Jackson (they/he) is a MFA student in Digital Art and MA student in philosophy at Louisiana State University. They are an Appalachian Clown Wizard who studies the absurdity of existence in late-stage capitalist culture. Grounded in critical theory, Rainn’s artistic practice transforms philosophy, anthropology, and social theory into a living praxis. By utilizing absurdity through performance, video, and costuming, Rainn actively obstructs oppressive power structures, using clowning to disrupt cultural norms and invite viewers to imagine a world beyond current oppressive systems. A central tension in Rainn’s work lies in the friction between dualities: natural and artificial, masculine and the feminine. This manifests as a struggle to find sync with nature while being inextricably bound to mass-produced structures. For instance, processed corn in Froot Loops becomes a futile, yet poignant, signifier of the original plant - a desperate attempt to reconnect with nutritional origins in a synthetic landscape. Similarly, magick rituals creating connection between queer friends are performed beside oil pipelines in national parks. Through these juxtapositions, Rainn interrogates the definition of humanity: What does it mean to be human in a society that systematically discourages our nature?
