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Jeffrey C. Sousa

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ABOUT

ME!

I have had a life-long connection to the performing and visual arts. Growing up in Waterbury, CT, my earliest exposure was through my grandfather, Manuel Vilar, a Portuguese immigrant who honed his artistry of welding under the tutelage of Alexander Calder. My Grandfather brought his love of sculpture home, and through years of passion projects, turned his garden into a fantastical juxtaposition of sky-scraping steelwork and agrarian cultivation that he learned growing up in Rio Meão, Portugal. My family would picnic underneath the twinkling lights of a 40’ replica of the Eiffel Tower, while Calder-esque mobiles performed a balancing act amongst towering tomato plants that he and my grandmother grew.

At the age of 14 I began training in modern dance at Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, which propelled me into a decades long passion and career as a performing artist: singing, dancing, and acting. To date, I have performed in 5 Broadway shows and have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to tour both nationally and internationally. I have developed my craft as a storyteller by finding the nuances of reaction whether through my body language or the manner in which words are spoken.

In 2020 Broadway went dark due to the global pandemic. Cut off from the theater world and the electrifying connection between performer and audience, I experienced a drought of inspiration and motivation, like so many of my broadway colleagues and other performing artists. Thrust into the ambiguity and dearth of opportunity, my inner artist was compelled to find a way to express itself, and to find the escape that my artistry once gifted me.

By chance, while creating an original piece for my own home, I realized that painting, like performing choreography, stirred a similar emotional release. I began to channel my experiences, the good and the bad, onto canvases. This pursuit and finding of self, made clear a truism of the art world and the proverbial artist; regardless of life’s circumstances, there are endless paths to exploring creative expression.

My unique perspective is heavily influenced by geometric curvature and the power of color. Taking inspiration from the works of my grandfather, Calder, and Frank Stella, my goal in sharing both my original and commissioned works with others, is that they may find energy and inspiration as I did.

My vision is to expand my brand as a commissioned artist using bold abstract lines influenced by color and movement. Through growing my client base, my artistic perspective can lend itself as a way of evoking one’s feelings. My passion is to deliver clients a piece of art they can see themselves in.

This past year, I’ve had the distinct honor to participate in the Decoration & Design Building’s Spring Market Open House and a solo art exhibit as ‘Artist in Residence’ on behalf of Farrow & Ball Paint. The unmatched quality of their paints and curated range of colors has enabled me to explore my artistry though a completely new lens, resulting in several JCS Designs originals that will be on view in the Farrow & Ball showrooms in Manhattan. While navigating a visual arts career, I have also been an active Vacation Swing in Disney’s Aladdin the Broadway Musical, where I understudy 10 men of the male ensemble.

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