What Surprised Jessica Hische About Her Neiman Marcus Christmas Work?

Jessica Hische was surprised that Christmas pieces she designed for Neiman Marcus a couple of years ago could become someone's grandmother's cookie jar.

She was excited to make holiday work and knew it would be executed well because the company cares about craft. She could not know what would be manufactured from the drawings. Holding the finished pieces, she realized one could be passed down in a family and travel far, even if those people never learn her name. She treats the work as her chance to make the world around her more beautiful, and she cannot predict which object will do it.

An Instagram post feels like a waste beside that. About 15% of the people who follow her will see it, and phone habits make a real moment with art on a phone almost impossible. She looks for ways to slow people down so the work lasts more than half of a second. She told graduate students at SVA to make something they are personally excited about, because the maker cannot know what kind of impact it will have.