Empress Trash

Empress Trash (Drea Jay) is a multi-versatile visual artist currently residing in Mexico City with her rottweiler Glitch. A lifelong artist, she earned her BFA in Painting, Drawing, and Animation/Design from the University of Iowa in 2014. After relocating to the Bay Area, she collaborated with numerous local and international artists, participating in notable projects such as Ai Wei Wei’s Alcatraz exhibit and contributing to the Firehouse Art Collective managed by Tom Franco. She also curated underground shows from her home.

Since venturing into crypto art in 2021, her work has been showcased globally, including exhibitions in Tokyo, Seoul, NYC, Paris, Palm Springs, Miami, Rome, LA, SXSW, Mexico City, and Melbourne, with prestigious venues like Sotheby’s, SuperChief, Nox Gallery, and the Ted Talks Conference in Vancouver. ​

The moniker Empress Trash encapsulates her journey towards personal sovereignty and autonomy, symbolized by “Empress,” and her origins, represented by “Trash,” reflecting her upbringing as “trailer trash.” Emancipated from a profoundly abusive mother at the age of 13, art has been her sanctuary amidst a life marked by isolation and chaos. Through her work, she addresses systemic inequities and critiques media portrayals of femininity in a manner described as “playfully controversial,” turning her tumultuous past into a powerful source of creativity and expression.

Empress Trash’s art embraces abstraction, surrealism, glitch aesthetics, and AI, continually integrating and experimenting with new technologies. Her process-oriented approach leverages radical expressionism and self-acceptance, delving into themes of intersectional feminism, consumerism, and mass media. Her meditative works aim to peel back the veneer of reality, exploring the subconscious connections between emotional, physical, mental, sexual, and spiritual realms, inviting viewers to engage in a deeper exploration of these intersecting dimensions.