Instagram story viewer> @rottenlungsstudios> Posts

Jai España

@rottenlungsstudios

1.1K

followers

1373

following

Examination of uncomfortable human emotions through architectural spaces.
UH MFA ‘26
UH BFA ‘21
Member of @htxmissprints

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

searching. reaching. research

(?) taken in 𝑵𝑶𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬 by @rottenlungsstudios

3

3

a month ago

“How Could You Have Known?” became a visual diary that slowly transformed in meaning as it developed. because the process is accumulative, I returned to the
same image over time, carrying new experiences into it, so each area holds a different moment and emotional state. the surface builds slowly, almost like layers of memory being pressed into it, where nothing is erased but instead sits alongside what came before. i started this painting in March of 2025, before the metastatic diagnosis of my mom, and the light from the lamp shifted in meaning to me after that. what may have once functioned simply as a source of illumination began to feel more like a marker of presence and of time passing. i then suddenly lost my grandmother in September of 2025, so the bedsheets became a reminder of the times spent at her house when I was younger, holding onto a sense of intimacy, care, and familiarity that now exists only in memory.

How Could You Have Known? is now on view at Redbud gallery @redbudartscenter until August 29th

How Could You Have Known, 2026
Acrylic and oil on stretched canvas
5’ x 5’
$3,000 taken in Houston, Texas by @rottenlungsstudios

119

11

2 months ago

thinking about the fun memories of grad school. 20 images are not enough to fully summarize the three years i spent here. im happy about what i did, the things i tried, and the stuff i did for myself. I hope one day I’m hated for the things I’ve genuinely done wrong to people, rather than for simply trying to create opportunities and build a career for myself. if i learned anything in grad school is that not everyone will want to be in a “community” with you, but that’s okay because i’ll eventually find my own ✨ taken in UH School of Art by @rottenlungsstudios

116

8

2 months ago

Look at the level of detail in this painting!! And it’s even more impressive in person 😉 Ceci N’est Pas Un Cuisine by recent UH Master of Fine Arts graduate Jai España @rottenlungsstudios is one of many interior paintings and prints Jai España has up for our August exhibition.

Every month we display a new, local artist at Verbena. All pieces are for sale. All proceeds goes to the artist #houstonartscene #lovelocal by @rottenlungsstudios

77

7

2 months ago

reflecting on these marks ive left on my studio wall these past three years in grad school. they’ll live here for the rest of time, buried under future layers of paint and debris taken in UH School of Art by @rottenlungsstudios

80

6

3 months ago

excited to share that I’ll have work on view/sale at Verbena Coffee @verbenacoffee_htx starting at the end of this month! stop by for a delicious drink and spend some time with the artwork. looking forward to seeing you there!

Women’s
2021
Acrylic on canvas
18” x 24”
$1,000 taken in Verbena Coffee by @rottenlungsstudios

85

8

3 months ago

guys, i really recommend finishing a masters program. im having a lot of fun in the studio 🤓 currently experimenting with paper pulp, these are fresh out the mould so the color might dull as the paper dries (we’ll see) by @rottenlungsstudios

87

8

4 months ago

i’ve been very unhappy with painting ever since i got to Hunter in 2022. i thought it was the graduate program or the fast pace of NYC or the fact that I couldn’t keep up with any of it. i stopped making art between my transition back to Houston because I was so angry that the one thing i loved, didn’t love me back. I resumed grad school at UH and my feelings for painting were the same and ultimately, it showed on the canvas. I was stuck between trying to get back to what I was doing before Hunter and wanting to experiment more. fast forward to the last 4 weeks before the thesis show, i was set on quitting painting and showing nothing but prints. i was angry, unhappy, stressed, and frustrated. i actually did quit painting (for 2 whole weeks), and during this time i decided to stop and reevaluate my whole practice. I started a small oil study on canvas paper which then turned into this, my first oil painting ever. i stepped away from every single rule i had set for myself and just had fun with it (even if the piece was finished the morning of the thesis opening). in a way, i was comfortable with my unhappiness because i was so scared of going into the unknown. im so glad i did though, otherwise i would still be stuck in an endless loop of my own frustrations.

Awkward Places and Hateful Thinking is now on view at Lawndale Arts Center, part of the 2026 Big Show @lawndaleartcenter

Awkward Places and Hateful Thinking
2026
Oil on stretched canvas
30” x 40” taken in Lawndale Art Center by @rottenlungsstudios

128

8

4 months ago

maybe David Hockney was up to something with the pools. they each have a personality of their own, they’re vessels of memory and liminal containers. i love pools

Inside, I Saw Myself, 2026
Color pencil on handmade paper (framed)
15.5” x 18.5”

framed by Aleisha from Lady Lazarus Press and Neon Eye ✨ taken in BLAFFER Art Museum by @rottenlungsstudios

55

1

5 months ago

i’ve been inspired by @leafmonique Liv Johnson’s 2023 etching, Level II, ever since I started grad school. The color palette of Come Over I is definitely after Liv’s beautiful print. thanks for being an inspiration!

Come Over I
2026
Copper etching, line, and aquatint with à la poupée inking on Dutch paper
10” x 13”

Black and white proof of Come Over by @rottenlungsstudios

60

4

5 months ago

this is me when i graduate with my Masters in Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting (and printmaking). two states and two programs later but im glad i found my way back home to UH ❤️🐾

also, kinda poetic to have taken my last pics in front of the M.D Anderson library taken in University of Houston by @rottenlungsstudios

281

66

5 months ago

I had the absolute privilege of working with my good friend Pat Masterson and the amazing David McGee on a lithograph project for Glasstire’s 25th anniversary! i’ll remember this project forever and ever 💞 Thank you David and Pat for sharing this experience with me, y’all are the best

Stay tuned for more projects with Mad Cap Press 👀 @madcap_press

David McGee
Grits, 2026
Eleven color lithograph on Arches 88 paper
20” x 16”
Editioned by Patrick Masterson, assisted by Jai España at Mad Cap Press, Houston taken in Houston, Texas by @rottenlungsstudios

87

11

5 months ago