Artwork inspires HUB23 attendees to look closer, listen more 

For Jayce Hall, the vision behind his surreal portraits is to rethink what’s possible through art. 

Hall, a micrography artist, creates pictures and designs from tiny written words. From afar, you might see a gorgeous portrait. Up close, you might see a single word repeated 12,850 times. 

The popular TikTok creator is sharing his art and personal health story at HUB23 to explain why he believes Human Understanding is so important for people to see the whole picture. 

“The whole goal of my art is that when you come up and actually take the time to look and understand, you can find more details,” he says. “So my goal is to inspire people to look deeper.” 

Hall only started drawing six years ago and has already had his artwork commissioned for Times Square. While not everyone would have the hours of hyperfocus it takes to incorporate words or phrases from different languages repetitively, he hopes he’s inspiring people to rethink what is possible. 

“If you would’ve told me six years ago, ‘You’re going to be drawing fully realistic projects with words, and they’re going to be really good drawings, and five feet away from it you’re not going to be able to tell that it’s words,’ I wouldn’t have believed you,” he says. “So don’t believe something’s impossible just because you’ve always thought it was.” 

NRC Health asked Hall to turn the process on himself and create a self-portrait to tell his story—which was both interesting and contemplative for him. Recently he started having severe stomach problems, to the point where he would vomit after each meal. He learned he had gluten celiac disease, a digestive problem that hurts your small intestine and stops your body from taking in nutrients from food.  

He was told to change his diet, and if nothing worked, to see an allergist in six months. Hall felt the process lacked the opportunity for his provider to connect, listen, and partner with him. 

“I didn’t feel like I was listened to the first time; it just felt like that full understanding aspect wasn’t there. It was extremely frustrating to get super sick and keep going to the hospital,” Hall said. 

Another health scare during the COVID pandemic reinforced the importance of feeling seen and heard.

“I want to be treated like a person. We have to focus on the emphasis that it goes both ways. ‘I’m a person, you’re a person, we need to connect,” he said. “It’s really cool when both sides want to be vulnerable. One of us just needs to start. Most of the time, if it’s well put out, it’ll be well received and reciprocated.” 

Hall emphasized just like his artwork, when you look closer you see the details necessary to understand.  

“You see the drawing that I did, writing ‘my story’ a bunch of times. You just see it’s an individual, and the whole goal of it is that when you come up and actually take the time to look, and hear, understand, it’s the same thing with people … the closer you get, the more details you can find.” 

See more of Hall’s art and follow his artwork on social media.