Rare Device is so happy to present our next gallery, Layers by artist Jeff Suppes. This gallery is near and dear to our heart because Jeff is a Rare Device alum! He first appeared in the RD gallery as part of our staff show in 2024. After Jeff left Rare Device, we continued to sell his print illustrations. He is currently one of our top selling art print vendors, and we're so excited to share with you his newest collection of original artwork.
In Layers, Jeff Suppes explores San Francisco through watercolor and ink studies of the city’s architecture, from ornate Victorian homes to Art Deco neighborhood businesses. The works focus on buildings not simply as structures, but as living spaces shaped over time by changing occupants, neighborhoods, and histories.
Each piece is constructed through a slow and deliberate layering process. Detailed pencil drawings establish the architectural framework before successive washes of watercolor build texture, atmosphere, and depth. Ink is added at the final stage, bringing definition to forms that have gradually emerged through multiple stages.
The pieces reveal both the physical layering of the medium and the layered character of the city itself.
"I’m drawn to buildings that feel lived in — spaces that carry traces of the people who have passed through them over time. In San Francisco, I’m constantly noticing how architecture changes alongside its occupants: homes are decorated, renovated, adapted, and reshaped across generations. A building may outlast the people who live there, but it continues to hold fragments of their presence long after they leave.
Many of the buildings I paint are homes because that is where some of life’s most intimate experiences happen. These spaces quietly witness everyday routines alongside moments of celebration, heartbreak, friendship, and change. I’m interested in the idea that both buildings and people carry memories of one another — that the places we inhabit continue to shape us even after we move on.
Through layers of pencil, watercolor, and ink, I aim to capture not only the structure of these buildings, but also the atmosphere, memory, and quiet histories embedded within them."
About the Artist: Jeff Suppes is a San Francisco-based artist whose practice draws from the city’s architecture, public spaces, and evolving urban fabric. Through walking the city as a volunteer tour guide and searching for the best chicken soup, he explores how buildings carry traces of the people and histories that pass through them, accumulating layers of memory and change over time. Working primarily in watercolor and ink, his pieces layer pencil, paint, and ink to capture the city as he experiences it. Learn more about Jeff in our Artist Interview.
Shop Jeff Suppes art prints here.
Layers is showing the RD gallery June 12th-July 26th. The opening reception is Friday, June 12th from 6-8pm.