By Josh Mitra
The phrase, “It’s Not Scary, It’s Fine (INSIF),” came from a short video that Jaeden Morgan made with his cousins in 2019. Today, it stands as the name for his flourishing art business with hundreds of sales to date.
Growing up in Houston, Morgan came to Trinity University looking to major in computer science. After feeling unsatisfied with the classes he was taking through Zoom, Morgan rekindled his love for art through his entry-level art classes. He decided to fully shift to an art major to further explore his creative outlet. Upon experimenting with a logo and putting it on an initial set of 30 shirts, Morgan realized the potential for a business centered around his art. “I sold those in the first month and I kind of realized that people really enjoyed the message,” Morgan said. “I just kept going with it even though I had no idea how to make clothes. I only knew how to make art. It was kind of a long journey after that to figure out how I was gonna produce clothing at a mass rate and just get it out to people who wanted it.”
Today, Morgan’s business continues to grow, reaching over 400 garment sales and broadening its array of wares throughout the past three years. From stickers with the business logo to full-size paintings, Morgan has built up an online presence that utilizes social media and an online store to further increase the impact of his surrealist art.
With screen printing equipment set up at his apartment, Morgan has been able to extend his business beyond just personal creations, catering to the demands of various campus organizations as well. For example, he has designed and created tshirts for his fraternity Kappa Kappa Delta and their events. Maggie Karim, a friend of Morgan, watched his art journey over the past three years and the progression of INSIF. She also saw firsthand the effort Morgan puts into his craft.
“I helped him with the screen printing of his fraternity’s beach shirts and he came up with this really cool design,” Karim said. “I think he was kind of pushing himself by using three different colors. For people who don’t know, for screen printing you have to print each color on top of each other and I always knew it required a lot of time to do that, but it was really cool to just see that in person and the amount of effort and time that goes into every shirt. It’s definitely a labor of love for him.”
Morgan’s artistic exploration does not end with printing tshirts, of course. He is actually more interested in creating surrealist art that often questions the absurdity of the human experience. His art has not only served as an outlet for him but also acts as a unifying factor that has drawn in others. Jack Pittman, a friend and current roommate of Morgan, has known the artist since high school. In watching his artistic growth over the years, he has come to appreciate the techniques Morgan uses to portray surrealist art and connect with viewers of his works.
“It’s been really amazing watching him grow and become an artist,” Pittman said. “His art has always pushed styles and he has a really interesting mix of mixed mediums. I feel like his art has always relied on his use of symbols to express emotions and feelings that he feels. Using these icons as a way to convey themes and ideas he wants to get across. His art also shows his feeling as an outsider. With beautiful and strange approaches to his art, he is able to make something feel so different and surreal yet feel so familiar and understandable.”
Morgan is slated to graduate in May and hopes to continue building up his skills as an entrepreneur and an artist. Currently applying for jobs in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, Morgan has a clear goal for his future career: continue to create art and spread the message of INSIF.
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