Inside Retro Angel Dollhouse: Jo Jurisprudencia’s Visual Love Letter to Houston Music
- Megan Eppolito
- Dec 30, 2025
- 7 min read
Interview takes place on December 10, 2025, at Kirby Ice House in Houston, TX
It’s a chilly Wednesday night when Jo Jurisprudencia meets me at the lively bar. We sit outside under the string lights, away from all the holiday chatter. She is nervous, yet excited to share everything she has been working on.
Jurisprudencia, a photographer, videographer, and artist, collaborates closely with the Houston music community.
She reflects on how her passion for photography and video production began. “I got started when I was twelve with photography because my dad got a Sony camera for his real estate projects, and I was like, ‘I’m going to steal this real quick’ and take pictures of my outfit,” Jurisprudencia says. “The photos ended up being edited toward the vibe of the shirt, so I got so obsessed with creating a vibe.”
Her interest in video production followed soon after when she was often the subject of her friend’s videos, who was studying film in college. “She edited all the videos, and it ended up being very cute, cinematic-type videos, so a lot of my stuff is a homage to that time period,” she says. “It’s not cinematic in the sense that it’s highly produced, but it's like the feelings that actual cinema gives you.”
Today, Jurisprudencia primarily works on photography, music video production, and creating cover art for local musicians, but her creative journey did not begin there. “I’ve been doing music videos, but it kind of started as advertisements,” she says. “I have a marketing degree, so I love advertising.”
She credits her college fundamental drawing classes for shaping how she approaches her work today. “I feel like with drawing, there are a lot of stages of the artwork that I had to get used to,” she says. “Drawing really taught me that it’s ok to erase something and start over. It taught me to get over the frustration of making stuff.”
For Jurisprudencia, equipment isn’t always the most important part when making art. Determination, a vision, and using available resources can be just as powerful.
“I don’t have a computer,” she says. When asked how she edits her work, she explains, “All on my phone.” She received a new computer after her original one stopped working, but shortly after, her friend accidentally damaged it. Since then, she has continued working entirely on her phone.
After a show, Jurisprudencia experienced a car break-in, which resulted in her camera being stolen. “[My boyfriend Miguel and I] do a lot of projects together, and a lot of times after projects, either he would take the camera home, or I would take it home, but we try to keep all the equipment together,” Jurisprudencia says. “So this one time that I decided to keep [the camera in my car], I put a bunch of clothes on it, but I guess that told [whoever stole it], ‘Oh, there’s something under there.’”
The Houston community came together and stepped in to support her. “They all came through,” she says. “They donated money, they were sending me stuff like ‘Hey Jo, we have extra equipment if you want anything.’ It was really nice. The community prevailed.”
When it comes to Jurisprudencia’s creative process, graphic design has played an important role, especially when conveying her pitches to clients. “I use graphic design as a sketch,” she says. “I’ll make collages with graphics and send them, and they are like, ‘Ooh, that’s what you meant.’ You have to see it to believe it, and I love that.”
Graphic design has also led her to create cover art for local musicians. “In high school, I would doodle a lot and just post it on Instagram,” she says. “People would be like ‘Hey, do you mind if I use this for my Soundcloud background?’ and that inspired me later to get into cover art.” As she grew older, she realized that she could reach out to many artists she knows who are interested.
Her love for marketing and art has led to the creation of Retro Angel Dollhouse (RAD), a project where she collaborates with local artists on photo shoots and videos. “I’ll do these things called ‘Doll Calls’ where it’s basically my call for models and dolls to play the parts in my stories,” she says.
Through RAD, Jurisprudencia has grown a following by connecting with bands and artists in the Houston community. “When you work with one musician, they have their own little network of bands that they’ve played with or collaborated with,” she explains.
The name "Retro Angel Dollhouse" is unique and holds personal significance. “It’s a project that I have, it’s a collection I’m trying to build for my portfolio,” she says, “at the end of the day, Retro Angel Dollhouse is my portfolio creatively.”
“Retro” refers to the sets and scenes she aims to recreate. “I love retro advertising, like Coca-Cola ads and cigarette ads,” she says. “I love that style, I love recreating that.” She wanted to create a marketing Instagram account name that sounds interesting and memorable. “I love adding meanings to things after I do it because you can figure out the meaning later,” she adds.
“Dollhouse” connects to showcasing local studios, using them to bring her stories and visions to life. She credits Peerspace, an app for finding creative studios, as a resource for her videos. “I wanted to highlight the different studios that are in Houston,” she says. “If I take all these different locations and just turn them into a playset, then that’s kind of like my goal with each project. It’s cool to incorporate the city in my personal projects.”
“Angel” represents the feeling you get when receiving help from others. “You know when someone does you a favor, and someone says, ‘Oh my god, you’re an angel,’” she says. “That’s how I feel.”
When reflecting on concepts for her work, Jurisprudencia draws inspiration from past loved ones, especially her grandparents. “A lot of the messages in my projects are little things that they’ve told me over the years,” she says.
She draws inspiration from messages shared by her loved ones, shaping her approach to creating art for other musicians. “I try to use their lyrics as prompts for the vision.” She interprets the lyrics literally, presenting the message in a clear, straightforward way without going over the top. “It doesn’t have to be anything crazy like fire, horses, or weapons.”
Jurisprudencia has been keeping herself busy working on recent projects, including the music video for Padlock’s new single “Mess”, which was filmed in August and released on December 12. This project also happens to be her favorite she has worked on so far. “It’s so satisfying, once you get the momentum, even though [the project you’re working on is] gonna take forever to come out, other things are going on that fill the time. You don’t need instant gratification when you’re making something.”
The Padlock project pushed her out of her comfort zone. “I went into that so scared, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, it was a lot of people, and I didn’t know anyone.” Normally, she gets to know the types of roles the actors want to be, but with this project, she jumped into it, going with the flow of what felt right to everyone in the moment. “The fact that everyone was so willing made me let my guard down a lot,” she says. “Everyone looked so hot that day, everyone was dressed up, and it [scared] me because it [was] a lot of people staring. I had to remember that they're here for us, they’re here for this video.”
She also created cover art for Silvercel’s debut EP, “Divide.” She recalls the project as a natural and fun process when collaborating with Iman Fela, the band’s lead singer. “That was really fun, I think that was worth it,” she says. “They went to LA and showed a bunch of executives the CD, and they really liked it. The feedback was reassuring.”
Another recent collaboration includes “Cherry,” a single by Houston’s Own, The Kiddos. “I’m the cover of that as well,” she says. “They were like ‘We need someone, Jo, do you know anyone who could be the cover?’ and they said it was Twilight-inspired. Me, duh!” She later starred in the music video. When looking back at the process, she expressed her gratitude for having the opportunity to be in front of the camera.
This past summer, Jurisprudencia and a group of friends organized “What’s It Fest,” a three-day music festival showcasing local musicians across three different music venues. “It was stressful for a lot of us because for most of us it was our first time on something like this. It was like three days of no sleep,” she says. “It was so much fun. I feel like most of the fear for these events is the turnout. People actually came and stayed for the music and the vendors; it was nice.”
The team is looking forward to another year of festival planning for 2026. “We are going to do round two; hopefully, it will be bigger. We have a lot of plans that we really hope work out.”
When it comes to dreaming of the perfect collab, Jurisprudencia envisions Katy Perry’s 2007 era. “I’d love to go back in time and just like be a part of that whole process,” she says. “Even if I were just a personal assistant, I would love to just be in the presence of such a good production.”
Currently, she dreams of collaborating with Poppy for her feminine and punk aesthetic. Jurisprudencia recalls the first time she saw Poppy perform live on an empty stage in Vegas. “I was like, get me on your team,” she says. “We could make something cool, we could make a giant teddy bear or something.”
Looking ahead at how she wants to grow her project, Jurisprudencia shares her dreams and plans. “The dream is to have a studio that’s really cutesy, that’s called Retro Angel Dollhouse, that way it’s a literal hub,” she says. “I would want it to be free for the public to use, I want it to be an accessible art studio.”
To see what’s on the horizon for Jo Jurisprudencia, follow her on Instagram @retroangeldollhouse, @hnycrmb, and @teethgrinds. Follow @whatsitfest to stay up to date on the 2026 festival.
Story by Megan Eppolito and Photos by Shelby Mathews
Comments