He was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, where he also attended the University of Memphis and earned his BFA in painting. In his studio practice, Jarvis navigates the intersectional tropes of blackness in his paintings, drawing on his experience as a southern black gay male as well as his rejection of his conservative upbringing. Girl with the Hoop Earrings works to situate, centralize, and celebrate the black femme within the long history of portraiture, one that is largely white.