Si: Hi Jo, welcome to the Stations of
the Cross exhibition. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your work?
Jo: Hi Si, thanks for having me. I'm
a painter and animator. I was born and grew up in Liverpool - I trained in Fine
Art in Liverpool and Leeds in the early 1980s. Over the last 30 years I have
managed to keep making art by supporting myself in a variety of ways. It's not
always been easy - and there have been some dark times - but things are working
out okay at the moment. In the nineties, I focussed a lot on animation - which
is a very time-consuming, but rewarding, process. My short films were shown at
film festivals around the world and won awards. In the last few years I've
spent more time painting. There is an audience for my work - I've exhibited a
lot and sold paintings.
Si: I think that your work has that
strong sense of place about it and I love that - even the more fluid,
abstract-y pieces feel very grounded in a specific location.
You
clearly enjoy mark-making and that dance of the brush across the paper...
Jo: Yes, mark-making is what it's all
about. Heheh - dances with brushes, I like that. One critic called my work a
'ballet' with paint across a blank piece of paper. But I don't think about it
in those terms. There has always been an element of landscape in my work -
well, it is a British tradition in art, isn't it? And you're right, a lot of my
abstract work is inspired by landscape - or where I am at the time. I was young
when I learned that a landscape can be a metaphor for emotion - or anything, in
fact. So I would say that my work is about feeling
as well as place. The brush marks or
the pencil marks, whatever, they are what create the mood of the piece.
Si: I know that you love to get out
into the landscape and draw, but I was wondering how much of your work is done
out there on the spot and how much is made back in the studio...?
Jo: Well, that depends on a few
things - the weather, the time of year, the location and so on. And my mood. Yes,
I do a lot of drawing outside. I can talk and draw at the same time (usually)
but painting is a different matter. The act of painting - to me - is an
immersive experience, like talking to your God. I'm not saying that my art is
my god - but it is not a trivial thing that I can do with my mind on something
else. It's easier for me to paint when I'm alone. And it's hard to be alone
outdoors in Leeds 8. A lot of my recent paintings of Gledhow Valley Woods are
painted outdoors - at the moment I'm lucky enough to live next to the woods, so
I just have to haul my gear out into the garden. Also sometimes I draw or paint
from memory - and that's good, because it goes back to what I was saying about
the feeling of a place.
Si: I love that idea of making art
being like talking with god. I think that the exercise of creativity,
art-making, is akin to a sacred ritual in many ways. Certainly the act of
creation is a holy one... which leads me to wonder what the role of the artist
is.
There
have always been artists with a very keen commercial instinct and a careerist
outlook, but I know a lot of artists who would regard what they do more as a
vocation or a calling...
Jo: Talking with god, yes... we all
do it in our own way, we just might not describe it like that. Many artists
through the ages have worked for god. I feel lucky to be born in the twentieth
century - for one thing I didn't have to spend my life decorating a page of
holy scripture - I can paint what I choose. As for our role, I think artists
have to find their roles in society - and it's not easy. My role has always
been there - but there were times I couldn't see it. Other people have helped
me find the place I should be with my work. There's a lot of distraction. I am
fortunate that I can sell my images - to an extent the commercial aspect
reinforces the so-called 'calling' to be an artist. But you have to make sure
it doesn't take over - I wouldn't feel like an artist if I had to make
concessions to money all the time.
You can see more of Jo's work on her website here - http://jodunn.co.uk/ - and also during the Roundhay artists' open studios event on april 26th...
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