Interview with Jessica Booth
March 2001

Describe in detail your work that is included in Top Arts: VCE 2000

One large oil painting, an abstract work divided into sections, exploring contrasts between light and dark, details and flat areas of colour, different textures, using neutral colours – creams browns and black. The collages and monotype explore similar concepts as well as a means to finalise colour combinations for the painting.

What were your starting points?
Where did your inspiration come from?

I started out looking at cityscapes and blurry photography, simply because I was interested in the forms and contrasts evident in this subject matter I was also influenced by the concept of the grid, which carried through loosely in all my work. I also worked at Japanese ink splashes to get across the idea of spontaneity.

What processes did you explore to establish the focus or theme of your work?

Gradually as I worked out which elements of city–scapes interested me I began to simplify and abstract those forms down to create abstract compositions which focussed on contrasts (described above) and the idea structure versus spontaneity. I did a series of collages and monotypes in order to explore this concept. The nature of these mediums lend themselves to such ideas.

What difficulties if any did you encounter in producing your work?

When I came to do some of my important major paintings towards the end of the year I had to in a sense transform collages and mono types I’d done into paintings so I had some problems recreating the spontaneity of some of the marks I’d made in the monotypes, but eventually I learned that I could achieve similar effects with oils.

What media did you select and why?

I did a lot of collage because it suited the concept of structure and division of the composition which I was trying to get across. I worked with monotypes because I could achieve loose marks with that media and painting because it’s my favourite. It suited the work I was doing.

Were there influences from other sources that were significant in the production of your work?
How did this impact on the development of your work?

I was very influenced by a lot of the abstract expressionists, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman. Also, the Australian artists, Fred Williams and Rosalie Gascoigne. These artists helped me isolate what I was really interested in.

Were there influences from literature, television, history or political events in the processing and production of your work?

No

Are there ethical or moral issues or concerns evident in your work?

No

What resources did you have access too, example, use of the local library, newspapers, magazines, art programs, galleries, websites...?

All of the above. We had an extensive art library at school which I spent a lot of time in looking at other artists work. I also went to a lot of galleries, some of which play a really important part in the development of my work.

Did you refer to the NGV website – how relevant or useful was this site?

I checked out the website at the beginning of the year– spent some time looking at the Top Arts work from last year. But I went to the Gallery itself quite a bit, so I didn’t actually check the website very often.

What exhibitions did you see? Was there a specific exhibition which impacted significantly on the development of your ideas and working methods?

An exhibition at Mass Galleries of works by Tobias Hengeveld helped me a lot with the development of my collages and the exhibition at Flinders Lane Gallery of paintings by Marise Maas influenced my paint application– loosened it up a bit– and led me to do my series of monotypes.

Did you see Top Arts from 1999? What response did you have to this exhibition?

Yes, I was very interested in the range of works on display, the things people were investigating. Firstly because a lot of them were so different to each other, and secondly because most of them were so different from what I was doing.

Did you consider presentation and conservation issues in the process and production of your work?

Yes, especially with my collage series. They are all works on paper and so they needed a way to be safely stored. The box is acid free so it won't harm the paper but it also added another element to the work, enabling viewers to actually get involved in the work, to handle collages.

Did technology have an influence on the development of your ideas and working methods?

Not really, I have used Photoshop in the past, but I did not feel it was necessary or beneficial for the type of work I was doing.

What advice would you give to students undertaking art/studio art?

Make as much of the subject as you can. There’s no point doing art unless you are really committed, because to do well there’s a lot of work to be done However, if you are like me, you are probably doing it because you love it and the work is actually really enjoyable. Also don’t slack off in the theory component – it’s worth 50%!

Image reproduced courtesy of the artist

© copyright 2001, The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Australia
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