JASMINE CRISP
SELF X OTHER
02.02.24 - 18.02.24
SELF X OTHER, Jasmine Crisp’s debut solo show in Naarm/Melbourne, presents a series of narrative portraits depicting Australian artists that have all influenced or worked alongside Crisp during her life. Seen through her own lens, her portraits capture the personal becomings, mundane behaviours, bedroom interiors or deep familial traditions that come together in forming characterised scenes of reimagined realities. Both sitter and artist share ideas of the self and other, resulting in semi-fantasised genre paintings which extend beyond a singular perception to incorporate synergised notions of place, tales, history, loved ones, trinkets and gesture.
Interview
Could you tell us a little bit about your background in painting? You have a profound technical ability.
Thanks! I always had an affinity for drawing growing up but wasn’t formally trained in painting until I began my Visual Arts degree at Adelaide Central School of Art, I was particularly fond of my lecturers Mary Jean Richardson and Rob Gutteridge who are both incredible, classically trained painters.
You've used some interesting panel assemblages to construct canvases in SELF X OTHER, can you tell me a little bit about your thoughts behind this?
Materially I prefer to work big, but large scale works can be difficult and heavy to hang/transport, so multi-panel works were somewhat of a practical solution. However, I’ve since expanded on this to challenge myself more compositionally by creating more unconventional shapes and collaged layouts (inspired by architecture and my time mural painting on surfaces with windows/corners/odd ends). These new multi-panel creations allow me to play with more of the narrative, introduce cheeky additions and hidden treasures in the settings of my painted figures.
If you could choose one word that describes what all your work in ’SELF X OTHER' is discussing, what would it be?
Well I sometimes lazily refer to these works as ‘love paintings’ which isn’t one word, so maybe ‘idolisation’? I’m very inspired by religious ‘Icon Paintings’ which are deigned to symbolically tell a grand tale or describe the role and persona of the featured ‘icon’ figure. As a non-religious person I like to playfully form stories about the real people in my life who I actually deem to be inspiring and influential to me.
What were the thoughts behind the choice of title ’SELF X OTHER’ for this show?
Many duos feature in this series, as well as a twin double of one figure (double Jaya painting), and a self portrait, so all of the works share the same theme of assessing the relationship of ‘the self’ in relation to ‘the other’, which I consider a never ending interesting topic of human connection.
What do you hope people are thinking about, a hour, a day, a week, a month after coming to see ’SELF X OTHER’?
I hope that there is some relation, memory triggering or even some consolation provided by my own labour of love towards real and inspiring people, that can be felt in viewers own devotions or connections with others. When I look at the work of the artists that inspire me most, I see painters that put their whole life force into demonstrating how much they love or appreciate or care or are excited by their personal world and it excites me too, even if they’re from a totally different generation, cultural background or visual style. I guess this is something I’d desire to contribute to, or at least feel authentic in the process of producing.
What was the process like of choosing the subjects you chose to paint?
It’s often a different kind of conversation depending on my connection with the figure, but its always someone that I think has a story to tell or share, or is in a moment of their life that is connecting to what I think may be a shared narrative to many, especially minorities, and/or myself at the time. They’re almost always people I know well and that I feel comfortable in representing.
Can you tell me the story of one specific artwork that you chose to paint? What is the subject? a little history of the Person/ people and your connection to it basically…
For ‘He only exists today (a portrait of Jaya)’ I worked in collaboration with Jaya’s own story of identity and growth from a past self into a current one. As a half Indonesian, half Scottish-Australian he had difficulty with a sense of belonging in his earlier years, leading to personal challenges, which he has more recently transformed through a spiritual path in defeating what he calls his ‘ego-self’ in embracing his ‘higher-self’. He proposed a series of books to be featured in the painting that had helped him over his journey, as well as the concept of a ‘checkmate’ position between the two selves. I then set the location (his own tattoo studio in Adelaide), posing and composition of the piece, adding symbolic charms such as the rooster and open roof, to create a time-warping tale of self defeat and triumph.
Is there anything else you want to say about the show or your works in general, or anything extra you think we should know?
It has felt very special to present these works in person to a new audience at Backwoods, such a generous and beautiful space for my first solo in Melbourne. There’s been so many points of connection already between the viewers there and the figures in the works, which is what really excites me about showing in this way.
What is one word that describes best what your artwork is discussing?
Hard questions Tom I need a million words please hah! I’m a maximalist, one isn’t enough :P
Who is the one artist that inspires you the most?
Maybe cliche, but I was a teenager when my high school art teacher brought me a book of Lucien Freud to look at, upon first glance I felt like he was the first person to ever ‘tell me the truth’. He depicts figures in a way people often call ‘grotesque’ (which I think is a very sore and blind comment) as I think he actually depicts them with a very loving, labour intensive, attentive, considerate and raw honesty that captures sitters as their most ‘real’ selves, he cares for them as they are, and I could only ever dream to capture people the same way.
If you had total free choice with no restrictions… what is the city, place, museum, site, building, park etc that you would like most to show your artwork, and why did you choose that place?
Doing some GIANT international walls would be my dreams come true. But I’d also love to paint a giant wall based install in a large state gallery, because the ‘higher’ art world in Australia often rejects Muralism as a fine art medium (which annoys me so I’d happily personally prove them incorrect).