Artist in Residence: Skye Jamieson

To mark the launch of our new season shade Cobalt, we invited eight artists to join our Artist in Residence series and exhibit their cobalt-hued works in Assembly Label stores around Australia and New Zealand.

When asked what keeps her inspired, artist Skye Jamieson answers: “my heart”. It’s a telling statement about who Skye is and how she approaches her work — as though art-making is akin to being. According to Skye, pinpointing exactly when she began to hone her art practice is “impossible”, but if she really had to, she credits her time at Australian National Capital Artists Inc with her own studio as a pivotal moment. “My studio at ANCA really shifted everything for me, I was suddenly alone in a light-filled, ultra-private space. It became a haven.”

Skye’s abstract paintings are manifestations of pure emotion and experience, which goes toward explaining the fluid movement of her artworks and the honest, intuitive nature of her brushstrokes. Her inspiration comes from a place of “feeling”, says Skye, and “connecting to what I can feel in the moment. Feeling the canvas, the paintings, their surfaces.” The spaces Skye occupies have always had an impact on the artist. As she puts it, “my art practice allows me reprieve from my adult life in urban landscapes. I am grateful for my childhood on an isolated property — having that peaceful childhood away from a city was a real gift.” Understandably, she says moving from a private studio in Canberra to studios in Brisbane and Byron Bay had a profound impact on her. “From all this moving around, the act of preparation and cleaning has shown itself as a primary element to my practice. Allowing the space for the work to come through and appear. To ask permission and to create a safe space for the works is the highest focus in my practice. I have realised it’s always about the works and how they feel, and how I feel with them.” The word that resonates with Skye most and comes up time and time again is ‘care’. “Caring for works and for the space they inhabit — the works are a part of my body.”

The shade of cobalt blue known as ultramarine also resonates with Skye, and it’s a recurring element across her body of work. “This blue is so clear, I can’t help [working with] it,” explains Skye. “Washing, cleansing and wiping are enormous points for me to come back to. Water in its visibility resonates with this blue. Although I don’t perceive my use of the colour as based within the likeness it has to water, it’s based within the resonance.” This colour surrounds us, she says, from the sea to the sky. “The blue is absolute, there is no question to its presence.”

Rather than shaping her paintings to meet expectation, Skye allows the work to emerge in its own way, and this is certainly true of her Artist in Residence installation. “Making work is so much about allowing the truth of the work to come forward,” says Skye. “These works represent peace to me and to myself.” And though it may seem as if Skye communicates with the world through her paintings, the artist insists her creativity is a part of the human condition. “I believe that creativity is inherent,” says Skye. “We are all creators.” 

Skye’s Artist in Residence work will be available to purchase after the exhibition. For enquiries, contact https://skyejamieson.com