Jessie Ford

Close in the Distance

29 March – 9 April 2023

Opening Night:
Wednesday 29th March 2023, 6 – 8pm

Catalogue & Price List:
View PDF Catalogue

‘Close in the Distance’ VIEWING ROOM

Saint Cloche is excited to reveal Melbourne (Naarm) based emerging Australian artist with the very charming, ‘Close in the Distance’. 

This collection of paintings showcases the work Jessie began while overseas last year, responding to new and different environments in Europe. On this trip where each day blended into the next, singular moments inevitably morph and change as time passes. Memories dissolve, details skew and once returning home these are interpreted through hindsight; small, key moments remain amongst hazy feelings and sensations.

They embody the wonderful allure of travel and the feeling that it was all a dream once returning home to normality.

Through a rich and diverse narrative of landscapes, this collection takes us into Northern Spain, from ranges where the heat emanates off the mountains to a creek rewarded by rain. They lead us past volcanic rocks in the Canary Islands, glowing with a setting sun; through swaying trees surrounded by bushes that smell like dust and sage combined; and inside Caldera De Bandama, the only home to an endemic species of shrub. As time travels forward, and six months later, the last stop on Jessie’s trip before she heads back home is in the mountains of Bulgaria where the greens of the pines envelop us as the cool of winter arrives.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Melbourne (Naarm) based multidisciplinary artist Jessie Rose Ford has specialised in watercolour botanical painting for over 8 years. Her meticulous work has earned her several accolades, including the Celia Rosser Medal for Botanical Art and a Highly Commended Award during exhibitions held at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. Recent years have seen her expand into oil landscapes, allowing for a freer form of expression in comparison to the realistic watercolour paintings Ford has been known for.

During the confines of lockdowns, Ford felt drawn towards landscape painting as a form of escape, exploring and connecting with the local landscape by painting Melbourne’s creeks. Each painting honours a certain place, tree or simple moment of awe spent in nature; pausing and responding through colour, play and experimentation. Painting with a suggested realism, gestural and emotive marks create a sense of place rather than focusing in on the minutiae. Through her art, Ford brings us closer to the natural environment and ultimately celebrates the innate connection we all have with the natural world.

“I began most paintings with a walk through the environment, waiting until a specific place or frame would catch my eye before I’d paint it. Often, these places would appear far away, but after walking closer or painting the scene I’d be able to make sense and understand the landscape more than before.

I wanted the paintings to capture places that drew me into that moment and away from the thoughts rolling around in my mind, especially when travelling solo. The paintings were started in situ and then completed once I returned home to Melbourne, where I mainly worked from instinct, feelings, and recollections – following this dream-like aspect of memory and travel.”

– Jessie Ford