Interview. Tapped into the senses with artist Jessalyn Guizzotti // Material Magazine
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Erschienen am 24. Mai 2018 auf Material Magazine.com
Jessalyn Guizzotti is a Los Angeles based painter, dancer and Jazz singer. Her large-format works appear as if they were from another time era, based on the aesthetic of Cubism, and above all focused on one subject: the female silhouette. For Jessalyn, this is an almost self-evident matter. One that helped her to empower herself – as much as her process of painting in general. In this interview, she talks about her work, her ambitions to work as sustainable as possible and why she prefers to turn her cell off – despite her rapid success on Instagram. When did you start painting and why? Was there a certain catalyst moment? After dropping out of art school, I actually didn’t touch a paintbrush for about twelve years. I flailed around Los Angeles for a time, making music and selling vintage clothes, and then restarted painting and drawing on objects that I’d pick up on the side of the street or at thrift stores – basically anything I could get my hands on. The passing away of my dog then led me into a spiraling mania of work. She was my rock. I had her for 13 years. With the one I loved most in the world gone, the only thing I could do to NOT lose my mind was paint. So, I did. Big, big canvases to fill up my days and nights. It was a rough time. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be? Resourceful. Sensual. Extreme. I absolutely HATE waste. It makes me want to crawl in a corner and hug myself. Luckily, I have a talent of finding people’s waste and transforming it into art. Still to this day, I have NEVER bought canvas. Ever! I find them in rag houses and sew them together to get the big canvases. It’s insane what people throw away. There is nothing more satisfying than giving new life to discarded things. I’m very tapped into my senses. I’m good at naturally knowing which direction I’m going. How to find things in the dark and where smells and noises are coming from. I think that must translate on the canvas. Somehow. Also, my extreme nature is pretty intense. I’m 100% or 0%. |
