Kay Jackson
Artist website
Person TypeArtist
BiographyCreating art is an act of faith. With each passing year it takes an increasing commitment to continue an activity most people think is spontaneous and blissful. As a young artist, I spent the first decade learning how to paint, and as a mature artist, I am finding a major part of the creative process is deciding which direction will allow a genuine and unique response. In today’s world, artists have endless freedom coupled with the challenge to fit into a digital world offering new mediums and possibilities with the numbing effect of visual overload. Traditional work from past centuries inspires my artistic direction and I am constantly looking back to inform my work as I struggle to push forward. In addition to oil on canvas, I use the obscure and ancient medium of gilding to call attention to endangered species, pollution and our compromised environment. Gold leaf has been used throughout history to elevate objects to a spiritual level, to add an eternal and noble aspect with visual effects that hold a mysterious power over us. When gold leaf is used on a canvas with oil glazes, it reflects available light producing amazing optics unusual for two-dimensional art and when used in the most ancient and traditional form, a technique called water gilding, the gold leaf appears to be solid sheet of gold. For the past twenty-five years, I have tried to call attention to the environment by painting industrial landscapes, maps, clocks, global views and crowds of people. By exploring various subjects, and knowing that everything is connected, I hope to access a new way of seeing our environmental situation. As artists we are always wrestling with the age-old challenge of revealing something extraordinary by exploring the ordinary.
Artist website
