Sequestered away on a remote farm on the Banks Peninsula, New Zealand-based artist Jacqui Gibbs Chamberlain spends her time navigating an imaginal realm through paint and sculpture. Describing the place she calls home as a stunningly beautiful retreat from the world, she states that, “it has provided me with times of inspiration and of desperation, blessing me with the ability to allow myself to let go.”
This physical and creative freedom has produced a body of work that takes delight in being untethered from the shackles of reality, effortlessly combining the gestural essentialism of abstraction with the potent symbolism of the human form. Indeed, though the artist has physically distanced herself from the world, the figure is an essential component of her practice. Her canvases are populated by bodies set adrift against richly-hued backdrops, contorted with emotion and seemingly weightless as they dip into the artist’s candy coloured reverie.
Each figure is painstakingly realised in Gibbs Chamberlain’s recognisable style – one that rejects straightforward naturalism and instead delights in the use of contrasts. She rarely restricts herself to one type of medium, preferring to layer charcoal, oils and resin together in a single piece. This approach animates her works through a juxtaposition of textures and line, or provides a conversation between monochromatic elements and those of pure colour.
In the artist’s words, “I like to focus on achieving an effect, rather than presenting detail and likeness. This allows each person to decide how they want to view and be affected by the artworks.”
This method is borne of a lifetime of experience, with the artist having taken to the canvas early on through the influence of her mother. Still painting at 90, Gibbs Chamberlain’s mother is herself an artist, who nurtured her daughter’s innate sense of wonder and latent artistic skills from a young age. From there, Gibbs Chamberlain travelled the world to expand on her practice, having spent time learning from and producing art with other artists in Italy, America and Australia.
“Falling in love with art was the easy part,” she says. “The hard part was being patient with myself, to learn and pick up new techniques and skills from the incredible people I have met.” Clearly, her hard work has paid off, as seen in her expansive visual language and her thought out creative principles.
Defined by a sense of visual freedom and depth of expression, the works of Gibbs Chamberlain toe the line between realism and abstraction. By choosing to live away from the hustle and bustle of life, the artist has attained a sense of freedom, which is reflected in her works and the figures they depict. They appear on the outskirts of the known and the unknown, conveying a unique vision of the human form.
Featured Image: Artist Jacqui Gibbs Chamberlain. Courtesy: the artist.