THE ART CURATION SERIES 002_JORDY HEWITT
Jordy Hewitt (b. 1985) is an Australian painter known for exploring the complexities of life, identity, and the intertwining of internal and external emotions. Raised near the ocean in Boorloo/Perth, Western Australia, she now works in Walyalup/Fremantle. Since completing her Bachelor of Fine Art and Design at Curtin University in 2014, Hewitt has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows and has participated in various art prizes, including The Hutchins Art Prize (TAS), Whyalla Art Prize (SA), The Agendo Art Prize (VIC), and The Mandorla Art Award (WA).
Hewitt's artwork is deeply personal yet intuitively engages with collective experience, challenging social facades which obscure meaning and hinder connection. Her paintings, like landscapes of emotional and metaphysical terrain, exude an underlying disquiet beneath their surface beauty. As a skeptical optimist, she explores and challenges problematic perceptions of beauty. Her work aims to captivate while delving into the complexities of human experience, encouraging the confrontation of its multifaceted nature.
Jordy, please tell us a little bit about yourself and your story as an artist.
Music was what I wanted to do since I was little and I pursued that when I left school. Although I had studied photography, I came to visual art later and it was a bit out of left field because I hadn't been a drawer or painter prior. I went to life drawing classes for fun and continued for a year or two before I studied Fine Art in 2012-14. I've been working and showing since then, as well as having two children. I think as a singer, a photographer or a painter I'm trying to express myself honestly and deeply so I can find beauty and solace and be connected to others through that.
What inspires you most when painting?
That I might be telling the truth or finding truth, that it might be important for someone, that there might be an essence to it, that it might be compelling or revealing. I'm motivated by alchemy and bewitchery. It's magic when I can't see where I've been, I don't know how it's come together and there seems to be something there of worth.
What are your biggest challenges as an Artist?
Allowing confusion and due process and not imposing myself on the paintings too much. Letting the painting talk. Being in a state of joy. Knowing that if I make a mess of things, they can be resurrected. Remembering to love the paintings. Everything makes sense in the end.
What does 2023 look like for you?
I've moved into a new studio which I love and I'm just logging some big hours there, putting my energy in there. I just want to really enjoy the space and my day to day this year. Being a painter is a good life. I'm focussing on making really good work and usually the plans for the works transpire from there.
Which Artists/creators do you follow and why?
I follow galleries, artists, photographers, designers, architects, jewellers, potters - I want to see all the nice things and what everyone is doing, what's being made out there. I like abstract painters who work with scale and colour because that's my realm. I'm always trying to find new artists around the world doing great work - at the moment I'm watching Pam Evelyn, Rachel Jones and Tyra Tingleff.