Visual artist Jenny Davis runs her arts practice from a multi- purpose studio she built in 2000 from discarded and recycled materials. Outlook8studio is based in the beautiful mountains of Yarra Valley, Victoria in Australia. Jenny currently lives in Australia and has intermittently, lived in Paris, London and Spain, where she was awarded an arts residency in Barcelona. Jenny has worked on several, collaborative and research projects throughout Australia, Europe and US, over the past 35 years. Her practice encompasses painting, sculpture, drawing, collage, photography, book arts, textiles, installation &video.

A multidisciplinary artist who strives to through her work, to question and understand the world we inhabit. With an inquisitive and experimental approach, Jenny explores many themes including beauty, love, disruption, conflict and the nuances of the human condition. She contemplates the fragility of nature and life, the transformative power of decay, loss, and of renewal, trying to make sense of the world we inhabit and beyond.

Jenny’s artwork has been exhibited in Australia, Berlin, Paris, Spain, New York, the UK and the US and is represented in numerous private and public collections. She has received awards and residencies both nationally and internationally, and her digital artworks have been projected onto buildings in Times Square, New York and in 2017 at The Venice Biennale 57 in Italy. Public Art Project. Her latest public art project for Rydges Hotel Group in Melbourne. Australia. 2023.

What was your first experience with/discovery of art?
What made you want to become an artist? As a child growing up in Melbourne Australia, my family were quite poor, so for fun, I would collect things from the street to play with. Very often I would take the bits and pieces, pull them apart and re-make them into small gifts for my mum. At age 12, on my first trip to the National Gallery of Victoria, I saw a black painting with a little white dot in the middle. I knew I loved it but didn’t know why. As it turns out my first exhibition in 1996, was at the National Gallery of Victoria alongside a Brett Whiteley exhibition in the next room..

Are there any key themes, messages or theories behind your work?
I explores many themes including beauty, love, disruption, conflict and the nuances of the human condition. I like to contemplates the fragility of nature and life, the transformative power of decay, loss, and of renewal, trying to make sense of the world we inhabit and beyond. I explore neglected corners, crevices and abandoned spaces and objects and see beauty in decay, rust, random marks, aerial perspectives, graffiti and weathered surfaces. Women’s history and issues is also important to me.

Could you tell us a bit about your artistic approach? (Style, medium and specific techniques)

I am an abstract painter and texture features strongly in my paintings.
Space is important in my work as it allows for marks and images to be more relevant and upfront. I also like to work with old and new surfaces to reveal subtle and obvious areas.I’m interested in non objective images, marks that fight each other and opposites, sometimes, layers dissolve to allow underwork to emerge. I utilize varies techniques and mark making to evoke the rustic textures and traces left behind in this environment. Sometimes my surfaces are weathered and full of delicate surface quality. Recycling materials is also very important in my work too. Found objects become sculptural elements, antique book pages are embedded in layers of paint, while concrete and laces co-exist. I create sculpture, collage, artists books and textile pieces, from vintage paper and antique textiles.