Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Walker.
Hi jade, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up with an artistic mother who supported art making as a way of life, so my journey started young. Making art feels like a thing I have always done. My grandmother and mother should have been artists. And were… although would not consider themselves so. They shared with me the love of color, art materials plus gave me all the space I needed to explore. As a teenager, I worked at a vintage store in Ybor City, FL which sparked my attraction to fabrics, clothing and honed my talent for management. Each summer I returned to help run Uptown Threads and learn a bit more about how garments shape us. I could run my fingers through bin of clothes and pull out the Lillie Ruben circa 1946 with my eyes closed. I received a BFA from The University of Florida and then followed that up with an MFA from The University of Texas at Austin. Art school gave me the tools I needed and a deep respect for the artists that came before me, especially women that were pioneers in the field of sculpture. My time in school also provided me a community of fellow artists that still fill my circle. From so many of them, I am inspired always. I have taken various jobs in arts administration after graduate school, each one giving me a unique perspective of an artist’s path. I had the privilege of being the inaugural director of the Visual Arts Center at UT Austin and ran the gallery for ten years. Working with such amazing artists over the years such as Diana Al-Hadid, Amanda Ross Ho, Christina Sun Kim, Michael Sieben and Laurie Anderson helped shape my practice. I loved problem solving, wrangling students into the projects, and working with a super inspiring artist team.
While running the gallery, in other positions with non-profits, or working with other artists in their studios, my own practice was always in operation. I have enjoyed solo projects at the Lawndale Art Center in Houston and the former Austin Museum of Art plus more recently exhibitions at Dimension Gallery, the Museum of Pocket Art and upcoming The Elisabet Ney Museum and Women and Their Work. I also love working with other artists and beloved curators. With independent curator Leslie Moody Castro, I have made work for the Facebook offices in Austin and am now working on a big installation for The Bartlett Project outside of Austin. I have gained lots of experience assisting artists through my roles at institutions or in volunteer positions with the Art is Public Places Program for the City of Austin or with Austin Art Alliance. My studio practice has grown so much by recently moving to Canopy on the east side and working on some public arts projects outdoors. I am always looking for the out-of-the-box opportunities for my work as it seems to be the place it best fits.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are always challenges when piecing together a career that is not a straight shot. Some years my practice went on the back burner, like the ones I was working many hours at the gallery and we had small children in the house. Starting a family, maintaining a house and doing all the things that are required of people can be difficult. There were times when I asked myself how I could take time away from my job or my family to fulfill my interest in making crazy sculptures that had no destination. Then I realized that I needed to make the art to keep a dialogue going, to explore the idea that I could not shake, or communicate something that words could not touch. My struggles now are how to share the ideas that I find very heavy in my artwork with a sense of hope and possibility. As an artist, I do feel it is among my responsibilities to help make change happen. Art that can do that.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Many of my artworks end up being hung in the privacy of collector’s bedrooms. I have also been placed near restrooms in large group shows. I have had work purchased and returned after the owner decided it made them feel too uncomfortable. These all remind me that the work is walking the line I strive for…familiar empathy and even longing with a strong dose of convulsion.
In my recent work, I explore the resistances we have to acknowledging our own bodies, considering how we can locate healing and mending in our physical forms. Our difficulty physically connecting with others parallels the ways individuals interact in society. The way our bodies hold memory requires traumas to be shoveled out through somatic approaches: for example, identifying a visceral sensation around a material, or instinct to flee upon seeing a stockpile of weapons, indicates a personal history, important to address. I ground my work in this kind of body location. Sometimes threads of memory are located in my work in the form of easily-recognized objects that seem mundane but are packed with notations from home or childhood. I rely on practices that challenge the viewer’s ideas of fiber-based traditions and materials, combining industrial materials with handicraft or layering fabric as a skin or topcoat to objects not generally identified as organic: i.e. an iron weight from construction can stand-in for a muscle or arm when paired with a knit lung. In my mind, these combinations personify an object while helping identify the shape, weight and form of our bodies.
My studio is filled with piles of antiquated medical equipment and text books, images of prosthetics as well as fabrics, plastic-cast body parts and so much thread. I draw with a needle, and most of my work walks a line between cozy and alarming: we want to reach in and touch the work’s soft surface, but we might be afraid that what we confront connects us to our bodies, inducing a stomach churn or recoil. I ask how we can feel a social and historical accountability if we are not able to locate the tensions between bodily sensations and our actions? What is the best course for healing if the hurt is not physically located? These are the questions that keep me creating art.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am proud to say that I am artist that is organized and also grateful. When I was curating art exhibitions…this was a winning combination. I am also a very hard worker and committed to my art practice. This return to the studio – ALWAYS- is why I am still making art even as I homeschool three children under the age of 10, run an active Air B and B and maintain an exhibition schedule. My studio practice is just that… a practice that evolves as I do.
Contact Info:
- Email: jadeloriwalker@gmail.com
- Website: jadewalker.org
- Instagram: jadewalker_studio
- Facebook: Jade Walker
Image Credits
Robert Boland
