Jemima Wyman, artist
You always have the answer ...
While many of us may have spent our childhoods wishing away the years until we achieved grown-up status, it’s only as adults that we realise what a gift it is to see the world through the eyes of a child. Contemporary artist Jemima Wyman has tapped into that sense of wonder and magic to create a vibrant and thrilling new exhibition, Pattern Bandits. Kaleidoscopes, camouflage, paisley and tie-dye will converge at the QAGOMA Children’s Art Centre from this Saturday April 5, when kids and kids at heart can marvel at Jemima’s interactive Spinning Wall Mandala Portal, explore the Harlequin Hallway and become part of a moving pattern at the Kaleidoscopic Tessellations station. Splitting her time between Los Angeles and Brisbane, the QUT-trained artist blends mediums like installation, video, performance, photography and painting to explore themes of interconnectedness and group identity. The Weekend Edition caught up with Jemima at QAGOMA to talk childhood dreams and words of wisdom.
What do you love about LA life?
In no special order – friends, my collaborator Anna Mayer, my partner’s cooking, my partner, street food, being extended in a whole range of ways, driving on the freeways when they’re not congested and the art world community.
And what do you miss about Brisbane when you’re away?
My family, friends, the texture of the air, the bird sounds, the bugs and teaching at QUT.
What can we expect from your upcoming exhibition, Pattern Bandits?
A kind of architectural crazy quilt composed of five room-sized interactive installations that feature pattern. The patterns used have a relationship to social camouflage, and how groups use pattern to stand out or blend in. Some of the patterns included are based on tie-dye, paisley, the keffiyeh and various camouflage like animal, dazzle and military. The exhibition offers a space for children to make their own bandana and perform. They can also design spinning wallpaper and participate in a life-sized kaleidoscope, rearranging patterns to their heart’s desire.
The exhibition will be treating Brisbane youths to a dip in the art world – can you remember any of the artworks you produced as a child?
Making was very integrated into my everyday life as a child; I don’t remember ever not creating things. I do remember a period in which I was drawing in intricate detail the imaginative internal structures of houses.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
An actress based in Hollywood – I guess I was right on the ‘A’ and the rough geographical location!
Can you remember the moment when you realised you had what it takes to make it as a professional artist?
There was a memorable moment when I travelled from Mackay to Brisbane to participate in a five-day workshop and exhibition for the The Education Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Art in 1994. In the workshops, I met a student who was an anarchist punk, another who read Karl Marx and another who was into surrealist poetry – that was when I decided I wanted to be in contact with more of these people. I had found my tribe, in a way.
You work across installation, video, performance, photography and painting – do you have a favourite medium, or is that like choosing a favourite child?
I work with ideas and it’s actually the bouncing between all these mediums that keeps the practice energised and interesting for me. I can tackle the ideas with different modes of making and presentation; this keeps it all rolling along.
Your most recent work explored the visually based resistance strategies used within protest culture and conflict zones. Can you tell us a bit more about the series?
The shorthand answer is that I’ve been researching different groups that use patterned fabric and/or masking as a device to have power in a situation where they’re voicing collective concerns. Often in these situations, anonymity is necessary to avoid persecution. This work started in 2008 looking at the Zapatistas and their strategies. More recently, the work has been investigating strategies used by the Free Pussy Riot movement, the Occupy movement, the Anonymous group, black bloc and protestors in the Arab Spring.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement so far?
I enjoyed being included in the Sydney Biennale in 2010 – mainly because visiting the Biennale as a young artist in 1998 was a formative experience for me. The Biennale is one of the few contemporary art pilgrimages you can do in Australia. And then, more recently, I was also included in the Liverpool Biennale.
What’s the biggest challenge for a professional artist?
Long-term financial insecurity.
Who are some emerging Australian artists we should keep an eye on?
Brooke Ferguson, Erika Scott, Ruth McConchie and Anita Holtsclaw.
What influences and inspires your work?
It’s a long, interconnected web of people, artworks, images and research that started seriously back in 1995.
What are your essentials for a well-spent weekend?
Spending time with my partner, making artwork and taking a walk.
How do you define ‘success’?
Anything that gives you the feeling of contented amusement.
What are your words of wisdom?
You always have the answer: just be sensitive and confident enough to ask yourself the question and follow through with appropriate actions.
FAVOURITE WEEKEND SPOT TO:
Perk up … Café De Leche in Highland Park, LA.
Relax … Hankook Sauna & Spa, LA.
Dine … Chung King Restaurant, San Gabriel, California.
Shop … Society of St Vincent De Paul Thrift Store, Lincoln Heights, LA.
Catch up … GOMA Cafe Bistro, South Bank.
Be inspired … Hammer Museum, LA.