Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jackie Leishman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jackie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I was living in Paris for a study abroad program and happened upon a Mark Rothko exhibition. I was not familiar with his work as I had not really studied much about art. As I was walking through the exhibit, I was struck by how much I felt standing in front of his paintings. I was overwhelmed. I had no idea art could move me or anyone for that matter like that. I knew I wanted to learn more and have more art in my life. It changed the trajectory of my life.
Jackie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a collage artist. The world is collage to me. What happens at the edges and among the layers, where two different materials or ideas meet — that’s where I’m drawn. I have bins and bins of paper and scraps in my studio. It is important to my process that I not use virgin working materials but rather fragments of older work and found materials. Something from
something. Beauty from ashes. It’s also important for me to show the sometimes-raw joints,
the roughness of their coming together, to be candid about the process of layering and to leave the hand of the artist apparent.
I love making art. I love the challenge of trying to find a way to use the visual language to explore the way I see and move through the world. To use these physical media to express what I have articulating with words. I get inspiration from literature, poetry, nature, conversations.
I often work with interior designers to find or make the right piece for their clients. I enjoy that process. No two of my pieces are the same. My process is one of constant discovery. Collage is endlessly fascinating and I plan on doing this for the rest of my life.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I want to make the best work I can. I love being surprised by my work. And I think Robert Frank sums it up the best, “When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.”
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I think they hardest thing about being an artist is that there is a lot of rejection. Be prepared for that. And get to a point where you know why you are making this work. It is great when others love it, but also do it even if they don’t. Do it because you have to.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jackieleishman.com
- Instagram: @jleishmanart
Image Credits
Tessa Neustradt for 10WhiteHouse1 image Nathaniel de Gala for my portrait image. All other images by me