When Juliette Loughran, founder of the Loughran Gallery, was on a visit to one of her client’s apartment, it took one simple glance at Jessica Zoob’s work to be sold. Drawing ideas from dreams and memories, the incredible talent has been coming into her own over the last few years.
She’s already exhibited in a successful solo show hosted by Loughran Gallery called ‘Dancing with Colour’ last September, been the featured contemporary artist at London Design Week, been commissioned for work by The Lancaster’s Hyde Park and NEOBankside, and has showcased her collections in a number of different spaces and galleries, including South Bank and The Medici Gallery. From March 15th – April 5th*, she’ll be joining the roster of artists represented by the Loughran gallery – including Damien Hirst and Blek le Rat – for a brand new exhibition titled ‘Sprung’.
Zoob is also a traveller. She’s spent time exploring the depths of China and Indonesia during her university years, where her love for beautiful, dream-like art grew and inspired her craft further.
SUITCASE caught up with the very talent behind it all to find out what she admired the most from her time away, her favourite techniques, and where she sees herself in five years time.
SUITCASE MAGAZINE: Hi Jessica! Thanks for taking your time to speak to SUITCASE. We love your work – it’s pretty different. What first fascinated you about the idea of ‘dream painting’?
JESSICA ZOOB: I am always trying to create work that allows people to lose themselves within it, letting their minds wander and perhaps recognising things from their own dreams or memories.
I love to look up at the clouds on a sunny day and see so many images ‘painted’ on the sky, I suppose that’s where I got the idea of painting evocative dreamscapes, where people can keep seeing different images as the light changes or their eyes focus in different ways.
SM: You utilise quite a few mediums in your art. What would be your favourite?
JZ: My favourite is definitely oil paint; I adore the depth and richness of the colour. I use water based paints when I want metallic or iridescent details, and that can be very magical too.
SM: Is there anything that’s influenced and inspired your work the most?
JZ: I really do see beauty everywhere, often in the most unexpected places, a tatty old wall in an alleyway with peeling posters, graffiti and stains or oil spills on a puddle, and I try to reflect back the beauty that I see. Obviously living in the countryside I am hugely influenced by the gorgeous delicate landscape of Sussex and the chalk framed sea.
SM: Describe your artistic style in three words…
JZ: Playful, evocative and layered
SM: We can see that you’ve travelled a lot during your university years. How important were those travels to your work today?
JZ: My time spent as a student in China has influenced me enormously both as a person and as an artist. It made me so grateful for my freedom, which is so easy to take for granted in the West. Also the way the artists use inks, the incredible skill and confidence of the marks and the subject matter and colours of their gardens are interwoven into many of my paintings still today.
SM: You spent time in Indonesia and China. What about these countries do you love the most?
JZ: The magical delicate offerings to the Gods that are scattered everywhere in Bali and Java is probably my favourite thing about Indonesia. China was an entirely overwhelming experience but the one thing I will always carry with me was the tranquillity and beauty of their gardens.
SM: Do you see yourself living anywhere else in the world?
JZ: Definitely not, I love living in England.
SM: Your art is showcased all over the world. Where has been your favourite place to show?
JZ: Actually my work is in private collections all over the world but I have only exhibited in this country. One day I would love to take a collection back to China as I really feel my journey as an artist began there.
SM: If you could join forces with any artist, who would it be and why?
JZ: I would love to work with Banksy, I adore his work, his modesty and his generosity. I also feel really strongly that art shouldn’t be elitist and should be able to be shared.
SM: Where do you see yourself in five years?
JZ: I hope to be living on a remote farm, creating a haven for wildlife and painting everyday!
*Sprung will take place at 7-9 Tryon Street, Chelsea, SW3 3LG.
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