Roxanne Jackson

Roxanne Jackson is a ceramic artist and mixed-media sculptor living in Brooklyn, NY. Her macabre works are black-humored investigations of the links between transformation, myth and pop-culture. Press for her work includes The New York Times, Whitehot Magazine, Beautiful Decay, The Huffington Post, Hyperallergic, Gothamist, Sculpture Center’s Curators’ Notebook, Ceramics Monthly, Ceramics Ireland and New Ceramics, among others. She is the recipient of residencies at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, the Wassaic Project, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, the Ceramic Center of Berlin, funded by a Jerome Project Grant, and the Pottery Workshop in Jindezhen, China, funded by an NCECA fellowship. This summer Roxanne will be a resident at PLOP residency in London (UK), followed by her residency at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan. Jackson has exhibited widely, nationally and abroad, with recent exhibitions at The Hole (NY), Cob Gallery (London), Anonymous Gallery (Mexico City), Garis and Hahn (LA), Kunstraum Niederösterreich (Vienna), Mathilde Hatzenberger Gallery (Brussels), and Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Denny Gallery, Regina Rex, and SPRING/BREAK Art Fair in New York, among others. She looks forward to an upcoming two person show at DUVE Gallery in Berlin, “Karma” with painter Oli Epp. Jackson is the co-founder of NASTY WOMEN, a global art exhibition and fundraising project, and Heather Metal Parking Lot, an elaborate heavy metal event sponsored by the Wassaic Project.

Interview with Roxanne Jackson

Questions by Andreana Donahue

Hi Roxanne. What were some of your early experiences with art or art-making while growing up in California?
From a very young age, my dad drew weird cartoons for me to fill in — and he would complement how well I stayed in the lines (so good craftsmanship was emphasized to me from the very beginning). He also made sculptures from found objects; he was always making, always building something. This had a huge impact on me and I followed suit. It felt natural to me to make and I would do anything from drawing and collaging to building outdoor ‘land art’ —often I ripped up my mom’s raised garden bed, to build landscape structures that housed the various caterpillars, tadpoles or snails that I would collect, tend to and feed.

How did you transition from your initial interest in botany to pursuing a career as an artist? Are there connections for you between these two fields?
When I was an undergraduate student studying botany, I was also a river guide. I mostly worked on various rivers throughout California, but I also guided in Alaska and Nepal. In addition to navigating the white water, this job included the role of being a naturalist — educating the guests/clients on the riparian environment. I was interested in ethnobotany and found that sharing medicinal and other practical uses of plants with people was a way to make them feel more connected to the land, something I believed was a crucial and essential part of my role as a guide and educator.

To offset my scholarly studies of science, I started taking some studio art courses. This began with painting and drawing classes, including a tedious scientific drawing course. Eventually I signed up for ceramics and once I started working with this material, I realized that I found my medium. The 3D realm was overwhelming to me, the intuitive and malleable properties of clay, gratifying and addictive. Ever since that ceramic class, I have worked with clay consistently.

I absolutely think these fields are connected. The process of me splaying open some of my pieces, like the sculptures from the Wild Mineral series, has a direct relationship with dissection and pulling apart plants in order to identify and study them. Moreover, my undergraduate degree in science has a formative influence on my artistic practice — one that involves meditating on how the natural world influences myth, folklore and pulp/horror vernacular.

You’re currently based in Brooklyn. What are the most beneficial aspects of living and working in this community? Do you have access to any resources, archives, or collections in New York that you find to be invaluable?
Living in New York is an amazing place to be as an artist because one is surrounded by exceptional art and, there are quality gallery and museum exhibitions happening all the time. Also, I find that the majority of the artists here work really hard and that is both inspirational and contagious.

Can you tell us about your current studio in Bushwick? Do you have a typical work routine these days?
I have a live + work space in Bushwick but, due to the COVID situation, I fled the city three weeks ago. I am currently staying and making clay work in rural Ohio at my friend’s DIY residency program. It has been a restorative experience, being able to create sculpture surrounded by nature.  Also, with much more time available for the studio, as deadlines (for shows and etc.) are all being pushed way back, studio time feels much more nurturing. Even though things are scary right now, as we enter a new global reality — collectively many of us are being asked to slow down and to take a breath.

Your visual language is inspired by a wide range of sources - from geology to neo-shamanism to 80’s hair metal. In your otherworldly sculptures “deviant forms are reinforced by vibrant, lustrous glazes — achieved through layering surfaces and multiple kiln firings.” Can you provide some insight into your dynamic and unpredictable approach to ceramics, as well as your relationship with the inherent risk involved in the firing process? 

(Excerpt from my most recent artist statement:)
My work aims to blaze a new path to reinvent craft and disrupt historic ceramic sculpture. By approaching ceramics from many different directions, using a variety of materials and techniques, I exploit this medium, question conventional notions of beauty and find beauty in the unexpected.

These sculptures are created by a series of ceramic practices that mimic geology, as clay morphs from a malleable material into a hard one. The firing process, adding an element of heat, further parallels metamorphic rock formation. Glaze is applied, melting and crystallizing onto the surface, like igneous rock. Deviant forms are reinforced by vibrant, lustrous glazes — achieved through layering surfaces and multiple kiln firings. This sublime relationship between the natural world and ceramics has informed the imagery of my sculptures. Conglomerate-like animal heads are cut in half to reference a geode. They transform into something else — like a head that petrifies and crystallizes over time, morphing into a mineral, a fossil or a pearl. The interiors of these flayed heads are an amalgamation of decorative elements, geometric shapes and alien-like textures; they seem otherworldly. 

You “aim to invent a new mythology by creating uncanny, distorted and psychedelic forms. These metamorphic ‘mystery objects,’ escape a single unified narrative.” In what ways is your work informed by ideas related to ritual and myth? 
My sculptures are created through an exploration of form, by sculpting mashup compositions, extracting traits from both highbrow and lowbrow culture and maneuvering fire and fluxed glaze. These shapeshifting sculptures evolve and unfurl, revealing gems once hidden. There are collisions of nature and fantasy, the absurd, the playful, the ironic and the grotesque.

Some of the pieces are candle holders, some are shrines, with an oversized hand holding different minerals as an offering to the viewer. Other pieces have a surface treatment of “tattooed” skin, covered in strange symbols and other sculptures are heads splayed open, exposing an unexpected interior. With these efforts and this visual language, I aim to allude to this idea of a ‘new mythology.’

Maximalist “Monster Paws” like Pizza Face and Black Magik display vibrantly manicured stiletto nails and cradle curious objects such as candles, magic mushrooms, or dislocated eyeballs in their palms. Can you talk about the genesis and development of this series?
In 2013 I made my first Monster Paw titled Ice Ice Baby. This ceramic sculpture was of a gorilla paw holding an ashtray, which was a concave cluster of crystals. I was thinking about how gorillas used to be killed, so their hands could be turned into ashtrays purchased by tourists — the most harrowing kitsch ever. Be grateful for the pioneer Dian Fossey for her remarkable spirit and activism. At any rate, my intention was to build this one sculpture, but I’ve been making these massive paws ever since. This body of work of oversized hands are from various feminine beasts (mermaids? Sasquatch?). We never get to see her face, or the rest of her body — leaving us to contemplate and fill in what is not present, as well as how a disembodied hand came to exist.

(Here is an excerpt from my Artist Statement:)
In my series Monster Paws, oversized paws/hands are cutesy and chubby, or creepy and gnarly. These beastly claws are always adorned, with excessively manicured nails decorated with French tips, rhinestones, gold luster or glitter. These ostentatious hands hold various items from a crystal shrine to magic mushrooms, or from a spiny shell to a slimy slug. Mouthwatering details of piece of Nigiri sushi, or a slice of partially eaten birthday cake (cherry with chocolate frosting), never looked so tawdry and tempting. And, a once innocent slice of mushroom pizza transmogrifies into the hideous skull of a melting-zombie-pizza face. Furthermore, I reference this exaggerated decor by making utilitarian objects, such as candle holders, to further subvert the traditions of the ceramic medium. 

Over the years you’ve attended many artist residencies, including the Shigaraki Ceramic Sculpture Park in Japan last summer. What did you focus on during your time there?
I made several new pieces in Japan last summer at Shigaraki Ceramic Culture Park. It is a magical place and an amazing environment to create work. I experimented with several different types and colors of clay bodies and regional glazes. Pizza Face is one of the sculptures I made there. I was thinking a lot about the impact anime has on Japanese culture; it is ever-present and I saw the influence of it in the ceramic work created by other resident artists. When traveling through Japan to cities like Kyoto and Tokyo, I visited several Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, gardens and palaces and I could see how anime came to be, from this aesthetically rich culture. I was also able to make connections between depictions of Buddhist deities and attributes of certain anime characters.

This inspired me to make Pizza Face — a melting zombie slice of pizza face. Originally from the east bay in California, I always loved the graphic skateboard art of Jim Phillips. Bulging and bloodshot eyeballs on colorful zombie skulls seemed a good fit for my work and, I was curious to see how this style would translate into clay. I think the illustrative quality, heightened by the colorful glazing, works well in three-dimensional form. This cheesy slice is held by the Monster Paw of a hungry antagonist, covered in red-rimmed yellow eyes.

How much of your work is planned out in advance and how much is intuitive and experimental? Can you walk us through your overall process?
When I start building a piece, I have a vague idea of what I want to make (I don’t draw first). For instance, I make a lot of “bat” heads, but the finished piece may be hard to recognize as such. I work from images, in something akin to a mood board. While sculpting I will glance at multiple images of various depictions of a bat, from photographs of realistic bats to stylized bat tattoos. I take a lot of liberties as I respond to the clay, making a lot of stuff up as the sculpture evolves. This process keeps me fully engaged, as I don’t know what the end result will be. 

You frequently pair mirrors, seductive glazes, gold chains, and rhinestones with absurd and grotesque subject matter. In what ways do these seductive surfaces inform or accentuate the dark humor of your work?
I think showing my pieces on mirrored surfaces reveals something else to the viewer; the reflection exposes the ‘ghost’ of the sculpture. Adding other elements can provide levity to the work —  I think this is important to offset the grisly image of a Monster Paw. This acts as a more accurate reflection of culture, as we humans have many characteristics including intensity, darkness, absurdity and humor.  Gold chains, rhinestones and fur also tie these feminine hands to modern day and pop culture. Furthermore, the use of mixed media breaks away from a traditional approach to ceramics, an interest which is always there for me.

I understand that you worked closely with London-based painter Oli Epp in preparation for your recent two-person exhibition at Duve in Berlin. How directly were you responding to each other’s ideas? Did this experience significantly shift your practice in any way? 
Oli is Co-founder of PLOP residency in London and he invited me to be a Visiting Artist in August, the month prior to our show opening. In that month, we each made three pieces in tandem. Our goal was to work this closely with one another, in frequent dialog about the work, so that some pieces would share visual clues but also so that each of us would step beyond our comfort zone. For instance, Oli made a painting about a cat fight, based on a splayed cat head sculpture I was building. A favorite duo of works that came from my time in London is a painting by Oli called Cabaret, where one of his creatures with bright red lips is wearing a leopard print leotard. This hung in the gallery next to my sculpture of the stylish Becky, with her pop art lips, bleach blonde wig and leopard print blouse.

In 2017 you co-organized the Nasty Women exhibition (and Planned Parenthood benefit) at The Knockdown Center in Queens. Can you tell us more about this ambitious curatorial endeavor and its global impact? Can you share your thoughts on building community and the importance of supporting other artists?
The Nasty Women Exhibition I did alongside Executive Producer Jessamyn Fiore, and a great crew of people including Caroline Wheat, Liz Nielsen, Young Sun Han, Angel Bellaran, Barbara Smith, Clive Murphy, Haley Shaw, Aimee Odum, Victoria Keddie, Stephanie Stockbridge, as well as almost 200 volunteers, was an epic exhibition! The amount of people it took to pull off this grand gesture is a testament to what can happen when you work together for a common cause; we supported one another by sharing the art of hundreds of women and by providing community to each other during a time of crisis (#notmypresident).

This exhibition took place prior to the Women’s March and presidential inauguration of 2017, showcasing the art of nearly 700 female identifying artists and raising $42,000 for Planned Parenthood in this four day exhibition — a sold out show with no artwork priced over $100. With additional auxiliary programming from the Knockdown Center, which organized various panels, events and speakers, the total money made during this exhibition was $50,000 for charity. Read more about that here: http://nastywomenexhibition.org/

What are some non-visual works of art - from literature, music, or film - that are important to you?
Oh geesh — too many things to mention here! I listen to lots of different types of music including metal (hair metal and contemporary), dark wave, rap and hip hop, R&B, electronic, Sanskrit/Hindu mantra music (aka yoga music) and more. I watch a good amount of sci-fi horror, classic films like John Carpenter’s The Thing and Ridley Scott’s Alien, I also love new shows like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Stranger Things (of course). One of my favorite authors is Cormac McCarthy and some of my favorite books are his Blood Meridian, Margaret Atwood’s The Maddaddam Trilogy, Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middle Sex and Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song.

Can you tell us about a few meaningful artworks or objects you live with?
I have a lot of art in my space either purchased or from friends, as trades or gifts. I’ve also collected much art from traveling overseas. In addition to these scared objects, I have acquired weird shells, gemstones, minerals and other natural objects, as well as ceramic kitsch — these are often displayed alongside each other. Throughout my space, there are various shrines and/or mini, modern cabinet of curiosities. One of my favorite pieces, new to my collection, is an amazing and expressive French Faience of a ceramic (kitschy) cat.

What are you working on right now in the studio? What’s next for you? 
I am currently working on a mythical ‘dragon’ sculpture; this piece will be in three parts, in the style of a Loch Ness Monster, the three parts being a head, a hump, and a tail. The floor will act as the water for this large-scale piece. This piece is going to a show in Austria at the Schlossmuseum. Social distancing has allowed me a lot more time to build work, as I have less distractions, and this is good for me to be able to really focus on building at this scale, and adding more elements and details (maybe too much!). I may take a break once this "dragon" head is finished, to make something else, like a feminine Sasquatch head floor piece or something else (stay tuned!!!).

To find out more about Roxanne Jackson and her work, check out her website.