Claudia Jowitt

Bio.

upon a substrate of deliciousness…

Repeated, meandering shapes, forms, lines and voids slowly grow upon and across the surfaces of these paintings. Drifting in clusters, each unit manifests its own unique pallor and tones that are sometimes refracted, sometimes layered. There are whites that become roseate, lemon yellow, mauve, pistachio green… recalling spun-sugar, marshmallows or sorbets. There are pockets and patches of colour, wiry squiggles, a swish… paint dashes and dabs as it travels across a surface.

A variety of techniques is used by the artist to create such works. Aside from an achingly icy, delicate and subtle palette, an expert and eccentric application is employed. Acrylic and oils are not only applied with a brush, they are pumped through icing bags, manipulated with spatulas, tile-grouting combs, kitchen implements and cake-icing sets. What is thereby made evident is a controlled spreading of substance upon supports, a piping, contorting, shaping and building up of paint on plane. Upon linen, panels and watercolour paper, impasto paint is deftly applied making explicit the physical processes of painting. Mark-making is made visible as little iterated gestures as well as a slather, massage, stroke or squeeze.

The result is painting as sculpture, faded rainbow-coloured elements assert themselves, thrusting themselves forth from their substrates. Shade and shadow are present, as is actual depth, a self-conscious play between projection and recession, layers and ground. An intricate filigree is formed in delicate and bewildering webs of paint.

Oscillating to and fro between quietude and audacity, each painting is winsome, creamy, pallid and viscous. Cloud-like shapes fan outwards, their growth patterns form a landscape that can be followed and read, stroke by stroke. There are bisected canvases, divisions, caesura as well as smooth motions, gentle echoes and resonating shapes. Prior gestures of painting with its lilting rhythms of movement and rest are captured- testimony to abundance, generosity and excess. Such confections with their floating, delectable multitudes can only invite enjoyment.

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Claudia Jowitt (b. 1989)  has a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts. Jowitt has exhibited locally and nationally in both private and public galleries. Recent solo exhibitions include: Liberal Application (Bath Street Gallery, 2016) and Goosh (Corban’s Estate Art Centre, Henderson, 2014). Work by Jowitt has also been included in curated group exhibitions such as: A Modest Addition (George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, 2015); Upside Down (Casbah Gallery, Hamilton, 2015); Pacific Materiality (Studio One Toi Tu, Auckland, 2015) and at the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair 2015. In 2013 Jowitt was included in the group exhibition Porous Moonlight at the Papakura Art Gallery, curated by fellow painter Imogen Taylor. Indeed Jowitt has engaged in many fruitful collaborations with artists and curators including Amber Wilson, Amy Unkovich, Rebecca Hobbs, Kara Wallace and A.D. Schierning. Jowitt was recently named the inaugural Tautai Trust Pacific Artist in Residence at the Dunedin School of Art at Otago Polytechnic and her works are included in the University of Auckland Art Collection as well as that of the James Wallace Art Trust.

For additional information and a complete CV please contact the gallery.

Selected Media.

  1. Feminine Painting / Painting Feminine: An Exchange between painters Claudia Jowitt and Amber Wilson
    Liberal Application, Bath St Gallery catalogue
    2016
  2. Libedral Application: Claudia Jowitt
    Review, Raven About Art
    2016
  3. Art Collector Alert
    Warwick Borwn, NZ House and Garden
    2016
  4. Five Questions with Artist Claudia Jowitt
    Artist Alliance interview
    2014

News.

  1. Claudia Jowitt | Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards
  2. Artists in Isolation: Claudia Jowitt
  3. Claudia Jowitt | This is a Library | Enjoy Gallery
  4. Artweek Auckland at Melanie Roger Gallery
  5. Claudia Jowitt | Art News magazine
  6. Claudia Jowitt and Patrick Pound | Painting: A Transitive Space | St Paul St Gallery
  7. New Gallery Artist: Claudia Jowitt
  8. An Occasional Rant | Female representation in New Zealand Galleries