JESSICA ALBARN

Within my work I explore states of mind expressed through an empathy with what I am drawing . I feel the subject matter through the drawn line and project myself into it. In the case of the spider the symbolism of the great and terrible mother lies deep in our psyche. I am interested in what evokes arachnophobia. By getting up close and drawing out the beauty in the untouchable I achieve a better understanding.

The work that I have chosen for Lost in Beauty is a selection taken from a larger body of work completed over the last 3 years...

After college Jessica Albarn began exhibiting and was a founder member of the then Northbank Gallery in London, run by a collective of artists. Soon after however, she became pregnant with her first of two children. She continued to paint and draw, but found that her children inspired a different route for a while, Brainbow, an Interactive Installation for Children, with which she was a finalist for the British Female Inventor of the Year Award.

Over the last few years she has concentrated almost exclusively on drawing, returning only recently once more to oil paint. She has exhibited extensively around London and in all sorts of galleries and venues, venturing from a 17th century Look out Tower on the cliffs of Essex to most recently in Stockholm. This latest show followed a limited edition book ‘Bee-headed’, published by Cederteg Publishing in Sweden.

Jessica has collaborated with Modus Design Co. on an Art Carpet which was launched at the Milan Design Festival and the Best of British show at Selfridges, London last Year.

Up and coming projects include a children’s book written and Illustrated by her which is due to be published by Simply Read Books next Autumn.