I came across Anji Jackson-Main during her exhibition at The Shop, in Cambridge, UK. I was also greeted by her beautiful dog Dante or “Danny”, who waited patiently in the exhibition space with her (featured in the picture, left).

Anji has worked as a curator, and is involved with the Changing Spaces project in Cambridge. She is currently studying a Master of Fine Arts at Cambridge School of Art.

Her work is immediately engaging and she is easy to talk to. Here is a summary of our conversation about art in general, her paintings, and thoughts about the viewer.

Paint has a wonderful history behind it. The paint has the ability to trap energy and time itself. Oil paint has that amazing quality, like having ancestors in the room with you.

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Warrior Dance

Boy

Immanence 1

Immanence 2

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Tell me about the ideas and techniques behind your paintings.
It’s on ongoing project. There are two avenues I’ve been researching: First the thicker more impasto type of painting, which I use to try to express movement, especially movement from dance. This is why I paint big to try and get the idea of movement in there.

The second way of painting is to overlay the paint with translucent layers.

I find Boy II very disturbing to look at, as it is so fragmented. Is there a darker theme behind it?
Boy II is based on Michelangelo’s La Pieta and relates to loss and mother’s losing their children. It’s about war and the effects of war, especially mother’s losing their children. It’s one of the hardest subjects I’ve worked on.

Why have you chosen to use the traditional medium of paint on canvas?
Paint has a wonderful history behind it. The paint has the ability to trap energy and time itself. Oil paint has that amazing quality, like having ancestors in the room with you. The history of the medium is part of its richness.

What do you think about artists not learning traditional techniques?
I think it is important for artists to learn to look and draw what’s around them. A lot of the problem with art now is that it has become an academic subject. I have a solid background in life drawing and painting techniques, which I think is important.

How did you find your first experiences of going to art college in the 1970s?
I had a talent for film, sculpture and installation, but I was told to sit in front of a canvas and paint about life. I hated it. Eventually, I decided to train in dance.

How do you feel about exhibiting your work? Does it make you feel vulnerable?
No, I’ve had any fears bashed out of me a long time ago, a bit like my paintings. I bash them around too. I really like exhibiting.

I’ve been studying philosophy and the idea of “the emancipated spectator”, how the spectator isn’t passive. For me painting is about the interaction with people. I like to exhibit to see what happens. What is the painting saying to them? I like to see how people react.

How do you work, what is your process for producing artwork?
I tend to bash the canvases around; put them on the floor, the wall.

My favourite format at the moment is the rectangle as its size directly relates to my body. I use lots of movement when working and have even taken the canvas off the frame when working.

I begin by coating the canvas with rabbit skin glue and then use oil-based primer with colour added.

I choose colours from plastic bags, as they are very connected to now. The plastic colours bring the painting to the contemporary world.

I am experimenting by not being controlled by the frame and developing the work outside the frame. The last two canvases I painted are exploding, whereas Warrior Dance is imploding. I painted Warrior Dance after experiencing a Prodigy concert.

Is there a crossover between painting and your experience of dance?
I think I would paint differently if I hadn’t had the experience of dance. There is definitely a crossover between the two.

I notice that in this space the works are hung quite low on the wall and when the visitor enters the space, they are immediately confronted with the paintings at the same level as themselves. How do you feel about the spaces you exhibit in?

I am thinking really carefully about the spaces I exhibit in and how to show my work. Paintings are a bit like a performance. I am working on bringing the idea of performance and painting together. Paintings are like actors, they are participants in a performance and viewers are part of the performance when they interact with the work.

I think the environment you work in reflects in my work. I live in an urban environment and I think I would paint differently if I lived in the countryside.

About Anji Jackson-Main
Anji Jackson-Main first studied fine art and film making at Sheffield Art College in the 1970s. Since then she studied the Egyptian dance form, Raqs Sharqi, in Egypt (Musiciens du Nil) and in London (Suraya Hilal), qualifying as a teacher of Raqs Sharqi in 1995, and formed Shamaal, a company specializing in traditional dance and experimental dance theatre productions.

She co-founded Salon Darbuka out of Shamaal in 2001 with a group of dancers, filmmakers and musicians, including husband Pete Jackson-Main and all four of her children.

Anji returned full-time to painting and visual arts in 2005, joining the first BA Fine Art course at Cambridge Art School, Anglia Ruskin University, to graduate with 1st Class Honours in 2008.

In October 2008 she was Co-Curator for the City Wakes ‘Syd Barrett’ project exhibited at the Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge.

During 2009 and 2010 she has been involved with the Changing Spaces Project with Cambridge City Council and Love Cambridge, which negotiates the use of vacant shop windows and commercial property for local artists to use as display and exhibition space; she has curated several prominent City Centre displays under this banner.

Anji is studying the Master of Fine Arts program at Cambridge School of Art.

You can see more about her work on her website www.anjijacksonmain.co.uk

Copyright
All images of Anji Jackson-Main’s paintings are copyright Anji Jackson-Main and have been included here with her permission. The image of Anji and her dog Dante is copyright Diane Ashmore.

Wanted: Fine Artists
Calling all artists. Want to showcase and promote your art and share your experiences with the world? It is totally free to do so. Drop me a line at talk[at]dianeashmore[dot]com or leave a comment below.