Our Community Development Worker, Ije, sat down with multi-media artist Jewel, whose work was featured in October’s Spooktacular exhibition at Sound Minds, to talk about her creative process, the themes that shape her practice, and the ways mental health and wellbeing inform her art.
Jewel Leanne Boothe is an emerging London based multimedia visual artist. She brings creative concepts to life with her bold use of colour and attention to detail. This is accredited to her passion for toy collecting, music and love for the colour pink which serve as key influences in the artworks she makes.
How does it feel to see your work displayed in an exhibition for the first time?
Seeing my artwork displayed in an exhibition brought a moment of gratitude and excitement, but also I could be very proud as an artist. You’re always working to the next briefing and always want to match the energy and the creativity of what you’ve previously done. But in that moment, I could be very present and appreciate the work I had built and the idea I was trying to sell had somewhat come into fruition.
What made you want to take part in this exhibition?
Well, I had done an exhibition here when we (Sound Minds) first moved up here to the art space and this was before there was any flooring. It wasn’t called the bloom gallery. At that point, we’d literally freshly moved in from downstairs. So at this point the exhibition offer was more spare of the moment, just showcasing some of the work I had done at that time, so there wasn’t really much prep or anything, or much thought behind it. That was more of a trial thing.
So this time, a few years later, when opportunity came about to use the exhibition space and do a solo exhibition, I knew I had these halloween characters and I thought that would be a great opportunity to challenge myself and hone in on a theme, produce multimedia concepts within this theme and bring forward the exhibition.
Which piece are you most proud of, and why?
I think I’m most proud of the photography – the photo montaging I created because I had an idea of the process, but I had never carried it out. So photographing the ceramic figures one sunny day in the summer, finding the right lighting and angles, so I didn’t capture my hands or myself in the frame, which was quite comical, but capturing them, capturing the ceramics in different lighting was a really nice task.
But also then I had a lot of photography I’d taken over the years, just things I found interesting, or places I’d been. I knew I wanted to merge the two, but I didn’t know how I could make the project, make the visuals come to life. In the end it was the small details that I really enjoyed, things like marrying up patterns or textures, or if there was a lighting cast on a figure from one angle, matching that to the scenery and the atmosphere of the photography – merging and blending to create something new, so that’s the part I’m most proud of.
When you were creating these pieces, what was the process like for you?
I worked with a lot of different mediums. It was very multimedia, and I don’t know if I completely intended for it to be as diverse as it ended up, but I really enjoyed the challenge of, okay, how can I bring this to life in a new way? How can I explore in this medium? What elements am I combining? I think that working on so many different mediums really allowed me to tap into my illustrative side, but also my fine art side, and meet somewhere in the middle. I think finding a way to make everything complement each other was very difficult. There needed to be some sort of coherency, but also I enjoyed that everything was very fresh and unique.
Do you have any rituals or routines that help you get into a creative mindset?
I think to get into a creative mindset I like to just start off by sketching, photographs from life, to just loosen things up and not worry too much about creating something amazing or unique off the bat, and usually the worst drawing of that bunch is one of the best or it sparks a new idea. So I think that’s a nice ritual to get and stay creative.
What themes or ideas were you exploring in your artwork?
The theme of Halloween, but also the comical side. There was a serious element in that the work was taken seriously, but on the reverse, I was being quite playful with the subject matter. You’d think it was very serious and there were lots of harsh colors or juxtaposing colours, but then every so often I’d soften it with finding a way to embark on some humor. I think what I really wanted to show was my love for Halloween, bringing in nostalgia.
A lot of the characters are inspired by things that I grew up with that stuck with me through childhood, so bringing in nostalgia, there were pop culture references. It commemorated a lot of my art journey. This was “crafts meet fine art photography”. There were drawings that only took five minutes, versus some of the clay work which I worked on for weeks and weeks… so really just exploring a lot of themes within myself as an artist, but also different art forms as well.
How does art help you express things that might be hard to put into words?
Sometimes we don’t really have the words to express emotions, and part of growing up is complicated emotions like being happy and sad at the same time. So being able to express myself through art is a really amazing thing, and I feel very fortunate that I can hone in on my talents to express sometimes the more joyous or difficult things that I may be going through at the time.
How has creating art supported your wellbeing?
It really does support my well being in that it’s a time for me to just check in with myself and unwind or change pace. I think when you’re creating, it’s giving you the option to build your own narrative and in life sometimes there isn’t that control, but you can take creative control in this outlet, getting lost in the arts.
Do you feel that making art gives you a space to process or reflect on things?
Art can give a space to just really tune in and ask myself, What am I feeling and or what is it that I want to do, or what is it that I want to achieve? I think that in art, there has to be a why. Why are you creating? What are you creating? What is the purpose behind it? And I found some of the most influential and best artists, things that have true or real meaning behind it, and those are the ones that are timeless and last forever.
What do you hope people take away emotionally from your work?
I hope people feel a sense of commonality within my work; find a bit of themselves or something that sparked happiness within them, or a fond memory or thought.I hope it brought on reflection, recollection and that they found a sense of belonging in looking at my artwork.
You can follow Jewel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jewel_leanne_art/
Jewel’s website: https://www.jewelleanneart.com/
