The Making with Jai Hart
On December 12, 2024, Essex Art Center's Executive Director, Monica Lynn Manoski, and Communications Manager, Mariana Martins, traveled to Concord, MA, to visit with artist Jai Hart as she prepared for her upcoming two-person show, which will open at Essex Art Center on January 18, 2025.
Monica Lynn Manoski: Jai, Mariana and I are so glad to be here with you in your studio. I always like to start somewhere near the beginning so that we can get a sense of your background. Can you share some of your earliest creative memories or anything from your childhood that shapes your process or who you are as an artist today?
Jai Hart: That's a really great question. I was adopted from South Korea. When I was three years old, I was found wandering. And the act of wondering and discovering the world has become an important part of my creative process. Allowing myself to get lost in my work, not knowing what's on the other side, is often how I work.
Mariana Martins: It's interesting to hear your story. Seeing your works, I can see a child's wandering imagination. The sense of scale makes me think of what the world looks like through a child's eyes.
Monica: Yes, absolutely. Your process sounds very intuitive then. Looking at some of your recent works, I wonder do you have a vision of what the finished work might look like or any guiding ideas that you begin with, or do the forms take shape as you're working?
Jai: Both. I often have an idea of what I'm trying to make or a guiding idea, but there is always freedom within the process where I allow myself to play. The images and ideas always change from what I think will happen. I welcome the surprise, and I enjoy the magic of the transformation because that takes me to new places and leads me into the next piece.
Monica: In your most recent works, there is a repetition of rainbows, cats, and figures dancing. Can you share what these images mean to you and how you made the transition from some of your previous work that is more abstracted?
Jai: I sketched out three small tube figures on the back of some banking statements back in February of 2024. I forgot about them until I was at DNA artist residency in Provincetown, MA., where I was working in a huge studio space with large walls. I remembered the sketches and asked my husband to locate the paper, take a photo of the sketch, and send it to me. I was curious how the tubes could hold a playful figurative gesture. Would it work if I pushed it into being blatantly figurative? I imagined them much larger than they are, but I wasn't sure how that would hold up. I began both of these forms at the residency. I don't know if I would have ever actualized the girls except for the opportunity to work in a larger space. The girls represent the need we all have to play and experience joy. I see cats like complicated people. Cats are often manipulative—they rub up against you, coxing you, and buttering you up! They can also be skittish and like to hide, but when cats feel safe, they can be very playful and interactive. I see the kittens as an expression of playful interaction. And rainbows appear when the sun is coming out. They're magical, and I wanted to add that magic to the work as well.
Monica: Now that you say that, I see all the figurative elements you mentioned.
You call your earlier works "scrim paintings." Can you talk about how you transitioned from working with semi-transparent material and stretcher bars and having four rigid sides to the work you're making now, which often completely breaks free from that structure and utilizes stuffed tube formations?
Jai: Yes. The scrim paintings—because of the transparency of the fabric stretched on square stretcher bars—the shape of the structure itself became so apparent, and the work became more about the frame itself. I found myself pushing against the squareness. I would paint over the frame to try to camouflage it, or I would take it out and try to reform the composition so it wouldn't be so much about the frame. And because the material I was working on was translucent, you would also see the wall. And so I started playing with the back of the painting as well, wanting some of the white to show through, but not a lot of white. With these works, I learned to really push the color. When I wanted to move away from the stretcher bars, I started forming PVC pipe, which allowed for more flexibility and a greater variety of form. But it was a lot of work to heat the PVC pipe and shape it. Switching over to creating soft canvas tubes has made it much easier to create my own forms, be intuitive, and not have to plan everything out beforehand. My work now can be a lot more playful.
Monica: You refer to your works as "shaped paintings." I have found myself calling them "painted soft sculptures." Do you have a preference, and do you consider yourself more of a painter than a sculptor? Is that delineation at all important to you?
Jai: I see these as shaped paintings rather than sculptural paintings. The sculptural-like formation and the painting have equal weight in my mind. The painting informs the shapes, and the shapes inform the painting. Oftentimes, as I paint on canvas, I pin and shape the edges of my painting simultaneously. I don't call my work sculpture as I tend to see sculpture as something that is freestanding and formed into and within itself fully contained. If these were sculptures, the act of painting would be secondary. Perhaps decorative or only serving the sculpture. Within my process, painting is essential to the work, and framing is equally and simultaneously a part of the development. I am constantly re-adjusting the tubes (which I think of as framing) as I paint, and vice versa. At times, I cut into the painting to separate or pull apart the painting to add additional tubes and open spaces or boundaries within the painting. The painted and sculptural elements must merge together. As I work, I am a servant to the paint and the edges. They tell me what they need and want to be.
Monica: You have some work on the studio floor at the moment. It is a work in progress that is a collaboration with Timothy Kadish, who you'll be showing with at Essex Art Center. Can you talk about that collaborative piece and what you're most excited about with the upcoming show?
Jai: I'm excited to collaborate on this piece. I love the textures and the colors that Timothy created. The piece is strong, and it's intense. I'm excited to go in and break it up. Timothy's paintings tend to be more hard-edged and geometric. Mine are soft and relaxed. I'm excited to see how our two styles can play together.
Mariana: Have you found it challenging to collaborate?
Jai: No. I'm excited that we're doing this. It's been fun, and it gives me an opportunity to Timothy and go over to his studio and see what he's doing.
Monica: I love that, and I'm so grateful that the two of you have really vibed with each other and connected with each other's work. What are you thinking about and working on as we lead up to the January installation?
Jai: Just trying to make a few new pieces and finish up the collaborative work.
Monica: That makes sense, and I think is a perfect place for us to end. Let’s let you get back to it.
Jai Hart + Timothy Kadish's exhibition opens at Essex Art Center on Saturday, January 18, 2025, with an opening reception the following weekend, on Saturday, January 25 from 12:00 - 2:00 PM.
Create with Jai and Timothy
Wednesday, February 12, 2025 from 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Closing Celebration:
Thursday, March 13, 2025, 7:00 PM
Performances by Greater Lawrence Fellowship of the Arts
Gallery Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday: By Appointment
Saturday: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
