So it’s Come to This – Scott Jackson

In So it’s Come to This we traverse the subconscious worlds of Scott Jackson. Thick with mysterious symbols that obfuscate and evade definite meaning, these works present a world with its own wild visual language and cryptic code. The figurative forms that inhabit the scenes are caught in the flux of their own dream states, giving the works a feeling of mutability, volatility and mysticism.

I haven’t really felt obliged to follow any laws of physics or real-life logic when these scenes start to form on paper; I like to tap in to letting my mind wander and work it out as I ramble along… – Scott Jackson, 2019

The rambling nature of the methodology behind these compositions reflects the instability of his imagined worlds. Irregularity is worked into the paper through a randomness of medium – bleeding shellac and scratchy ink. Variation in line gives life and stark definition to hair, shadows and outlines. The artworks emerge from their rippling backgrounds like illustrations of sequences from dreams.

So it’s Come to This – although this may be a bleak or resigned statement, Jackson chooses to have a bit of fun with his art. Reflecting the absurdity of human life and psyche Jackson responds in turn with a kind of dark surreal humour. His voice and style is striking, abrasive, grungy, confusing but overall compelling and provoking.

Lyttelton-based artist Scott Jackson’s practice falls into a triangular space formed by pop culture (from pre-historic through to contemporary), speculative fiction and the psychology around the subconscious and dream worlds. This ‘neverwhere’ holds a rich creative compost from which Jackson’s work takes root. Jackson uses drawing, printing-making and painting to express his often dark but often humorous illustrations of society and the human mind with all its ambiguities. Jackson has long operated within the art world, working for artists and institutions, applying his printmaking to commercial design and making his own distinctive ink drawings. His work is held in private and public collections in New Zealand and beyond.