Biography 

Jade Berry (b. 1997) is an aspiring young artist from Birmingham currently studying a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Painting and Drawing at the University of Northampton. Jade previously studied at Sutton Coldfield Collage for Art and Design Level 3 along with Fashion and Textiles Level 3 which later on lead her to continue her studies at University.  

 

Jade Berry is an visual artist who ventures into process painting and abstractionism inspired by artists such as; Jackson Pollock, Lynda Benglis, Alexis Harding and Ian Davenport. At present Jade is currently investigating materiality and mythology whilst accompanied by abstraction and aesthetics.   

 

Overall Jade’s practice involves experimenting with various materials such as; acrylic paint, acrylic sheet, resin and pigments to understand and explore their material qualities. Her research analyses the properties of these materials used, including how they react with one another as well as individually. Jade is interested in developing the boundaries of which these materials can be pushed, manipulated and controlled through applying various techniques.    

       

Jade’s current procedure is exploiting resin, a two part liquid compound which forms into a solid after a chemical reaction takes place. The resin is pigmented and poured directly onto acrylic sheets which have been cut and manipulated into various unconventional shapes. The cut acrylic sheet is completely submerged by the resin taking on the form of the shape, as well as creating drips and slippages which become static. The suspension of the material creates tension as it is being subjected to the will of gravity. The aim behind this work is to emphasis on the process and materiality of paint, questioning the border between painting and object forming a series of static object/paintings.   

 

Another main construct of Jade’s practice entails the exploration of process painting investigating the materials qualities as a means to how they are interpreted and understood directly. This explores a deeper matter of materiality within the paint and materials used through a variety of techniques and thought processes. The paintings are predominantly on conventional shaped pieces of wood which is polar opposite to the resin work. Similar to Jackson Pollock, Jade disregards the desire to view a picture as a window through the depths of an illusion but rather as a means to a picture as an object. Jade produces her process paintings directly off the floor using a turntable pouring, flicking and spinning out the paint. The resin is used as a topcoat to preserve the paintings as well as bringing out the colours, giving an aesthetically pleasing look whilst displaying the abstraction within the paint.  

  

The resin and paintings are captured in a ‘frozen’ flowing motion which can be seen as a static object/painting challenging the traditional painting. This shifts from traditional painting as a representation of something as a means to picture as an object, be it something in the physical world. Jade is fascinated by the uncertainty and vagueness these experimentations encounter as it ventures into the unknown of the painting world. At this stage in her research, she would like to broaden her understanding further on the materials qualities exploring the possibilities of various processes such as interruptions and breakages.