OFFICIAL OPENING I SATURDAY the 28th of JUNE, 6pm till 8pm
SHOWING DATES I 28th of JUNE till the 16th of JULY, 2025
ARTIST BIO
Newcastle based painter Jessica Gilbert is known for her intimate depictions of everyday life. Her figurative, expressionist works are a vessel for her to access her emotions, as well as to work through and discuss the complex feelings that come with love, loss and change.
Jessica has been a practicing artist since 2020, when life changes led her to study at Newcastle Art School. From then, she has participated in numerous group shows at various local galleries. She has been a finalist in many prizes, receiving Highly Commended in the Hunter Emerging Art Prize (2022), Fresh Talent award for the Foundation Club Prize (2022), and People’s Choice in the Blackstone Gallery Works on Paper Prize (2021).
Jessica was a studio artist at Newcastle Art Space, and through NAS, was paired with James Drinkwater through their Mentorship Program. With Drinkwater’s guidance, Jessica had her first solo show “Spinster with Cats” at Blackstone Gallery in July 2023.
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saudade
Portuguese [soh-dah-juh]
English [/saʊˈdɑːdə/]
a profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that might be forever lost, the recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or people that once brought joy, pleasure & well-being but now make one experience the pain of separation, a deep emotional state of nostalgia for what once was, but will likely never be again.
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A STATEMENT BY JESSICA GILBERT
This exhibition will be centred around reflections of change, loss, grief, loved ones, our homes and the objects we are surrounded by, the passing of time, moments of quiet thoughtfulness. This work is a processing of the past few years, the exercise of painting being a cathartic action, the telling of a story.
Saudade is a collection of my most emotionally vulnerable works. These paintings are based around massive change and loss.. the importance of those pockets of joy found in friendship and community.. balance between sorrow and living your life as well as you can.. the things we keep around us and why.. the mess (literally and metaphorically) we find ourselves in when we're too broken or busy to fix our situation.. the souls, places, or objects we cherish. The name of my exhibition absolutely captures the spirit of what I'm hoping to convey.
Anyone who knows me, or has followed my posts through the past year has seen that it has been a time of grief, change, and growth (interchangeably, and in no particular order). Making Saudade has been an important process for me to make sense of it all.. the end result, to share it and have that visual conversation with everyone. Also as a reminder that I have made it to this point despite feeling perhaps the most hopeless & lost that I ever have.