When you first encounter the work of Craig Jefferson, you’ll notice the thick strokes texturizing the canvas, the bold reds that interact with soft pastels, and an abstract yet immediately recognizable figure – such as a chair or face. It’s Jefferson’s distinct style that forces your consciousness to do more than notice a mottled representation of an object in his oil paintings. The color palette makes us aware of an emotive energy in these images, and the crude strokes show us the movement of creation, energizing a still life.
The idea of movement leaps from the painting and embeds itself in the observer’s experience. And this transportation was Jefferson’s intention all along: “that was the reason I entitled this body of work Through The Figure,” he tells the us. “The paintings and drawings are not an end in themselves, but an open door to look more deeply. The figures aren’t merely figures but rather vehicles to take us from one place to the next.” The vehicle of Jefferson’s art transports viewers from a state of shallow observation to one of instinctual feeling and connection.
Jefferson, originally from Scotland but currently residing in Northern Ireland, didn’t land on his Through The Figure concept on the first try. In fact, it’s an ordinary part of his creative process to rework and reconceptualize. But as much as he skillfully manipulates the colorful oils on the end of his brush, the art tends to form and announce its own intentions. “My artistic process is one of discovery,” Jefferson explains. “Although I go into a painting with ideas, those ideas don’t define which way the painting will go. If I contrive a work like that it tends to lack substance. It may be skilfully crafted and impressive to look at, but I want my paintings to be more than that. The really good stuff comes from the subconscious mind and the heart. It’s deeply felt, intuitive and directed by the imagination.”
But to surrender control to the creative process means that directions aren’t always clear, patience is necessary, and a definitive conclusion may be as ill-defined as Jefferson’s own spurious brush strokes. “In my paintings it means continual reworking and scraping back as the arrangements of colours and shapes work themselves out. Continual losing of the image and re-finding it. Changes of palette, changes of narrative, turning the canvas upside down and starting from scratch. It’s a frustrating process.” A weeks-long process that can be completely upended by a mere “brush stroke too far,” he tells us.
“People ask me when a painting is finished; I suppose it never is. But at some point you have to have the courage to stop and allow it to be open-ended.”
The immersive, contemplative, and resonant character of Jefferson’s work so inspired Sum that it was selected as the cover art to our inaugural issue. “Craig’s work takes us deep into the process of image making itself: of both manipulating paint and being manipulated by it,” says Rachel Turpin, Sum's founder. “The raw, wild and liberated energy of his paintings forces you to question what you think you’re looking at, and invites you to look at the hidden energy tucked away in the everyday.”
While Jefferson’s paintings may take weeks of purposeful contemplation and engagement with the oils and canvas for the subconscious to reveal itself through the art, interacting with it comes as simply as breathing, if you take the time to look. “We have all been made differently and all have different ways of engaging with the nature of reality but it’s something we need to do. There really is something there when we look - when we really look - it is not just a bunch of chemicals and chance happenings. It is not superficial and empty but rather it is beautiful, personal and full of meaning and there is a sense that we were made to respond to it. Nature buzzes with the fingerprints of its creator. It speaks to those who want to listen, and on listening we make better sense of who and why we are.”
Craig Jefferson’s work will be on display in a solo exhibition at the Stafford Gallery in Wimbledon, London from Feb. 10 – 24, 2019. Visitors can view Jefferson’s work from the past two years, and he is currently working on a book to coincide with the exhibition. You can keep up with Jefferson’s work on his website, or follow him on Instagram @cjeffersonart.
See more of Craig Jefferson's work featured in Sum's inaugural issue, Echoes here.