Beauty in the eye of the beholder

By Sonia Isaacs

MALENY based artist Jessica Ainsworth is set to launch her newest exhibition ‘In the eye of the beholder’ at The Zone Gallery later this month. Gloriously colourful and rich in subtext and whimsy, Jessica’s latest body of work is primarily an exploration of how we all view the world differently.

A figurative expressionistic, Jessica seeks to capture the vastly unique variations of what constitutes beauty and attraction - be that of something tangible like a flower or animal or abstract like poetry or an addiction to pain.

With 21 new pieces on show, Jessica said she had been busy working on this upcoming display since her last exhibition in September 2022. Speaking with GC&M News, Jessica explained this was how she worked best; by finishing up a previous exhibition and then refocusing on a completely new direction with a clear head, a clean canvas and a new and inspiring outlook.

She explained she had been inspired on her most recent artistic adventure in initially contemplating the concept of the Hawaiian word ‘Makia’ which can be roughly interpreted as ‘The world is what you think it is’, and therefore it can be as simple or as complex as you may wish it to be.

Jessica said she felt this concept permeated almost every aspect of life from every decision made to every relationship entered into and so on, and this idea both fascinated and confounded her.

“For a long time this thought has both intrigued and perplexed me and with this in mind I was reminded of the quote, ‘Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder’, which I then chose to be the focus of this exhibition,” explained Jessica.

Sharing an insight into her process, Jessica said before commencing a painting, she invariably spent time just thinking about the subject, not so much about colour or creative technique which often spontaneously came later, but more so sitting with the ‘energy’ of it.

She said “The boldness or force will depend on what connection I personally have with it, which funnily enough I may not be fully aware of till the completion of a work. I also enjoyed researching, by asking friends the question ‘What do you find beauty in?’, and I was often delighted and surprised by their answers which then in turn inspired me to go deeper into my own interpretations,”

Jessica said her latest creative journey has reminded her of the uniqueness of perspective, meaning and values we all hold as humans. She said her new body of work has reiterated that as a human something may just hold particular meaning for her and not for others, and that was ok.

“The trick as I see it, is to not only allow others to have a different point of view, but to also be open to flexibility of thought and not become too rigid in my own thoughts. We all choose to see the world a certain way adding colours and textures that vary from one person to the another depending on our life experiences, environments, and inherited family histories. I like to think my paintings can mean different things to different people which sort of sums up what this exhibition is all about,” said Jessica.

‘In the eye of the beholder’ opens on Saturday June 24 from 5pm-8pm at Zone Gallery, 89 McCarthy Rd, Maleny and runs from Sunday June 25 to Wednesday June 28, 1pm-4pm.