My art practice involves experimenting with various mediums, including immersive sculptures, community-based public art, and interactive digital works. Below is a selection of recent artworks and design projects I produced for exhibitions or as a commissioned work:
‘Urban Serenity’ will be exhibited in front of the State Library of Victoria (Swanston Street, Melbourne) on Wednesday 1st November (4-8pm). See you there!
How does pink make you feel?! Psychology research indicates the colour pink calms our bodies… join Jade this week to be immersed in pink and see how it transforms you! Her artwork ‘Urban Serenity’ bathes viewers in pink light, to create a moment of relaxation amidst the bustling urban landscape of Melbourne city.
Jade is fascinated by psychology theory and neuroaesthetics. For this project, she was inspired by psychological research finding an exposure to pink for more than 8 seconds induces a tranquillising embodied affect on individuals, encouraging relaxation and introspection.
The installation will comprise a captivating series of pink light sculptures strategically positioned on the transitory State Library of Victoria forecourt, bathing the audience in a soothing hue of pink light. Join us on Wednesday 1st November (4-8pm) to be bathed in pink and to discover your body’s reaction!
This project test was funded as part of the City of Melbourne Test Sites Program.
Immersive sculpture | 2022 | Thermoformed acrylic, citrus dichroic film, a dedo light, a turning mechanism, fishing line, brass eyelets, a speaker playing a looped 10-minute soundscape recording of the artist playing Tibetan bowls and a rain stick.
Jade’s work aims to inspire us to slow down and take time to observe beauty every day. This immersive sculptural installation titled ‘Distant Rays’ is inspired by nature and a memorable myth she was told as a child. Her grandma Dee explained that the striking rays of light stretching from the sun to the ground are the connection between Heaven and Earth, a cosmic axis.
Later, Jade discovered her grandma was referring to “crepuscular rays”. This incredible phenomenon often forms at sunset when light travels through broken clouds. The light scatters as it passes through particles in the atmosphere, reflecting blue and green wavelengths while allowing red and yellow hues to pass through. ‘Distant Rays’ is an imagining of what it would feel like to be inside a crepuscular ray.
Digital work | 2021 | Social media filter (Instagram and Facebook)
Instagram: instagram.com/ar/383633192777790/
Facebook: facebook.com/fbcameraeffects/tryit/383633192777790/
I am in Melbourne, but it is not Melbourne
I am in my home, but it is not home
I am comfortable, but I am not comfortable
I am alone, but I am not alone
I am alive, but I am not alive
I am sleeping, but I am not sleeping
I am moving, but I am not moving
I am living, but I am not living
This is normal, but it is not normal
What is normal?
Sculpture | 2021 - 2022 | 600 x 430 x 280 mm | Caster sugar, glucose syrup and water
Sugar is a material of contrast. It is a desired treat. It is a forbidden indulgence. ‘Forbidden Desire’ explores the duality between the beauty and sweetness of human life, which contrasts with its temporary nature.
The work is a small sculpture series of sugar vessels, and a time-lapse video recording their disintegration over twenty-three days. The concept was created through an exploration of material thinking (Carter 2004) and the vessels were formed through a novel application of glass blowing techniques to sugar.
Breath is the essence of life. Each vessel captures a single breath of the artist; Jade Armstrong. By blowing and expanding the liquid sugar mixture, eleven vessels were formed. These encapsulate a single minute in time, as Jade typically takes eleven breaths every minute.
The ephemeral nature of the work exaggerates the fragility of the material in a similar way as Anya Gallaccio’s ‘Preserve ‘Beauty’’ (Worsdale 1995). When initially formed the vessels were intoxicating objects, with detailed surface patterns, intriguing shapes, vivid colours and the subtle sweet scent of caramel. Over time the works melted into haunting forms until ultimately all that remained was a sticky residue of their original material.
Capturing the decaying sugar through a time-lapse video draws parallels to Sam Taylor Wood’s ‘Still Life’ and the narrative this creates around reflecting on the temporal nature of human life (Menegazzo 2015).
The political identity of sugar as material also contributes to the narrative of this work (Bolt 2007). Its melting is a reflection of the rich history of sugar which was once considered a luxurious and healthy food. However, through mass consumption and overuse, it has become synonymous with poor health and obesity. Our relationship with sugar today is a shadow of its former glorious past, which mirrors the decay of sugar in ‘Forbidden Desire’.
Interactive conversation-based workshop and board game | 2022 | Wooden board game with question prompts on each of the tokens
Our world is disconnected, lonely and full of surface-level relationships. ConnectUs is a bespoke game company creating conversation through play to connect the world.
The board game has been carefully designed using psychologists' research into forming meaningful human connections. Designed using Connect4 as a template, the game has conversation prompts written on each token. As you play, you ask your partner the questions written on each token. Thus, creating conversation and easy connection.
For more information, visit www.connectus.games
2021 | Stop Motion Video | Shown in the Melbourne Fringe Festival opening ceremony: Art Guides the Way
What do you do with 50,000 guide books when your event is cancelled due to lockdown? This is the question I was posed by Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Rise Again is the outcome of this. Using the pages of the guide books, it visualises the repeating and unquestioned life before 2020. Then the city changes dramatically and falls, mirroring how the pandemic has altered life in Melbourne, the city with the longest lockdown in the world. Finally, a phoenix rises from the ashes and flies away into a new life and the ashes read 'Rise Again'.
The pandemic has stopped and shifted our lives. But it has also given us the opportunity to reflect and grow. As we emerge from lockdown, I hope you will see the beauty in who you have become and rise again.
Installation | 2020 | 10,000 x 80,000 x 3,000mm | Metal scaffolding, yarn, bamboo, plastic tubing, plants, musical instruments and found objects
Installation created in partnership with the Slow Art Collective and RMIT Creative. The work centered around the theme of creating a welcoming space and sense of community.
Installation, videography and photography | 2020 | 1100 x 1280 x 1100mm | Pink rose petals (which dried over time), white cotton thread, tack and digitally presented photographs and images
This installation was created to showcase the drying process of rose petals over time. It was positioned in the bedroom to suggest connotations of femininity and romance. The room was staged, pink rose petals were hand-stitched with thread and secured to the ceiling, to further these themes.
The series of photographs includes photographs of the installation, as well as a digitally edited photograph. The latter was designed to confront the viewer with the transition from fresh to withered through the use of a mirror. This drying process mirrors the aging process of humans, thus the use of the mirror further brings viewers into the work. The additional images include detailed views of the installation, as well as a shot where the dried rose petals were turned upside down to create the impression that the dried petals are younger buds which have not yet opened. Again this plays with the viewers’ understanding of time.
Videos were also filmed to further explore the materiality of the petals, as well as to highlight the emotional impact created when sitting with the installation for a period of time.
Beauty’s Time Is Dancing captures the impact of air currents on the rose petal installation. The video was paired with and timed to Tchaikovsky's musical piece Swan Lake, Act I, No. 2, which is a waltz. The reason for this pairing was to further the theme of romance through romantic ballet music and to create a whimsical theme due to the joyous nature of the waltz.
Beauty’s Time Is Fading was filmed over twelve consecutive days, with a photograph taken every seven and a half minutes. In total 1,757 images were collected and collated to form this time-lapse. The video is played in chronological order and then reversed. This was to suggest the circle of life both in nature and humans. It was intended to mimic the ageing of a person which allows them to have children, grandchildren and further generations. In nature, this relationship appears through the petals and leaves which fall on the ground becoming the fertiliser for the plant again. The music was also timed to a piece from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Act IV, No. 29. This piece occurs when two lovers die in the ballet to be together in the afterlife, thus it creates for viewers feelings of death, romance and rebirth which tie into the overarching theme of the work.
Each of the works were carefully titled to capture their essence, as detailed below:
Overall exhibition: Beauty’s Time
Installation: Beauty's Time is Hanging
Videos: Beauty's Time is Dancing and Beauty's Time is Fading
Photograph series: Beauty's Time is Still
Installation | 2020 | 3000 x 3000 x 5000mm | Recycled cardboard, recycled newspaper, repurposed wood, organic flour, rainwater, natural ink (beetroot and soil), coloured LED lighting, repurposed Black Spruce essential oil, forest and construction soundscapes
Deforestation is the loss of trees driven by humans. Current estimates indicate that within 100 years all rainforests will be destroyed. This occurs in remote places which we rarely see, so the impact is difficult to envisage.
This exhibition visually represents the destruction of deforestation, by replicating the luscious forest and the aftermath of deforestation. The contrasting scenes are immersive in order to bring the issue into a local and relatable context.
Jade has handcrafted the installation using materials saved from landfill and sourced sustainably. No trees were harmed in the making of this exhibition.
Website and printed book | 2020 | Book: 143 x 199 x 7mm | Website, recycled 200gsm whiteboard, ink, plastic sheeting and thermal binding
You can visit this website here: http://thesilverlining.news/
The Silver Lining aims to share relatable stories where people found the silver lining in a difficult situation. It is hoped the artwork will act as a source of inspiration for viewers when they need it. This is being published at a topical time, due to the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
This artwork is a website and book which displays photographs and stories from Instagram which were hash-tagged '#silverlining'.
The data is continually collected by scraping Instagram posts which flow into the website. The website was coded using HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP. The printed book was then designed by collecting the top 50 #silverlining posts uploaded to Instagram 150 days after COVID-19 began.
Sculpture | 2020 | 270 x 1189 x 841mm | Bitter melon (peeled and baked), epoxy adhesive, print of a digitally rendered image
The small sculpture series Bitter Fractal aims to create an evocative feeling for viewers centring around materiality, mysticism and repetition.
The work was created through a deep exploration of the bitter melon fruit as a material. This was chosen due to its striking visual appearance, natural structure, and associations with culture, identity and migration when brought into an Australian context. The exploration of the natural structure revealed an intricate texture and vein structure in a specific section of the bitter melon skin. Jade was interested in the contrast between organic and geometric shapes, as well as the mathematical concept of fractals being the building blocks of nature with an endlessly repeating pattern. A digital recreation can be seen in the video on this page.
The artwork was created using thin peelings taken from a specific section of the bitter melon core. Due to the rarity of this section in the fruit, 21kg of bitter melon was harvested to create the sculpture series. Once harvested, the peelings were baked and dried. By using this process, the veins and fractal structure of the fruit became visible.
Sculpture | 2021 | 1,000 x 1,000 x 2,300 mm | Aluminium
I believe in a more mindful world. My purpose is to create art which inspires others to question societal norms and observe beauty in their every day; so they can live in a more conscious way.
My work is concerned with the passage of time, the materiality of nature and finding striking textures. I enjoy the process of experimentation and being surprised by unexpected outcomes. Themes I engage with through my practice include historical narratives, social observations and collective responsibility for the environment.
In this work, ‘Crinkle’, I played with traditional expectations of the metal form and created an opportunity for self-reflection. To achieve this, I shaped aluminium to mimic the aesthetic of a soft fabric, which contrasted with the hard metals we typically encounter. I presented the four circular forms in ascending order to suggest growth and the passage of time. By using the symbol of the circle, I also created associations of infinity and perfection. The reflective surface implicates viewers, such that they consider the finite nature of life and reflect on whether they spend their time consciously.
Vessel | 2019 | Aluminium, steel, grey agate and oak wood coated in varnish
Since childhood, Jade was fascinated by Ancient Egyptian mysticism and culture. The story of weighing the heart from the Book of the Dead captivated her on a visit to Egypt. It was believed that after death your soul was judged. The god Anubis weighed your heart and if it was lighter than the white feather of truth you could enter the afterlife.
Anubis' Scale was inspired by this story and intends to capture the awe and wonder it evokes. The design draws on the concepts of Canopic Jars present in mummification rituals, as well as the blood vessel structure of the heart. The piece self suspends to produce the illusion of the heart being lighter than a feather, and therefore its soul will enter the afterlife. Anubis' Scale serves as a reminder to live a good life, to ensure you have a light heart.
The artwork is a sculptural vessel, formed using silversmithing techniques. The piece was carefully designed from a single sheet of aluminium to interweave into vessel form. The metal was saw pierced, raised and finished by hand. Hundreds of grey agate beads were threaded onto wire to create the shape and reflective qualities of a feather.