Jacq Laurenson, visual artist
Born in Perth, Western Australia, a small coastal city of endless beaches, isolated by an expansive red desert and a strong ocean breeze. Locals call ‘Western Australia’ – WA (‘double u aay’) and when I was a kid, people would go ‘over east’ and then come back to ‘WA’.
Specifically I grew up in Cottesloe in the 70s. Back then it was a laid-back beachside suburb with surfers and fishermen. Our family life was always about going to the beach. I remember on hot days in the summer, running on the white sand to dive in the water before my feet were burnt, the Indian Ocean, deep indigo blue and turquoise.
When I was young I didn’t know anything about colonisation, or the fact that the land I grew up on was part of ‘Country‘ that the Whadjuk Noongar people had been the custodians of for a very long time.
I left school in the late 80s, and like many the bright lights of the big city lured me over to the east coast of Australia. Sydney was where I learnt about the city hustle, an exciting time of rebirthing myself, freedom of expression, discovering a whole new way of living and having many different friends. It was there I developed a career in graphic design, Film & TV.
Monkeys & mangoes
At 49, I moved to Rio de Janeiro, after years of being ‘apaixonada’ (in love) with all that Brazil has to offer. The cultural diversity and vibrancy of the people, the music, the colours, the wild tropical forests and of course the monkeys.
I live in Santa Teresa, up on a hill where there is still plenty of jungle. It was here that I started my art practice, at a time when the world was at the beginning of a big change that now seems like only the tip of the iceberg. That time though has many good memories for me, it was mango season in our street and all the various types of mango trees were so laden with fruit that the monkeys would visit everyday outside my window to gorge themselves.
‘Mango manga’ was one of the first paintings I did and while my practice has evolved from then I still love the feeling I get when I look at this work.
What’s the blog about
• art practice and processes – what’s working and what’s not
• transcendental thoughts
• guidance and reflections from the forest
• creative practices to help us all keep evolving
This blog is about art and creativity, and how they can free our spirit and keep us feeling joyful.
Artist website
See more visit www.jacqlaurenson.art
I honour the original indigenous peoples of this area [called Santa Teresa]; Tupiniquim, Puri, Tupinambá, Guaraní, the true guardians of this land.
