Interview by Susan Tebbutt
When I went to interview landscape artist Jude Evans in East Dulwich the conversation took a dramatic turn …
Jude grew up in Brighton in the 1950s and later moved to Worthing. The sea was on one side, the South Downs on the other; there were a lot of art books in the house and she was familiar with the National Gallery from an early age. Since moving to London in 1986 she has done a degree in Art History¸ done a Foundation Art course at Chelsea and more recently a one-week course at Central St Martins on Presentation for Creative People. In 2007 she had a joint exhibition in Scope Gallery in East Dulwich and is planning to submit work for the autumn Dulwich Picture Gallery exhibition. From the SLWA website I was familiar with her landscapes and admired the many on the walls of her flat. The conversation began somewhat conventionally:
Do you paint in the open air?
“No. I prefer to work at home. I’ve taken lots of photos of the sky and sea and South Downs. I look at a section and also look a lot at Turner and pinch his ideas! Normally I start working in oils straight away, using big brushes. Start with the horizon. Put in the basic lines. Usually I have several works on the go and keep going back to them, trying to capture a mood, create something visually exciting. I feel I’m a ‘Romantic’ at heart. ”
It was the next question that provoked an unexpected response.
Why do you never include people in your paintings?
“I don’t think they’re necessary for my landscapes. Figures would trivialise or particularise them and make them paintings of something specific rather than a mood. …
But I do have some paintings that might interest you. You might find them shocking …
I love the Old Masters and was inspired by the Saint Sebastian works at Dulwich Picture Gallery. This [image top], for example, just shows a small section with the arrows going into it. I love Baroque art, the heightened emotions, the ecstasy, the agony, the darkness of it. This second work [image, below] shows Holofernes and is based on Caravaggio’s portrayal of the beheading.
I’ve always been fascinated by beheadings! There used to be a penny slot machine in Brighton on the pier and the executioner chopped off Mary Queen of Scots’ head when you put in a penny, then the curtains came down and the head went back to where it was, so it could be chopped off again!
Maybe it’s a morbid curiosity! In the National Gallery you’re surrounded by people having awful things done to them! What I try to do is to focus on the most ghastly section! This third painting [image, below] is based on a small detail from Rubens’ Massacre of the Innocents.
I don’t know yet if this is a new departure or just a diversion. I’m still influenced by the Turner-esque elements in landscape, the underlying menace, such as the dark sea with its hidden dangerous depths. And the art historical thread has always been there: I’ve always loved works that were very dramatic, and used to be fascinated by paintings of beheadings and flayed bodies – I taught myself to draw by copying figures from the works of the great masters, so maybe I’m moving back to where I started.”
Time will tell whether Jude stays with the drama of landscapes or the more physical landscapes of drama!
Find more of Jude’s work on SLWA here>
