Caroline Larsen & Roxanne Jackson: Double Vision

Caroline Larsen and Roxanne Jackson have joined forces at The Hole for a new exhibition that is an explosion of color – the visual escape we all need during an otherwise grey New York winter. Featuring Larsen’s “woven” oil paintings and Jackson’s irreverent ceramic vases, “Double Vision” is a dream collaboration between two artists who have been working as creatives in different mediums throughout their lives.

We had chance to catch up with both artists (virtually, of course) to talk more about their work up to this point – their journey, their inspiration, and advice for other creatives – below:

Q: When did you start creating?

Roxanne Jackson: Always! Or at least from a very young age. I grew up spending much of my time drawing; one of my earliest memories is of my dad drawing weird cartoons for me to fill in — he would complement how well I stayed in the lines (so good craftsmanship was emphasized to me from the very beginning). He also made sculptures from found objects. He was always making, always building something. This had a huge impact on me as it demonstrated the validity of creativity and working with your hands.

Caroline Larsen: I have always been into making things! I was really into Lego when I was a kid – it was just the squares and rectangles then. I did after-school art classes when I was in primary school and always loved it! My high school had a pretty robust art program where we were able to take night classes at Ringling College of Art and Design. 

Q: Did you always think you would be an artist? What has your path to becoming an artist been like? 

RJ: Absolutely. Yes. 100%.
Even though I grew up making art much of the time, when I went to undergraduate school, I studied botany. This choice had a lot to do with my lifestyle of many years, working as a river guide in the summers and a snowboarding instructor during the winter season. As a river guide I mostly worked on rivers throughout California, but I also guided in Alaska and Nepal. In addition to navigating the white water, this job included the role of being a naturalist — educating the guests on the riparian environment. I was interested in ethnobotany and found that sharing medicinal and other practical uses of plants with people was a way to make them feel more connected to the land, something I believed was a crucial and essential part of my role as a guide and educator.

CL: To be honest, I resisted as long as I could. I started out in undergrad at Alfred University doing the foundation program, but found it too isolating in that part of the state and transferred to a school closer to my family where I studied political science. One night I met a friend on a city bus and he was in the Fine Arts program at the school, so I started taking classes in Fine Arts too! I loved it and changed my area of study. When I graduated university I didn’t understand how to be an artist – I  didn’t know how or where to rent a studio, I didn’t have any money! I was the president of the Society of Fine Arts in my last year of school and the woman who was the president before me had taken a job teaching in Japan, so I thought I would do that too. I applied to the JET program and moved to Japan for a little over a year. After Japan I moved to New Zealand and went to school to become a high school teacher. After a few years I moved back to closer to my parents and got a job doing some franchise training... all these jobs were not really for me. I enrolled in graduate school to become a landscape architect, but during the first week of school I took a trip to LA to go to an opening of a friend of mine and thought to myself – “I could do this! I could be an artist.” I flew home and withdrew from graduate school and set up a studio in my parent’s basement and just started there!

After I decided to really focus on being an artist I tried to work as hard as I could and learn as much as I could about other artists working around me, I would see every show I could, and would check out as many websites and blogs as I could find.

Q: Caroline, you’ve been referred to as a “weaver of oil paint” - what drew you to this technique and this medium? From where do your color palettes derive? 

CL: It's a painting technique where I weave the paint! It's a bit of an optical illusion, you can see examples of this in my mountain paintings. 

I use all the colors! I love color. 

Q: Tell us about your paintings that are currently on view as part of the “Double Vision” exhibition at The Hole.

CL: This exhibition expands upon my Longwy Art Deco vase series that I debuted at The Hole two years ago in “Kaleidoscopic” (2019) with proliferating vases and flowers. Most of my work features not-quite-mirror images of two vases of flowers with psychedelic backgrounds. I love all the work in the exhibition and I am super happy with how our work fits together so fantastically. I even painted one of Roxanne’s vases into one of my new paintings.

Q: Roxanne, tell us about your process as a ceramicist... what do you need in your studio to get in the flow of making? 

RJ: I listen to a wide range of music — usually I play energetic music in the studio, but sometimes, or often, music can be distracting to me, because I just get way too into whatever I'm playing. For instance, I may have to play a specific song over and over again, I may sing it too loudly and that interferes with my sculpting, or I get sidetracked by googling the lyrics (and sing 'karaoke" style with myself).... So, I mostly listen to podcasts. It's like someone is just telling me stories while I'm working. I also need that cup of coffee.

Q: Tell us about your new “Lips Vases” Series at The Hole.

RJ: My series, Lips Vases, are reverent and irreverent, inspired from both a love for, and a critique of, ceramic traditions. Vases with kissy lips, protruding tongues and grimacing smiles revealing gold teeth, are an absurd take on the utilitarian vessel. Juxtaposed with the ornate motifs of cobalt blue, these vases are derived from the Dutch tradition of Delftware. 

At first glance the viewer notices vases that seem familiar, ubiquitous. But Lips Vases are laden with elements to discover: a wad of gum on the rim, a spider hiding under the cobalt foliage, a pot leaf. What was once pretty and unassuming becomes unpredictable and surprising. 

Photo by Josh Simpson Photography.

Q: What was the best part of putting together a show with another creative?

RJ: Caroline and I have been casually talking about showing our work together, in a two person show, for a couple of years. Lips Vases are a relatively new series for me and it makes sense to show them with Caroline's paintings. Our works paired complement each other because we both use the vase as a point of departure. I also think that we both agree that the word "craft" is not pejorative, and that thinking about historical craft is fodder for our work; it gives us something to explore, to exploit and (dare I say) to celebrate!

CL: Oh, it was so much fun! The gallery is so great and helpful and Kathy Grayson is so supportive and the three of us had a great time working on the concept and the install together. 

Q: What advice would you give other creatives who are still finding confidence in their craft, or are thinking about becoming full time artists but haven't yet? 

RJ: Keep making is the advice I'd give. I'm also a professor of ceramics and this role informs my artwork. In fact, I've been teaching ceramics online since the start of the pandemic and this is what really opened me up to coil building vessel forms, as I had to modify the way I teach to make it feasible for online learning. So I am a full time artist and also a ceramics professor ;)

CL: The more work you make the more confident you will be! And don’t listen to the haters – surround yourself with positive people! 

Caroline’s favorites...

Favorite thing to wear... I like dresses and shorts and tank tops.

Favorite place to find inspiration...  The MET

Favorite city... New York City and Mexico City

Favorite album...  I don't really have a favorite album! I love dance and pop music.  

Favorite book... I don't really have a favorite book either, I listen to “books on tape” in the studio and the last one I was really into was called “American Kingpin” it is about the Silk Road and it was so good! Sometimes I will “book club” with my dad and listen to whatever he is reading! 

Favorite way to disconnect... I never disconnect! It's probably really unhealthy! I am phone, computer, TV, phone all day every day. 

Favorite thing to do when you're not making art... I love going to the gym and before the pandemic I really loved to travel. I also really like to eat and have a slight shopping problem!  

Roxanne’s favorites...
Favorite thing to wear.. Right now, yoga clothes, studio clothes and sweats!
Favorite place to find inspiration... The wilderness
Favorite city... NYC of course (But I also love Berlin, London and Tokyo!)
Favorite album... My head just kind of exploded from trying to answer this. It's too much to narrow down my favorite music to one album!!! (insert head blow up emoji here)
Favorite book... This is also tough but I'm going to say The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
Favorite way to disconnect... Bath and a book (and an edible)!

Read more about “Double Vision” on view at The Hole through February 14, 2021 here.