Devereux is a New Zealand-born contemporary artist living and working in Melbourne, Victoria.
His work is characterised by a unique vision that explores abstracted human forms and emotions, often in stripped-back compositions that create an intense focus on the subject. Devereux draws inspiration from minimalism, using only essential elements to convey his ideas, resulting in works that are raw, honest, and deeply personal.
Fenton & Fenton has had the pleasure of sitting down with Jack to chat about his creative journey and inspiration behind his Good Times collection.
Jack, tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be an artist.
Firstly I think I was very lucky to have a mum that did not put any pressure on me to follow any specific career path, and a father that was a photographer who is a very open thinker. I’ve been working as an artist for 10+ years now – I have been able to conquer the imposter syndrome through my stubbornness and an itch to doodle.
In the beginning, I had a strong shield of confidence.. but that slowly wears off, I’m now more interested in creating work that I think is beautiful and speaks to me.
What is a typical day in the studio like for you?
A lot of trial and error, running constant experiments, and trying to keep that curiosity. The difficult thing about being an artist is trying to maintain output, when art is very non-linear. I try not to put too much pressure on the end product and trust that experiments find a place.. or not.
What is your creation process like? How do you conceptualise and think about each piece?
The artwork mostly builds on itself as I progress through the work. It often starts as a loose sketch and from there I create a story around it. I’m a really big fan of happy mistakes, or lucky breaks when I’m creating, they help inform where the work goes.
You tend to experiment with different materials and methods - drawing, printmaking, paint & impasto to name a few. Can you tell us what interests you in mixed media art making?
Every medium has a different feeling, I use different mediums like a Ctrl-Alt-Delete when I feel stuck. I try to stay very open to different mediums, there's so many things I can learn, so I love to test as many as possible.
Can you tell us about the work you’ve made for Good Times?
The central thesis of this collection is ‘dreamscapes’. I’m fascinated by dreams, they weave together without self judgement or understanding. Whether they are meant to inform you or not I love the idea that you can learn from them what you want. My artworks are built as they go along, with no blueprints, hopefully a little like dreams.
