Raised in rural Alabama, Jamie Earnest is best-known for her paintings and sculptures that explore themes of classic southern virtues that exist at odds with the collectivist, exclusionary narrative of southern hospitality. By employing specific symbols and narratives, Earnest attempts to come to terms with her own southern upbringing, which often feels contradictory with the social climate of her home state. She completed her BFA at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. Recent exhibitions include Exclamation Point, Union Hall, Denver, CO; Thicker Than a Sticker, Vulcan Materials Gallery, Birmingham, AL; Heat Wave, Cindy Lisica Gallery, Houston, TX; Memory Palace, Equity Gallery, New York, NY and Private Spaces and Public Personas, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA. The artist lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA.
Published on March 3rd, 2024. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What are you working on these days?
While I haven’t been able to physically work on my practice this year, I have spent a lot of time reading and writing about my practice. This year was spent reading many books including South to America by Imani Perry, Heavy by Keise Laymon, and Empathic Vision by Jill Bennett. I am about to begin a big commission for a client that I have been looking forward to–a painting focused on the ‘otherness’ of queerness by encompassing the vastness and ambiguity of the color blue from our natural world.
What has been going well for you in your art career and life recently?
This year I’ve dealt with medical issues that have kept me from being able to work in studio. I originally was incredibly frustrated that I couldn’t get back into studio, I felt guilty for not being able to paint. However, I’ve been able to find it to be a blessing. Taking care of my physical health is the first step to being able to continue my studio practice. Though I wasn’t able to physically paint, I’ve been able to spend a lot of time reading and writing about my practice. This has really allowed me to get in touch with the empathetic side of my practice–really being able to think about the emotions I want my work to emit.
What is something new that you have discovered this past year that is meaningful or helpful for you?
I’ve found it incredibly meaningful to take care of my physical health in order to be my best self within my studio practice. This definitely took a lot of patience, which was difficult to deal with in the beginning. It was rough to have to turn down projects because I couldn’t work in my studio practice. I’ve really come to appreciate that being an artist is a marathon and not a sprint. Patience really is a virtue.
Briefly walk us through your process of making art or thinking through a new project, focusing on what's most important to you as you create.
I often gather literary references, of things that I have read or am currently reading to inform a series of writing. This is mostly a stream of conscious writing that then leads to visual ideas that become my paintings. Language is an incredibly important piece of my practice. I’m exploring themes of classic southern virtues that exist at odds with the collectivist, exclusionary narrative of southern hospitality, of which comes from literary reference which I then create notes and a kind of stream of consciousness writing from. Through this I am attempting to come to terms with her own southern upbringing, which often feels contradictory with the social climate of my home state of Alabama. I often find myself saying “An awareness of southern hospitality’s chronic emptiness evokes disappointment so deep, it must also conjure love. Love for my neighbor, love for the uncomfortable process of mourning, and love for a future yet to come. To love the south is to see with clear eyes both its horrific darkness and its warm light, and to spend a lifetime of work trying to make sense of both."
Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
I look forward to getting back in to my studio in 2024 with a newfound patience. I am excited to have a whole new body of work to share next year–and a few other special projects. My immediate artist community was incredibly supportive over my hiatus this year, I want to remind everyone to keep your community close and confide in them. If you’re not communicating your fears and insecurities, or self-doubt, it can be so difficult to get past them. I am so lucky to have an amazing circle of artists who I have been able to turn to this year as I’ve adjusted to a studio hiatus.
What are you working on these days?
While I haven’t been able to physically work on my practice this year, I have spent a lot of time reading and writing about my practice. This year was spent reading many books including South to America by Imani Perry, Heavy by Keise Laymon, and Empathic Vision by Jill Bennett. I am about to begin a big commission for a client that I have been looking forward to–a painting focused on the ‘otherness’ of queerness by encompassing the vastness and ambiguity of the color blue from our natural world.
What has been going well for you in your art career and life recently?
This year I’ve dealt with medical issues that have kept me from being able to work in studio. I originally was incredibly frustrated that I couldn’t get back into studio, I felt guilty for not being able to paint. However, I’ve been able to find it to be a blessing. Taking care of my physical health is the first step to being able to continue my studio practice. Though I wasn’t able to physically paint, I’ve been able to spend a lot of time reading and writing about my practice. This has really allowed me to get in touch with the empathetic side of my practice–really being able to think about the emotions I want my work to emit.
What is something new that you have discovered this past year that is meaningful or helpful for you?
I’ve found it incredibly meaningful to take care of my physical health in order to be my best self within my studio practice. This definitely took a lot of patience, which was difficult to deal with in the beginning. It was rough to have to turn down projects because I couldn’t work in my studio practice. I’ve really come to appreciate that being an artist is a marathon and not a sprint. Patience really is a virtue.
Briefly walk us through your process of making art or thinking through a new project, focusing on what's most important to you as you create.
I often gather literary references, of things that I have read or am currently reading to inform a series of writing. This is mostly a stream of conscious writing that then leads to visual ideas that become my paintings. Language is an incredibly important piece of my practice. I’m exploring themes of classic southern virtues that exist at odds with the collectivist, exclusionary narrative of southern hospitality, of which comes from literary reference which I then create notes and a kind of stream of consciousness writing from. Through this I am attempting to come to terms with her own southern upbringing, which often feels contradictory with the social climate of my home state of Alabama. I often find myself saying “An awareness of southern hospitality’s chronic emptiness evokes disappointment so deep, it must also conjure love. Love for my neighbor, love for the uncomfortable process of mourning, and love for a future yet to come. To love the south is to see with clear eyes both its horrific darkness and its warm light, and to spend a lifetime of work trying to make sense of both."
Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
I look forward to getting back in to my studio in 2024 with a newfound patience. I am excited to have a whole new body of work to share next year–and a few other special projects. My immediate artist community was incredibly supportive over my hiatus this year, I want to remind everyone to keep your community close and confide in them. If you’re not communicating your fears and insecurities, or self-doubt, it can be so difficult to get past them. I am so lucky to have an amazing circle of artists who I have been able to turn to this year as I’ve adjusted to a studio hiatus.
Find Jamie Earnest on Instagram