Here are some answers to questions viewers have had. I will try to answer as many as possible.
xo -Jackie
1. "Who did you view as your biggest competition throughout the show?" I knew from day 1 Miles would make it to the final three, but I felt like if I earned one of the other two spots I could beat him - I felt his work didn't suffer much from the time constraints, whereas if I had more time it would have made a world of difference. In the beginning I viewed Ryan as pretty direct competition due to the similarity of our styles. At the end, I didn't know what the final challenge would be but I thought it would come down to me, Abdi, and Nicole vying for the other two spots... and Abdi pulled through that challenge.
2.) "What food did you all eat during the show?" Lol. We ate very well... and I am one of the pickiest eaters on the planet! No five-star meals or anything, but our apartments were filled with all of our favorite foods (and lots of booze) and at the studio we got to order take-out and basically pick whatever we wanted. Jaime, Ryan and I drank diet coke incessantly. I'm vegetarian (but I eat fish and dairy) and I was always fine... I ate what I always do: a TON of greek yogurt, fruit, veggies, protein bars, salads, sushi, whole wheat bagels, and coffee.
3.) "Which artists are your biggest influence? What might be a surprise to people in terms of influence?" I've been influenced by many different artists at different points in my career. I LOVED Janine Antoni for years.. and she has a gift of using material brilliantly that makes me insanely jealous. Since I left art school I've been in a weird place because I was working full time for Jeff Koons, then did the Bravo show, and I think I wanted to experiment with more materials but didn't have the time. Now that it's all over I can see myself moving beyond painting (though I love painting too much to ever stop). Some other female artists that were a big influence were Jenny Saville, Lisa Yuskavage, Marilyn Minter, Vanessa Beecroft and Cindy Sherman, to name a few. The first artist that really "moved" me was Rembrandt: I was 15? or so when I saw his self portrait at the Met and I stood there for an hour in tears. I thought it was magical and had life in it. This happened again with Sargent's "Madame X" and later in Naples when I saw one of Michelangelo
's cartoons for the Sistine Chapel. His drawings look like they could come to life at any moment. I find Damien Hirst's work to be rather showy, but really appreciate the commentary his work makes on mortality and the irony present in it. Certain artists have also blown me away with a piece here or there, although I wouldn't consider them "biggest influences". I've really enjoyed the commentary in some of Laurel Nakadate's work and in Liz Cohen's Bodywork series. One day I really must own a Warhol diamond dust painting.
4.) "Did you find the challenges inspiring or limiting, overall?" It depends! I thought the public art challenge was a great premise and I'm sad it didn't turn out differently. I probably learned the most, as an artist, from the shock challenge. I felt the child challenge was too limiting (when I was a kid, I HATED children's materials and opted to paint with nail polish or makeup, I asked if I could use nail polish I had back at the apartment but was not allowed). I really didn't think the book challenge was appropriate for this situation. Not that it's not relevant, but it's not a determinant of who is a "great artist". In general, they would all be good assignments for a college student to get, but some were a bit too limiting, especially for working Artists.
Explosion Painting, Oil, Enamel on canvas
Explosion Painting, Oil, Enamel, glitter on canvas
5.) "You obviously have the talents to create many different types of art from all kinds of subjects. Do you think your collection of work will branch out after your exposure?" Yes. I will always love painting the figure which I have continued to do, but I have also been working on a series of explosion paintings. I'm reluctant to post "work in progress" but here are some images of what I've been working on:I also recently had a gallery show, and here are some figurative works from that:
At my solo show with my finished painting in the background
Viewer examining my painting "Firmament" at my gallery show.
"Explosion", oil, enamel and glitter on canvas
10 Comments
Did the artists (you included) receive any compensation for participating in the show? Or was the only “money” involved the final $100,000 prize?
You've handled yourself with dignity and grace both during and after the show - and especially relative to the other contestants. I think you are a great painter and your time will come. I really thought you would make F3 but with the illness, it just wasn't mean to be. Glad to hear you are frineds with the other girls. To be able to enjoy a once in a lifetime experience with each other both during - but especially afterwards - is a true gift.
I have so enjoyed this show, far more than any reality show, or really any tv show. It's the coolest thing to be able to watch artists as interesting as you work. And it's been especially interesting to watch younger artists who are still learning their trades. It's so great that many of you are making yourselves available online. I cannot believe you were not picked for the final 3! I especially enjoyed watching your ideas come to fruition throughout the course of an episode.. Its amazing to me how a simple element, such as adding paint to cover the mens faces on the Audi challenge did so much work to transform the piece. Some of my questions are: Have you had a lot more interest in your work because of your exposure on the show? Do you feel like its been a turning point career wise? What food did you all eat during the show? Would you do it again if you had the option? Did you find the challenges inspiring or limiting, overall? How did people in your life respond to your being on the show, both in your personal and professional world? It seems, from various blogs at least, that Jerry saltz is half the time made fun of and half the time embraced by the art community for his participation. What has the response from the larger art community been , from your perspective, particularly in NYC? Thank you Jaclyn!!! it's so awesome you're willing to interact with your audience like this :)
awesome questions! I will try to get to all of them.
Jackie, I'm proud to say my impression of you changed entirely over the course of the season. I was unsure what to do with you at first (and was so appalled that you didn't know the plot of Pride and Prejudice!) that it shocked me to find myself really rooting for you in the last few episodes. I really wanted you to just paint yourself in the tub with the umbrella, and maybe juxapose it with the photo of the floating umbrella, so I'm really glad to see you have painted that pic (that is the one on the front of your website, right?), and even liked your final piece, although like Bill I wasn't quite sure what to do with the rock and pipe. I think you are wiser and more self aware than most TV viewers give you credit. I'm proud to read that you have a studio in LIC (thats my hood!) and hope that you continue to support yourself and the LIC neighborhood with your art for a long time to come. Best wishes, Joi
p.s. I reallly like where the explosion paintings are going.
[...] hopes that it would be the start of the next stage of their career. Upon her exit from the series, answering questions from her readers, Santos looked back and admits that she had thought that more people would be watching, that it [...]
Gosh, it was such a thrill to find out about this show earlier this summer, there was finally one of these things for "us". I insisted everyone around me watch it and spread the word in the hope that there might be a second season to audition for, but then I found your blog... About halfway through the season, and I had this moment like, "oh, right, it's television...." So, seriously, let us know if you would do it again if you had the option. I'm sure there's a whole crop of artists chomping at the bit for season two, but it seems like the type of exposure from this show (in this field) really could be the sort of thing to damage a career if the character is portrayed poorly...
AAARRRRGGGHHH------fire is sooo difficult to paint realistically and from what I can see, you did an excellent job of it :^)
This is my first time visiting your blog, although I watched the show pretty religiously all season. I just want to say that your work that I'm seeing on here is so much better than what the show portrayed you as being capable of. I know there's the time-crunch aspect, and the limitations of the challenges, but I'm amazed by how talented you actually are. I know that sounds like a back-handed compliment, but it's not intended as one at all. I wish we could have seen some of this other work from you on the show. Your WIP explosions are great. Can't wait to see that project when you're done with it. My only question for you would be about another contestant. Is Abdi actually as happy, sweet, and friendly as he looked on camera? I mean, does that guy have a single mean bone in his body? I don't know if Bravo was giving him a really good edit, or if they just couldn't find any clips of him being mean.