What’s your business name and what do you do?
My name is Jessica Gandolf. I’m an artist. I make oil paintings on panel that use pattern and color to represent the different kinds of energy that flow into and out of our bodies. When parts of the figure emerge, they might be embodying weightlessness, gravity, or inertia. My studio practice consists more of asking questions than illustrating ideas; How can sensations of compression and constriction or ease and freedom be communicated through paint? How does the body function as a shelter for the spirit? How can a painting act as a container for feelings and emotions?
How did you learn your craft?
I went to a public arts high school in New York City. I was an art major at Oberlin College, and I spent a year in Paris painting the figure in an atelier and printing in a studio with artists from around the world. I got an MFA from Brooklyn College.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
I love oil paint, and I love the process of decision-making that leads me to create something that I never could have guessed. I love the surprise.
What do you enjoy least?
I don’t love writing about my work which is necessary for the business side of things. And I don’t love self-promotion which is also necessary.
What’s one thing you wish people knew about your work?
That a painting is the result of what can be a fairly wobbly, challenging road.
What’s one artist you look up to?
I admire Katherine Bradford for her magnificent paintings, her work ethic and for how generously she participates in the art community both here in Mainer and in New York. She is very supportive in word and deed to other artists.
What do you do when you’re not creating?
I do a lot of yoga. The practice informs my paintings. And I love spending time with my husband and kids.
Night owl or early bird?
Early bird 1,000%
What's your favorite place in Maine?
The beach at Ocean Park.