Artist Statement

To take someone somewhere both strange and familiar.

We cannot see thoughts or feelings, the nature of the mind is intangible, so we express our identity through physical means, to be both seen and heard. This is how I stumbled into art when I was younger, an attempt to express myself, to take the intangible thoughts and feelings I had and make them material.

Introspection & identity are core themes in my art, I'm fascinated by the human condition, and the formless power of the mind that affects our day-to-day reality. I tend to draw people in moments of thought or contemplation, joy and sorrow, and try to illustrate this 'formless' power around them with bold colors, abstract shapes and strong outlines.

To me the mind is a strange and wondrous thing, where a single moment of thought can lead to either the depths of misery or great transformation. But at times I believe it can become so familiar to us that it loses its strangeness and can gradually become both mundane and unappreciated.

Which is why my focus is to highlight that which is not easily recognizable and may have become too familiar. To show the inner workings of the mind behind the physical body and our material landscape. To make the strange familiar or the familiar strange.

Biography

Hey there, my name's Jake Burgess and I'm a self-taught artist born in Gold Coast, Australia. I primarily use pencil and pen but i like to dabble a bit in other mediums such as watercolor, acrylic and ink.

My childhood was spent staying up late creating stories and visualizing fictional characters and locations. I loved reading fiction and was inspired to create my own world, I remember being annoyed at the fact my imagination couldn't construct what I wanted, the images in my mind were either too fuzzy or lacked the detail I desired. So I began drawing, I had countless books filled with character designs and story plots. I copied cartoons and illustrations and eventually this turned into a craft I wanted to excel at.

Conceptually my work started to evolve, I had a predisposition biologically towards depression and anxiety, so I started researching psychology and mental health in my spare time. This led to a fascination with identity and the human condition, and art became something more to me than just a way to draw from my imagination, but a way to explore different concepts and ideas that inspired me.

For over a decade I juggled working in hospitality and creating art. I studied Fine Art at Griffith University, did a handful of exhibitions and sold some work over the years. I traveled overseas for a while and had some experiences I'll never forget. But working in hospitality as a chef can be stressful at times and I found it difficult to focus on art and find a balance. In 2022 I came back to Australia and realized I wasn't happy with my trajectory in life, I was always afraid to live as a freelancer and do art full-time. So, I decided to quit my job, make some sacrifices, face my fears and really commit to it for the first time in my life.

This year for me is about balance and change, my plan is to produce as much art as possible, start creating prints of new and old pieces and push what I can do both technically and conceptually. A long-term goal of mine would be to create a visual story, like a web comic series, which has always been a dream of mine and something I would love to see flourish in the future.

Anyways, that was a long story, if you actually read this far (kudos for doing so) and you're interested in my work, feel free to follow and support me on social media and join me on my little journey.