Some artists have become known for their use of certain colours (Yves Klein Blue can’t help but come to mind). Some artists however, become known for their use of many colours, for their exquisite handle on how colours work together. Skye Jefferys is one such artist.
However the Australian born creative, whose career has gone from strength to strength in the last few years, hasn’t always practiced her craft. Starting out as a designer, it took Skye a few years to pursue the career she’d always dreamed about.
It was, in Skye’s words, “a very slow transition.” Which isn’t to say Skye wasn’t laying the foundation for her later practice, “With all my design work I would intuitively use painting techniques…to communicate an idea.” Despite this however, she “always felt dissatisfied and frustrated, like I needed to escape.”
In 2010 she began to study part-time, undertaking a Graduate Certificate in Visual Art at the VCA. Skye says she knew then “that painting was where I felt both challenged and at ease.” Since then she’s slowly carved out a reputation for herself as an artist skilled with colour. Skye refers to something her favourite artist, Australian painter Aida Tomescu, has said, that painting is a “matter of relationships,” and that colour can “bring on a different one… it asks for it, it asks for another voice, for a conversation.”
Though she’s from Melbourne (and has lived all over Asia Pacific) Skye now lives in Singapore, where she’s carving out time for her art between looking after her two toddlers. “Motherhood has forced me to be more efficient with my time because it is so limited,” Skye says, adding that “an art practice is a life-long pursuit and I plan to be doing this when I’m 70.”
Skye and her family moved to Singapore in part to pursue a career opportunity for her husband, who works in education. But the pair also “wanted to explore the world and expose our children to a different way of life.” Though it’s been a few short years, Skye clearly sees the move as a success, “I know they are too young to really appreciate it right now, but it’s definitely shaping who they are,” she muses, “Moving around so much changes you. Each time you step outside your comfort zone and have to re-create your life you are thrown new challenges and given opportunities to grow.” The idea of challenges and comfort zones also inform Skye’s practice, “I’m interested in this idea of limitations, whether real or imagined, and how we respond to these,” she adds.
Skye’s work can be seen in the group exhibition ‘Current’ at Boom Gallery, Geelong. It opens on the 15th of July.
Skye Jefferys
instagram.com/skyejefferys
Boom Gallery
boomgallery.com.au
