http://chicagourbanartsociety.tumblr.com Young Artist Profile by Kevin Wilson for the Chicago Urban Arts Society|
YOUNG ARTIST PROFILE | ISSUE NO. 6 | JACKIE NIEKAMP | WRITTEN BY: KEVIN WILSON
Hailing from the Midwest, Jackie Niekamp is a Kansas City native and now Chicago-based artist using printmaking and fibers as her main practice. Placing a high importance on craft and the infallible rule that art-making should be a fun and humorous process, Jackie spins stories of her uncommon upbringing and weaves them into whimsical scenes of folly, bringing up ideas of memory and the importance of family traditions.
Jackie explains her work:
Jackie: The most important thing to me about my work is to just have fun while making it. I think about how my family is really wacky, and how the little nuances of everything I’m surrounded by can be hilarious. I like reflecting on that and my memories of being a child, thinking I was brought up like everyone else, but realizing later that I was not.
Spending every summer at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri with her family and witnessing the strange behavior at “Party Cove” which can best be described as the Mardi Gras of the Midwest (only on boats and arguably a lot more beer), Jackie was raised on humor and a rule to not take herself too seriously. She translates this mentality to her process, beginning every piece with a considerate train of thought that’s illuminated by her wide-ranging interests which she then relates back to her personal life.
Jackie: My work is always idea-based. Something has to get me going. I’ll be reading or I’ll see something or listen to a podcast about… noodling cat fish, which will remind me of something from my childhood at the lake, like, ‘Oh yeah, my Dad used to fly a blowup doll off
Her work holds strength both conceptually and aesthetically in the way that it is created, showcasing thought and skill equally, and ultimately taking on the form of a range of work from small prints to large-scale installations and sculptures. Her hand is present in it all as she chooses to use drawing tools over a computer in processes such as color separation for her prints. She approaches the actual construction and appearance of each piece differently, making one wonder how each piece begins and where the transformation occurs in the process?
Jackie: It comes with the original drawing. If it can stand on its own two legs, then I’ll keep it as a drawing, but it is imperative that it fits with how I want the story to be told, and how close I’m feeling to it. With ‘Fury of the Niangua River’, I knew it could be a drawing or a print on paper, but the materials just came in. I could print with foiling and make the canoes shine. I could do rubber tubes with actual rubber. The materials in my work help inform the story in whatever way my weird logic sees that it makes the most sense.
There is an almost naive quality to her drawings and the way she renders her work, which aids greatly in weighting the idea of memory and boosting the humor in the piece. Yet, however she may see her process shape her work, it is undeniable that she has a dedicated occupation to trial and error, and a D.I.Y. mentality that she grew to love while living in Kansas City. She takes her printmaking and sewing skills and applies them to her work, creating not only her personal art, but also her own apparel, fanny packs, designed planners and more.
Jackie: I grew up with the K.C. D.I.Y. scene and that was it for me. That was my mantra growing up. If you want to buy it and it sucks, you should just make it. But in that, I mess up all the time. I don’t think one project I have ever done has gone right. That’s why art making is funny - nothing is perfect and even by the end it’s still not perfect. It’s just reaching the point where the work is not too bad. All my work is definitely about trial and error.
From the punks in the D.I.Y. scene to beer-guzzling boaters at Party Cove, Jackie’s own participation in these different cultures prevents her work from appearing as a cruel critique of these nontraditional customs and often outlandish characters. The craft and painstaking detail of each piece shows a sentimentality and appreciation of where she came from and how it has affected her. She evens names her mother as one of her greatest influences.
Jackie: More than other artists, more than music and reading, my family is always my biggest influence. When I go home, my mom and I have sewing contests. We crack open a Coors Light, and do something like… button-hole tests. We just try and make something. One spring we ended up sewing this crazy dress for me where we did a lot of ‘gathering’ (a sewing technique), and that ended up being the fish gills in one of my sculptural pieces.
Her work also draws comparisons to predecessors such as Darrel Morris and even Claes Oldenburg in the sense that it can be both monumental in its scale and presence, but also in its silliness.
Jackie: The person who I strive to pull from and respect the most is Darrel Morris. We have a similar background but he has finesse. It’s goofy but he knows his craft and he has so many feelings in his embroideries. I love Claes Oldenburg, but our work differs because he doesn’t have a lot of narrative behind his work. When he makes a giant sandwich, he just wants to see a giant sandwich.
In the end, it is the juxtaposition of Jackie’s personal narrative approach with her impressive printmaking and fiber techniques that makes her art resonate and tell a tale of folk so well that one can’t help but look and listen.
To view more, visit jackieniekamp.com
YOUNG ARTIST PROFILE | ISSUE NO. 6 | JACKIE NIEKAMP | WRITTEN BY: KEVIN WILSON
Hailing from the Midwest, Jackie Niekamp is a Kansas City native and now Chicago-based artist using printmaking and fibers as her main practice. Placing a high importance on craft and the infallible rule that art-making should be a fun and humorous process, Jackie spins stories of her uncommon upbringing and weaves them into whimsical scenes of folly, bringing up ideas of memory and the importance of family traditions.
Jackie explains her work:
Jackie: The most important thing to me about my work is to just have fun while making it. I think about how my family is really wacky, and how the little nuances of everything I’m surrounded by can be hilarious. I like reflecting on that and my memories of being a child, thinking I was brought up like everyone else, but realizing later that I was not.
Spending every summer at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri with her family and witnessing the strange behavior at “Party Cove” which can best be described as the Mardi Gras of the Midwest (only on boats and arguably a lot more beer), Jackie was raised on humor and a rule to not take herself too seriously. She translates this mentality to her process, beginning every piece with a considerate train of thought that’s illuminated by her wide-ranging interests which she then relates back to her personal life.
Jackie: My work is always idea-based. Something has to get me going. I’ll be reading or I’ll see something or listen to a podcast about… noodling cat fish, which will remind me of something from my childhood at the lake, like, ‘Oh yeah, my Dad used to fly a blowup doll off
Her work holds strength both conceptually and aesthetically in the way that it is created, showcasing thought and skill equally, and ultimately taking on the form of a range of work from small prints to large-scale installations and sculptures. Her hand is present in it all as she chooses to use drawing tools over a computer in processes such as color separation for her prints. She approaches the actual construction and appearance of each piece differently, making one wonder how each piece begins and where the transformation occurs in the process?
Jackie: It comes with the original drawing. If it can stand on its own two legs, then I’ll keep it as a drawing, but it is imperative that it fits with how I want the story to be told, and how close I’m feeling to it. With ‘Fury of the Niangua River’, I knew it could be a drawing or a print on paper, but the materials just came in. I could print with foiling and make the canoes shine. I could do rubber tubes with actual rubber. The materials in my work help inform the story in whatever way my weird logic sees that it makes the most sense.
There is an almost naive quality to her drawings and the way she renders her work, which aids greatly in weighting the idea of memory and boosting the humor in the piece. Yet, however she may see her process shape her work, it is undeniable that she has a dedicated occupation to trial and error, and a D.I.Y. mentality that she grew to love while living in Kansas City. She takes her printmaking and sewing skills and applies them to her work, creating not only her personal art, but also her own apparel, fanny packs, designed planners and more.
Jackie: I grew up with the K.C. D.I.Y. scene and that was it for me. That was my mantra growing up. If you want to buy it and it sucks, you should just make it. But in that, I mess up all the time. I don’t think one project I have ever done has gone right. That’s why art making is funny - nothing is perfect and even by the end it’s still not perfect. It’s just reaching the point where the work is not too bad. All my work is definitely about trial and error.
From the punks in the D.I.Y. scene to beer-guzzling boaters at Party Cove, Jackie’s own participation in these different cultures prevents her work from appearing as a cruel critique of these nontraditional customs and often outlandish characters. The craft and painstaking detail of each piece shows a sentimentality and appreciation of where she came from and how it has affected her. She evens names her mother as one of her greatest influences.
Jackie: More than other artists, more than music and reading, my family is always my biggest influence. When I go home, my mom and I have sewing contests. We crack open a Coors Light, and do something like… button-hole tests. We just try and make something. One spring we ended up sewing this crazy dress for me where we did a lot of ‘gathering’ (a sewing technique), and that ended up being the fish gills in one of my sculptural pieces.
Her work also draws comparisons to predecessors such as Darrel Morris and even Claes Oldenburg in the sense that it can be both monumental in its scale and presence, but also in its silliness.
Jackie: The person who I strive to pull from and respect the most is Darrel Morris. We have a similar background but he has finesse. It’s goofy but he knows his craft and he has so many feelings in his embroideries. I love Claes Oldenburg, but our work differs because he doesn’t have a lot of narrative behind his work. When he makes a giant sandwich, he just wants to see a giant sandwich.
In the end, it is the juxtaposition of Jackie’s personal narrative approach with her impressive printmaking and fiber techniques that makes her art resonate and tell a tale of folk so well that one can’t help but look and listen.
To view more, visit jackieniekamp.com
