As a child, Jo spent a lot of time in the garden, observing plants and insects. She cites these formative years as a major influence on the type of work she creates, her inspiration largely drawn from the intricate, textural and often transient details found in the natural world.
Jo’s affiliation with plants took on new significance after the death of her father in 2015. At this time she felt an overwhelming desire to connect more consciously to the natural world, so she started gardening and creating artwork within her garden as a response to this.
Jo studied a Bachelor of Arts (Creative Arts and French) at the University of Newcastle which included a semester of study in La Rochelle, France. She graduated in 2008. Since graduating she has exhibited her work in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Newcastle, Melbourne and Sydney and has work held in private collections around Australia and overseas.
The value of art-making and connecting to nature as both therapeutic and affirmative processes continues to inspire Jo’s work.
Join us for a discussion about the future of arts and culture in Australia: the key visions, approaches and initiatives of different parties and candidates, and why supporting and rebuilding Australia’s arts and cultural sector is an important challenge for future Australian governments.
Reset: A New Public Agenda for the Arts offered two days and nights of thinking and discussion about how the arts and cultural sector could work to break out of the current impasse through a radical reorganisation of cultural practice and policy.