LOCUST JONES interview in his Blue Mountains studio
April 23, 2020
Locust Jones has been busy creating new works for his upcoming solo show. By tuning in to relentless news cycles, he gathers together a collision of images, text fragments, and vivid colours to address globe-spanning issues. In this video interview, Locust invites us into his Blue Mountains studio to discuss his new drawings onto photographic transparencies presented as lightboxes and reveal a 10-metre-long scroll work that chronicles the times. The works address topics as diverse as the ubiquitous pandemic and flower dumping, broken supply chains and hoola hoops. “Turn on and tune in, this is the never ending 24 hour seven day news cycle. In my drawings, I try to push the pause button on all this – a snapshot of the moment of the news in that time.”
Locust has been invited to residences across the world, most recently in Lebanon, Palestine and Israel. His first-hand experience in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza and Beirut run through these new works with a deeply-felt urgency.
Locust is renowned for his monumental works on paper that unfold like diaristic scrolls, one of which was acquired recently by the Art Gallery of NSW. His 11-metre-long ‘Brainfog’ is also currently on display in Maitland Regional Art Gallery’s collection show Guns to Roses.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Sign up to be the first for exclusive gallery news, international events, opening information and updates on our artists.