Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Robertson.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in Northeast Houston and went to Nimitz HS in Aldine ISD. Growing up, I never really considered art as a career path. It was always a fun hobby, and no one encouraged me to pursue it aside from my grandmother. It wasn’t until I changed my major to Studio Art in undergrad at the University of Houston that I began to look at the possibilities of a career in art. That led me to a graduate program at Florida State University in Art Therapy; a mental health profession that utilizes the creative process.
After graduating, I came back to Houston not really sure what to do with my Masters. I knew I definitely did not want to do clinical art therapy. In grad school, the art therapy practicums I loved the most involved working with kids to help their socio-emotional development. I figured that community art would allow me to do more of that. I worked for a local art non-profit as their Outreach/Community Education Coordinator for almost three years. The work was great, but I knew I really needed to feed my creative side more. Working a 9-5 did not allow me the time I needed to really develop my creative practice. So, on a whim and a huge nudge from one of my professors, I decided to pursue a second masters.
Currently, I am an MFA student at the University of Houston studying Photography and Digital Media. When I’m not at school, I also work as a teaching artist which is great because the schedule is really flexible and I get to work with kids.
Please tell us about your art.
I have always loved history and culture, and they both play a big part in my creative process. In addition, identity and my own personal genealogy have also been a source of reference for my work. As a whole, I think my art dances the line of conceptual and personal.
Even though I am studying photography, I also work in printmaking and sculpture/installation. Last year, I started a series of self-portraits titled, Making Reference, which was inspired by the representation of Black Women throughout Art History and Popular Culture. I researched and collected ethnographic images from the Caribbean, South America, and North America along with paintings from those regions. Those images served as reference material for how I posed in/constructed my self-portraits.
When I create, I do not necessarily think about a particular audience, but it is really important to me that someone like my grandma or my mom can relate to some aspect of what I am doing. My art therapy background influences my ideology of ‘Art for All.’ Even though I am interested in the real academic subject matter, I think it is my job as the artist to make that subject matter more accessible. If my art does anything, I hope it does that.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
I think one of the challenges artists face is the idea that we are willing to work for free or that exposure is adequate compensation. Exposure does NOT pay the bills nor does it pay for all the time/dollars artists put into their craft. Expecting free labor from artists is not ok.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the struggle of POC artists. From being tokenized by institutions to blatant erasure, artists of color have a lot of obstacles to overcome. The work of making the arts more inclusive starts at from the top down; artists can only do so much. It’s up to curators, collectors and institutions to champion inclusion and be allies to POC artists. Things are changing… slowly but surely.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
If you are in the North Florida/South Georgia in November, some of my work will be in an exhibition, Through the Lens: Identity, Representation & Self Presentation, at Florida A & M University’s Foster–Tanner Fine Arts Gallery.
You can also find some of my work on Instagram (@hernameis_jamie) and my website www.jamievrobertson.com. I post more regularly to Instagram with lots of IG stories of things I am working on in the studio and upcoming exhibitions.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jamievrobertson.com
- Email: jamievrobertson@gmail.com
- Instagram: @hernameis_jamie
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