Artist Spotlight: Jeff Hirst
Jeff Hirst, Fade Away View, 57” x 57”, encaustic on shaped panel.
Jeffrey Hirst earned his MFA at Louisiana State University and BFA at the University of Minnesota. His work has been exhibited at national and international venues including the Minneapolis Institute of Art; McLean Projects for the Arts, VA; McKinney Contemporary, Dallas; and Bienal do Douro, Portugal.
The recipient of numerous grants, including a fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland where he has gone on four residencies, Jeff is represented by Addington Gallery and Brandt-Roberts galleries.
Jeff is an R&F Core Instructor. In 2021, Hirst co-founded Catalyst Art Lab. He regularly teaches encaustic and printmaking workshops across the U.S. Canada, Mexico, and Ireland.
Can you tell us a little about yourself? How did you get your start as an artist?
I got my start as an artist working next to my dad who was an engineer, singer, and a great mentor. I started building things at a very early age, and it’s spilled over into how I approach creating to this day.
I’ve been a professional artist since 1990 when I received my MFA in printmaking and painting. I have lived in Chicago since 2016, where I work with encaustic, acrylic, and print processes. I am particularly interested in how painting and printmaking cross-over and merge. In 2003, I developed the process of silkscreening onto encaustic.
Jeff Hirst, Glimmer, 25” x 23”, encaustic on shaped panel.
What are you currently working on? How has your work evolved?
I started working with encaustic in 1995. My encaustic painting has become more reductive in recent years with a greater emphasis on the sublime and color.
At the moment, I am making new work that will be in a 2-person show next fall in Ireland. After spending prolonged time in Ireland, I have started adding more of elements of line and shape that exist in nature along with my long-running interest in architecture.
Jeff Hirst, Wave, 30” x 22”, carborundum and drypoint on Rives BFK.
You will be teaching Silkscreen Monotype and Encaustic June 7 - 8 at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. Tell us a little bit about this workshop. What can students expect to leave with?
Silkscreen Monotype involves drawing and painting with water-based media directly onto a screen and then printing onto paper. The process is very low-tech yet spontaneous. During the screenprinting, color interactions are achieved through overprinting imagery. Encaustic is then painted onto the silkscreen prints and further manipulated from a painting process.
This workshop represents a type of creative collision course and highlights my interest in merging printmaking and painting. We will cover some of the processes I developed with printing media onto encaustic as well. It’s a very fast paced class where you can make prints quickly.
Jeff Hirst, Bio Shimmer, 20” x 17”, encaustic on shaped panel.
What keeps you motivated in the studio? What is your typical studio day like? What's next on your horizon?
Heading to my studio is always an easy place to go…probably one of my favorite places to be.
A typical day for me is to arrive, make some coffee, look at some work, go through emails, putter around, and look at work, again. Then I’ll start working on actual art.
I used to paint at night, but now I prefer working in the afternoon. The light in my studio is great in mid-afternoon. If I am working on prints rather than painting, it’s very ritualistic. I go through certain processes almost like a mantra, which keeps everything moving forward.
Moving forward I want to revisit some previous ideas. I made a series of wood and mixed media sculptures about 10 years ago, and I want to make a series of sculpture that will be dedicated to my dad who passed away recently at 90. I am thinking the pieces will be more refined than my previous sculpture, but we’ll see what happens when I actually start making things.
I have access to a large woodshop that has fabulous equipment, and it makes the creative process meditative when I am wearing my dusk mask, eye protection and ear plugs. All the roaring sounds are cut out by the ear protection and making becomes very step by step by step.
Image courtesy of Jeff Hirst.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know?
I am a co-founder of Catalyst Art Lab, which is an online art school and community membership. Numerous classes are offered and most range from 4 - 7 weeks. The classes are structured like college art courses with weekly assignments, and learning happens through making and evolving.
In May, I am teaching a newly designed class Luminosity: Exploring Encaustic Color. The class size is small, and each artist receives weekly feedback on their work.
In September, I will return to Ballinglen Arts Foundation to teach two classes: a printmaking class and an experimental drawing workshop. Each class is 7 days, and along with class work, we also explore the local culture around northern county Mayo that includes an archaeological tour and daily walks to the beach along the northern Atlantic. It’s an amazing location that’s very tranquil and a special place to create.
Jeff Hirst, Slight View, 27” x 26”, encaustic on shaped panel.
Jeff’s upcoming workshops include:
July 21-23 Encaustic Painting Think Tank: Explorations and Beyond, Hirst Studio, Chicago
Sept 2-10 Expanded Approaches towards Printmaking, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ireland
May 1, 8, 15, 22 Luminosity: Exploring Encaustic Color, 1:00-2:30 pm CST (online)
To see additional images of Jeff’s work, visit jeffreyhirst.com. You can also follow him on Instagram @jeffreyhirst.