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 Man and his dog |
Drawing on the lives of those we don’t see
Having tired of painting idealised portraits, artist Jacqueline K Crofton turned her attention to the homeless on the streets where she lives, with thought-provoking results, writes Dan Carrier
THE reaction of artist Jacqueline K Crofton’s potential subjects was not always favourable: “I am sure some thought ‘What does this rich bitch from Hampstead want from me?’” she says.
Jacqueline’s new exhibition features a series of studies of homeless people, and although she was occasionally told in no uncertain terms to “go away”, she found plenty of people willing to be the subjects of her project looking at life on the streets of Camden Town.
“Most of the people I approached were only too happy to have me make a sketch of them or take their photograph – to have a talk with me and tell me their stories,” says the artist.
Jacqueline was struck by the tragic life stories she had been told about people who had fallen on hard times through the pressures of circumstance, and whose bodies were gradually suffering though the harshness of their environment.
The idea came as she strolled through Camden Town one morning.
“I always liked using human figures in my artwork but I got rather tired of drawing idealised forms,” she says. “I wanted to do something that was a bit more moving.”
Her conversations with rough sleepers led her to a soup kitchen, and it was here she found the subjects of the current exhibition at the Jiq Jaq gallery, which are being shown six years after she first started work on the charcoal illustrations.
She spoke to people queuing to be served free food from a Hare Krishna van and was moved by what she was told as well as being fascinated by the physical ailments living on the street can cause.
“Homelessness, like war and poverty, is a powerful subject, and as an artist I could not help but be moved and feel empathy. This is not just social commentary, it is part of our life in London. Every day, we pass people with nowhere to call home. Some of us notice them, others pay no attention, but they are part of our world and their colourful stories are brush strokes on the portrait of our city.”
And Jacqueline, who was recently made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art, believes the tone of the inspirations behind her work was her own background.
“Painting is autobiographical, and I had a very tragic childhood,” she reveals.
“I was brought up in institutions. The immediate post-war period was full of people who were suffering from trauma, and my mother was one of them. The easiest way for her to survive was to disown responsibility.”
At the age of 12, Jacqueline’s natural ability as an illustrator was recognised by a teacher and she was sent to art school. This gave her a background in careful study of anatomical drawing – something which the show is a product of.
“I was bored of creating these idealised, stylised images of the human body,” she says.
“The effect deprivation has on a homeless person – both mentally and physically – makes it an interesting topic for the artist to study. Living rough has a terrible effect on your body, and that is something I hope to have shown through this body of work.”
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