Design Federation

Get a strong beer and some pretzels ready, because Jordan Clarke’s illustrations are fanciful and dreamlike with a sinister aftertaste.
What is your name and where are you located
Jordan Clarke, currently in Sydney - inside my little bubble of imagination.

Where did you learn your craft?
Like most creative types I’ve always drawn and messed around trying different things. Formally, I studied graphic design at the Sydney Institute’s Design Centre, Enmore. But typically for me my light-bulb moment came right at the end of the course! Once I stopped trying to please all my teachers and keep up with all the other students I found my niche. I’m mainly self-taught now - I absorb a lot of information from various sources and just follow my instincts.

What is your artistic medium of choice? Why that medium?
At the moment I am primarily a digital artist - manipulating photographs into the finished collage works. I use Photoshop and Illustrator to bring everything together. I love how you can layer various textures and really bring a piece to life. Seeing a piece printed is breathtaking - all the detail and texture looks so much better in real life than on screen. I am doing more hand-rendered elements now - I miss that organic approach. Sometimes I don’t feel like a ‘real’ illustrator using the computer all the time, which is why I’m going back to my roots. I took painting and drawing in high school, which was very messy! I hardly ever used brushes, preferring to mix paint on the canvas by hand. I also learnt a lot about drawing at Enmore in the life-drawing classes - more traditional forms of rendering. I like to look back at those sketches with their wild pencil strokes and fluid formed figures - they’re beautiful on their own.

Have you always been focused in this particular area?
Sometimes I feel like I’ve wasted years trying to do something else that I think I should do. Then something just clicks one day and you realise you’ve been deluding yourself. I always trust my instincts now, despite what people tell me. This direction in my work has only been recent. I was just experimenting one day and came up with the Carnival series, and I just knew. So I gave up the idea of a 9 to 5 job and decided to pursue a freelance career. The possibilities offered for illustration are endless - which I never knew before - you just have to seek out new and interesting opportunites and really go for it.

Whose work do you relate to most? Who inspires you?
I’ve always had a vivid imagination cultivated through books, music, film. I actually didn’t grown up in a creative household surrounded by art - the closest thing I saw were the fabulous Little Golden Books. It wasn’t until high school that I was really exposed to fine art - particularly Frida Kahlo - who is a favorite. I admire her passion and how she survived her life. The concept of painting emotion and turmoil, in her unique style, is always inspiring. I’ve always loved Tim Burton’s work too, the duality of his comical characters and the darkness of the stories. The Nightmare before Christmas is so iconic in that respect. As for books - Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude struck a chord with me - combining almost magical concepts to often violent circumstances. Pan’s Labyrith touches on that idea - that was a beautiful film.

Your work has a really dark deep worn out feel, what do you prefer about those colours?
I never intended to create such dark illustrations at the start - it just ended up that way. I’ve had such a great response to them, which is really surprising! I’d love to say that there is a whole theory behind my colour and tonal choices - but I honestly just go with the flow until I know it’s finished. Often the way it looks in my head when I start is nothing like the finished piece. But then I like to surprise myself.

How do you think/want other people to respond to your illustrations?
Most comments I receive about my work refer to how it makes people feel - like my Phone Phobia piece - many people tell me it sounds noisy! I like to hear how people respond to my work and I welcome them to have their own response and interpretation. I create these pieces to fulfil a need within myself - sometimes there is an emotion I need to express, or a fantasy I want to create. I am working on a piece currently which explores the idea of a floating ship, sailing high over a sleepy town. The mystery and the magic of those ideas reminds me of stories I read as a child - where the world seemed so big and unpredictable - with infinite wonders and nightmares waiting to be encountered. I’d like to think that my illustrations are fanciful and dreamlike with a sinister aftertaste.

What do you like about photomontages?
I love intricacy. Texture. The idea that you can stare at an illustration for hours and still find something new. To get totally lost within an image and loose yourself. Photomontages also lend a kind of dynamism, of elements moving around the page, with a life of their own. The mirroring aspect seems to come naturally for me - there is a sense of movement from the centre that reminds me of fireworks bursting. I try to create a directional movement in each piece, whether that be through mirroring, elements facing the same way, paint splatterings or decorative swirls. It seems to bring the illustrations to life - balancing out the dark, gritty textures.

Some of your circus illustrations have a Wings of Desire / Wim Wenders feel about them, have you ever wished to be in the circus?
The circus is a fantastic theme I keep coming back to. Fairgrounds are also a favorite theme. They epitomise that idea of fun and excitement layered with a sense of strangeness. Fairyfloss, colourful lights, balloons - but also shifty carnies and freaky clowns. The only circus I would want to join is the Cirque du Soleil - the first show I saw was Alegria - which blew me away. The costumes, the music, the acrobatics, the clowns, the light in the darness, the surprise of performers behind you…it was the most magical experience in my life and still strikes me at the core.

coke or diet coke?
Remember Cherry Coke? I loved that!! The good ones always get phased out…

Related Links

www.jordanclarkedesign.com

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