We explore artist Jess Littlewood's other worldly visual language – prepare to see The End

Date
9 November 2012

Stepping into another world created by the vision of Jess Littlewood is an experience that maintains a resonance with its viewer. This eerie otherworld is The End. We all know the iconic introduction sequence to Apocalypse Now right —the unbearable humidity, burning rain forests, and choppers scurrying through the air like mosquitoes over an acrid pond, all while The Doors’ anthem to oblivion effortlessly plays alongside the insanity and destruction. Now imagine that world could only be glimpsed once abandoned, perhaps forever. Well these are the emotive, reflective worlds Jess Littlewood creates; worlds where: “Utopia is always strived for, yet lies beyond grasp and instead, acts as a continual force of destruction and folly.”

The core of Jess’ practice is the collecting of images, translating them into a dramatic visual language which in turn creates the striking landscapes. Her worlds are ever-evolving, providing “unending questions and possibilities” where the “transient inhabitants are never revealed.” This aspect of her art aims to address a confusion that will always remain a feature of humanity—being aware of living as a conscious human, and understanding the fact that one day we will cease to exist. As Jess says: “This capacity for knowledge is at once the magnificence, and the ridiculousness of humanity,” and in her opinion defines our collective characteristic. 

Above

Jess Littlewood: The End

Above

Jess Littlewood: The End

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Jess Littlewood: The End

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About the Author

Ross Bryant

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