Jane Bustin

Jane Bustin combines traditional and contemporary materials, exploring the relationship between abstract minimalist composition and the sentimental qualities of ceramic, textiles and found objects. Concerned with deconstructing the formal components of abstraction, she considers the properties and arrangement of materials, extending the link between craft, concept and movement. Bustin likens her grandmother’s laundering, baking and crocheting routines to the type of diligence she applies as an artist; folding, flattening and rolling until the organic is contained. The pale tones, reflective surfaces and intuitive organization prompt a tenderness and familiarity reminiscent of a bedroom vanity, a micro space of solace within the home. The artist maneuvers a relationship between the object’s ontology and its transformation into vehicles of psychological projection; a parallel to the work’s intimate development in the studio against its perceptive contextual availability in the gallery. Bustin’s influences include fourteenth century frescoes, Belle epoque iconography, nineteenth century poetry, Japanese ceramics, hardware stores, neon signs, cosmetics, and candy wrappers.

Jane Bustin (b. 1964 in London, UK) studied at Portsmouth Polytechnic University, UK. Her work has been exhibited at Jane Lombard Gallery, New York, USA; Copperfield Gallery, London, UK; Fox Jensen Gallery, Sydney, Australia and Fox Jensen McCrory, Auckland, New Zealand; Salon 94, New York, USA; Leslie Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Mark Rothko Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia; Cultuurcentrum de Werft, Geel, Belgium; The British Library, London, UK; Camden Arts Centre, London, UK; Drawing Room, London, UK; Eagle Gallery, London, UK; Ferens Art Museum, Hull, UK; Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK; Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK; Jerwood Gallery, London, UK; Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, UK; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK and Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK. Bustin’s work is included in public collections at The Rothko Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Ferens Museum, and Yale Centre. She was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award and the Mark Rothko Memorial Award.