Interview with jane Bizimana, D6 ARtist in residence
March 2022
D6 welcomed visual artist Jane Bizimana to the D6 studio in Newcastle this spring. Here we asked a few questions to find out how Jane is finding the residency and the direction her work is taking so far.
D6: How are you finding working in D6’s residency space? Any unexpected discoveries?
Jane Bizimana: The fact I’m here in this big space is giving myself the permission to just create. Since I left uni in 2017 this is the first time I’ve sat down to ask how do I express myself? And the choices I make are all mine. In previous collaborations decisions have already been taken, for example about materials, which can be restrictive. Whereas in this space I’m creating from the heart.
D6: What direction is your practice taking?
JB: My work is always about bridging the gaps - that could be between words and emotion, between languages and understanding or misunderstanding. During the residency I've been trying to capture how I feel each day - in words and also in colour. I don't go too deep with how I’m feeling but more on an instinctive level. And I found that if I thought of a word I also thought of a colour.
D6: Do you think colour is acting a bit like a language for you?
JB: Colours give a message a bit like a code. I’ve been mapping my feelings and emotions through colour - forming an image of who I am each day. This is beginning to build up a directory of colour and emotion to inform my painting. Some days my words flow. Some days they don’t flow and I start thinking in different languages - English, Swahili or Luganda. I realise that some emotions I feel in a different language. For example, I don’t feel the word in English or I feel a word in English that I don’t feel in another language.
D6: Do you have plans to build on these themes during the next phase of your residency?
JB: I’m hoping to create a series that I can exhibit together exploring the themes of colour, language and emotions. Printmaking has been important in my work. For the next stage of the residency I have the chance to practice at Northern Print and to develop the work I’ve done so far.
Read Jane’s biography here.
Find out about other artists who have been resident at D6.
Images: work in progress, Jane Bizimana
Photo credits: Matt Denham
D6 welcomed visual artist Jane Bizimana to the D6 studio in Newcastle this spring. Here we asked a few questions to find out how Jane is finding the residency and the direction her work is taking so far.
D6: How are you finding working in D6’s residency space? Any unexpected discoveries?
Jane Bizimana: The fact I’m here in this big space is giving myself the permission to just create. Since I left uni in 2017 this is the first time I’ve sat down to ask how do I express myself? And the choices I make are all mine. In previous collaborations decisions have already been taken, for example about materials, which can be restrictive. Whereas in this space I’m creating from the heart.
D6: What direction is your practice taking?
JB: My work is always about bridging the gaps - that could be between words and emotion, between languages and understanding or misunderstanding. During the residency I've been trying to capture how I feel each day - in words and also in colour. I don't go too deep with how I’m feeling but more on an instinctive level. And I found that if I thought of a word I also thought of a colour.
D6: Do you think colour is acting a bit like a language for you?
JB: Colours give a message a bit like a code. I’ve been mapping my feelings and emotions through colour - forming an image of who I am each day. This is beginning to build up a directory of colour and emotion to inform my painting. Some days my words flow. Some days they don’t flow and I start thinking in different languages - English, Swahili or Luganda. I realise that some emotions I feel in a different language. For example, I don’t feel the word in English or I feel a word in English that I don’t feel in another language.
D6: Do you have plans to build on these themes during the next phase of your residency?
JB: I’m hoping to create a series that I can exhibit together exploring the themes of colour, language and emotions. Printmaking has been important in my work. For the next stage of the residency I have the chance to practice at Northern Print and to develop the work I’ve done so far.
Read Jane’s biography here.
Find out about other artists who have been resident at D6.
Images: work in progress, Jane Bizimana
Photo credits: Matt Denham
