Meet the artist: Jordain Molloy Gillen
Today we meet Jordain Molloy Gillen, designer and artist who recently joined the Duncairn family.
Jordain has recently started working with our textile artist in residence Chloe Dougan, and we are very curious to know more about him and his artistic career.
Can you describe your path to becoming an artist?
Since I was very young I remember my favourite thing to do was to make things and I have so many wonderful memories with my grandfather watching art attack and making paper machier pieces and doodling on old bits of paper. Since then its something thats always really stayed with me. I graduated in Fine Arts from Belfast School of Art in 2017, however I don't feel that my time spent here was a true reflection of the artist I am today. After graduating I enrolled in a Get Into Retail programme at Midtown Makers in Ballymena which was aimed at turning local crafters into small business start ups. We were each given a small retail space to sell our works and we got 6 workshops which included visual merchendising, money management, tax and insurance for small businesses and so much more.
For me this was the beginning of the journey of the artist I am today. Since then I have worked in various different creative sectors including costume for TV and film, events dressing, project management and building my own small business. I not 100% where I want to be as yet but I'm getting there and although the road has been a little rocky at times I am enjoying the freedom of my artistic journey.
Do tell us, how does your creative process work?
Storytelling is a huge part of the creative process of my work. I like to create bodies of work which are reflection of myself and the world around me as I think as an artist it's important to be true to yourself and be aware of what's going on in the world around you. In my illustrations, I love to create characters that people will engage with and have a connection with in order to build that bond between the art and the audience as I want my work to be fun and engaging for the audience. My work has a tendency to be dreamy and illusionary as I want it to be a form of escapism from the world around us.
What inspires your designs?
My work is primarily inspired by my surroundings and how I am feeling at that moment in time. I’m always out in nature and love to incorporate this into my work. I’m also a huge fan of spooky stuff and things that are kitsch and theatrical which I feel is also reflected within the work.
I just love anything that has a story or depth behind it.
You are now working with our artist in residence Chloe Dougan. How does this experience fit in your career and what are your hopes for the future?
Working with Chloe is amazing ! And since working with her, I feel like my own work is evolving in a new direction. I have learnt a lot of both practical and business building skills which I can apply to my own work. I feel like we share the same interests and love for all things dramatic and we have built a great friendship from working together over the past year.
In the future, I do hope to move across the water. I'm not sure where just yet but I've always loved the idea of travelling and seeing more of the world around me. I would love to take my work to different countries and possibly work more in events or maybe even a fashion house, who knows? At the moment I'm just having fun, enjoying the freedom of letting my work dictate it's own path in the world.
You can find Jordain designs in the Duncairn shop or on his own website.
