Jessie McLennan & Karri Clarke

Mother and Daughter Duo in Sculpting

Karri’s mother, Jessie McLennan.

Jessie McLennan is a figurative sculptor living and working on Kurnai country in Gippsland. She works predominately in clay, plaster and cast bronze.

Jessie is a locally known artist for her public works which include public installations at Burke St Park, Warragul, ‘Pat the Dog’ at The Station Gallery, Yarragon, Playground instillation at Murray Street, Yarragon and the larger-than-life bronze sculpture ‘Three Women on Kurnai Country’ collaborative project with Aunty Cheryl Drayton, writer Jeanie Hauton and artist Bec Vandyk-Hamilton.

Jessie sculpts because she loves it. She enjoys the feeling of the clay and the process -the long process. She makes portraits from sitting subjects, often from a few reference photos or sometimes from memory.

“I love the feeling of capturing someones essence. It feels like I am bringing them to life.”

She describes the process as becoming increasingly exciting the closer the sculpture is to finished .

Karri & Jessie: Mother, Daughter Duo

Karri takes a lot of inspiration from her mother Jessie. Karri recognises the teaching and fostering of artistic habits that were bestowed directly from her mother. Starting early in life Jessie often took every chance to bring her children along to galleries and art museums, even having Karri join in on classes Jessie took in painting and life drawing. Utilising play with clay as a frequent method of keeping young Karri occupied, Jessie even took to teaching mini portrait sculpting sessions with Karri’s friends after primary school. Later Jessie fostered the exploration of involvement in community art, demonstrating the simplicity of taking part in group exhibitions, art programs and leading the way in promoting local arts.

When asked how Karri developed skills in clay sculpting she first and foremost thanks Jessie’s efforts. Karri even suggests her skills may have been bestowed in part due to a kind of osmosis from the sheer volume of exposure to spacial expressions of art. From the beginning, Karri observed Jessie’s sculptures dotted around the house and garden and watched her process of creating forms on numerous occasions especially when sitting as a muse.

Today Karri and Jessie often still work together in the studio and discuss and share technical knowledge and engineering necessities for larger projects.