Russell Jackson draws his subject matter from his interest in ornithology and archaeology. He is especially known for his coastal landscapes and birdlife rendered with a particularly New Zealand feel, in enamel paint. Peter Webb has described him as “the most important naturalist painter in New Zealand.”
Jackson says, “My landscapes are affirmative and pleasurable, rather than revolutionary. I speak directly to my audience, confirming the fact of place and living things in the World. The art critic for Art New Zealand, John Daly-Peoples, calls me a “green artist” for my series “The Ascension of Trees. I move between the figurative and the abstract and from the pictorial to picture plane. To me, they are just different modes of expression. Half my painting life has been refining and tightening. Now my work is increasingly loose, open to chance and painterly gesture, like my series “The King is Dead,” featuring animal-head Egyptian gods. Over recent years the subject of my paintings have included cows which occupied Auckland’s volcanic cone reserves. My studio is now set in a garden in Parnell and I find the flowers are a colour inspiration and I’ve been experimenting with a botanical theme.”
Jackson was born in 1947 in Auckland. He comes from a family of artists including his father, Case Jackson, and brother, Paul Jackson. As a youngster, Russell was exposed early to the visual arts community – from Keith Patterson to Colin McCahon. This lead him to see the possibility of art as a future profession.
Jackson studied Art History at Auckland University and Graphic Arts at the Auckland University of Technology, from 1968 – 71. He learnt lithography at the Elam Art School and did etching classes under Carole Shepheard and Rodney Fumpston. Following a short time as a graphic artist, he has been a full time painter since 1974.