Jessie Growden is an artist and writer based in the Scottish Borders, and started making films in 2014. She is a founding member of the Moving Image Makers Collective. She grew up between a garden centre and a forest, and finds herself back in the forest more often than not. She studied design for textiles at Heriot-Watt University, and has worked in roles in knitwear production, marketing management, libraries and hospitality.
Artist Statement:
My work explores place, landscape and personal experiences through playful and also structural approaches to recording and presenting images. Focusing on objects, both the sentimental and the throwaway, and the history and lives of things and places, I look to create work both autobiographical and performative. While exploring the local and personal through a feminist lens, I aim to preserve these objects and places, while questioning what they really say to and about us. I work mainly in video, and also use sculpture, drawing and writing in my practice.
Screenings and Exhibitions:
2022:
Portrait Landscape (excerpt)
Borders Book Festival, Melrose (18/6/22) in the Moving Images Cinema Caravan. info here
6×6 Project
Joined the 6×6 project in their 28th edition, visit the site here
I’m Not From Here
Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival 2022, Hawick (28/4/22 – 2/5/22) info here
25/1/22
Scottish Society of Artists 30×30 at Borders Art Fair (25/3/33 – 27/3/22) info here
Pink
Visual Arts Scotland annual exhibition, REVERB, online (19/3/22 – 29/4/22) info here
2021:
I’ve Only Been Here Half My Life
Alchemy Film & Arts – The Teviot, The Flag & The Rich Rich Soil (26/11/21 – 28/11/21) Info here
Treeline
Contributor to Ruth Maclennan’s commission for In the Forest Something Stirred, co-commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella and Forestry England. 8/11/21 onwards Info here
I am Tall Meepa
Moving Image Makers Collective – Conversations with a Forest, 17/9/21 – 18/9/21 Info here
2020:
Photograph
Alchemy Live 2020, 1/5/20 Info here
Lines in the Sand
The Stove Network, Dumfries, 14/2/20 Info here
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
The Stove Network, Dumfries, 14/2/20 Info here
2019:
Lines in the Sand
CCA, Glasgow, 7/12/19 Info here
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
CCA, Glasgow, 7/12/19 Info here
Lines in the Sand
Filmhuis Cavia, Amsterdam, 6/12/19 Info here
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
Filmhuis Cavia, Amsterdam, 6/12/19 Info here
Lines in the Sand
Pix Film Gallery, Toronto, 15/11/19 Info here
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
Pix Film Gallery, Toronto, 15/11/19 Info here
Sixty Three Plastic Bottles and One Aluminium Can
Cinemaforum, Warsaw, 7/11/19 Info here
Lines in the Sand
Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, 4/10/19 Info here
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, 4/10/19 Info here
Lines in the Sand
NAUTILUS: BEEF Shed at Supernormal Festival 2019, Oxfordshire, 2-4/8/19
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
NAUTILUS: BEEF Shed at Supernormal Festival 2019, Oxfordshire, 2-4/8/19
Lines in the Sand
A Cyborg’s Search for Meaning, Safehouse, London, 3/8/19 – 4/8/19
Scottish Borders Life Drawing Club Exhibition
Kelso Mens’ Shed, Kelso, 18/7/19 – 1/8/19
Lines in the Sand
Borders Book Festival, Melrose, 14/6/19
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
Borders Book Festival, Melrose, 14/6/19
Lines in the Sand
DunsPlayFest, Duns, 9/5/19
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
DunsPlayFest, Duns, 9/5/19
Lines in the Sand
Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, 5/5/19
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, 5/5/19
Lines in the Sand
Experiments in Cinema 14.2, Albuquerque, USA 16/4/19
Granny Duncan’s Tape Collection
FilmFort: Treefort Music Fest, Boise, Idaho, USA, 23/3/19
2018:
Circle #3
Winnipeg Undergruond Film Festival, 1/6/18
Sixty Three Plastic Bottles and One Aluminium Can
Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival, 5/5/18
Rising and Falling
Peebles Outdoor Film Festival, 29/1/18
2017:
Another Forest
Yarrow, Ettrick and Selkirk Arts Festival, 14-17/9/17
River Installation
A MIMC collaborative work.
Yarrow, Ettrick and Selkirk Arts Festival, 14-17/9/17
Rising and Falling
River Ways Festival, Hawick 7/9/17
Work in Progress
Alchemy Film & Arts, Moving Image Makers Exhibition Programme, 31/8/17 – 2/9/17
Circle #3
Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival, 2-6/3/17
Swings and Roundabouts
Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival, 2-6/3/17
2016:
TFOD
Creative Coathanger Festival, 1/10/16
2015:
Back and Forth
Edinburgh Artists’ Moving Image Festival, 12/12/15
Forest
Forman Hall Film Night, Roberton, 20/11/15
Filmstrip
Beyond the Shutter – Yarrow, Ettrick and Selkirk Arts Festival, 12-20/9/15
Forest 2
Beyond the Shutter – Yarrow, Ettrick and Selkirk Arts Festival, 12-20/9/15
Back and Forth
Moving Image Makers Collective Screening, Hawick, 24/6/15
Forest
Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival, 19/4/15
Residencies:
Alchemy Film & Arts Artist in Residence, 2020
Alchemy Film & Arts Moving Image Residencies 2017, Café Tissardmine, Morocco.
Bursaries, Grants and Prizes:
LUX Scotland bursary, DIY approaches to cameraless and 16mm filmmaking workshop, July 2022
Hawick Callants Club Common Riding Essay Competition winner (Adult) 2020
Read the essay here.
South of Scotland Visual Artist & Craft Maker Awards, March 2019
SUPERLUX bursary, Screenwriting for Artists Workshop at Glasgow Film Festival, February 2017
South of Scotland Visual Artist & Craft Maker Awards, 2014 – 2015
Other Exhibitions:
2017:
Hedgehog Stories: Harestanes Countryside Centre Spring Exhibition 2017
2016:
Wild about Badgers: Harestanes Countryside Centre Spring Exhibition, Thurs 24 March – Sun 5 June 2016
2015:
Painting the Park: Rose Hughes and Friends, Sunday 1st March – Sun 3 May 2015
Other Commissions:
2011:
‘Colours of Chemistry’, St Andrew’s University, Fife
Jessie Growden 