Sculpere Newsletter: Jenny Whiteside: Featured Artist

Jenny wins 1st prize at the ASV annual William Hoggan
Thomas Memorial Award for her work, Madonna (Flamestone from
WA)

Madonna’s Repose (Flamestone from WA)
Photography courtesy of the artist

The traditional art of stone carving is alive and well in the sculptures of Jenny Whiteside. Her vibrant torsos and busts, frozen in wild gestures, resemble Modernist champions such as Lyndon Dadswell; although her earliest inspirations for her work were the Renaissance artists, Raphael, Da Vinci and the father of stone carving, Michelangelo. Another source of her inspiration was her father, a supporter of the arts in Melbourne.

Since 1990, Jenny has managed to carve out a rewarding career in sculpture from her home studio and has been a member of the ASV since about 2001. She has also been the recipient of prizes such as the ASV William Hoggan Thomas Memorial Award for her piece, ‘Madonna’ in 2004.
Jenny does not work by a plan, instead she lets her work, which is predominantly figurative, evolve naturally from the stone, which allows her to incorporate unexpected colours, textures and imperfections inherent in the stone. Foremost a stone carver, her favorites include, Mt Gambier Limestone, Pyrophyllite, Serpentine, Chlorite, Soapstone, and Alabaster. Most of this is imported from Canada.

Jenny gives regular limestone and soapstone carving workshops at her studio and at Bulleen Art and Garden.