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Wednesday, 17 December 2014

Through fashion into art

Catherine Jenna Hendry (CJ Hendry) and her pens. Photo © Instagram cj_hendry

You might believe these works of art are photographs, well look closely because they are not. These are drawings mastered by the twenty-six years old Brisbane based artist Catherine Jenna Hendry (CJ Hendry). She is the up-and-coming pop art diva of the digital age. She is mostly famous for her large-scale realistic illustrations of luxury bags, shoes and other fashion items. Her unique technique has recognized her amongst collectors across Australia and abroad. Prior to her success in the art world, Catherine worked as a sales assistant in a Chanel boutique. She was also on the path of acquiring two university degrees in architecture and finance. Hendry made the decision to take a year off to pursue her true passion, drawing. She gave herself 365 days to see where her passion would lead her. If her drawings would not take off she planned on going back to university. Henry’s first series was fashion oriented. She drew shopping bags, shoes and silk carres from the world’s most famous fashion houses such as Chanel, Armani, Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Her works are created with a very unique technique. She begins by choosing the object and photographing it from various angles and under different lighting. Sometimes she takes up to a hundred photographs per item. She then chooses her favorite photograph and prints it in black and white. After the photograph is printed Hendry reproduces it by hand with accuracy and monochrome on a large format paper with the use of a ballpoint pen. She selects the image that evokes a sense of simplicity and balance. The choice of black and white is deliberate as it lands the viewer’s attention directly on the figure of interest.

Her work of art requires the same amount of patience as needed by a tailor designing a perfect suit. A 1.8×2.4 meter panel requires two months of work and about thirty ink pens to be completed. Each pen only lasts around half an hour because of how quickly the nib wears down. Catherine always wears white clothes while drawing and listens to audio books to pass the time. She only works alone and spends about twelve to fifteen hours a day drawing. She believes that there is a powerful parallel between drawing and meditating.

Unlike the majority of artists who exhibit their work in galleries, Catherine knew from the start that she preferred to exhibit and sell her work on a virtual platform. Her Instagram account became her personal gallery. Her first solo exhibition was canceled because she had already sold all her works through Instagram. The average price of her work today amounts to fifty thousand dollars. However her first ever-sold drawing was a black and white drawing of a door size pair of RM William boots priced at ten thousand dollars. This success occurred only five months after she quite her day job.

Text by Rimma Ismagilova
Translated by Jianne Jamil

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