Melissa Ling won Jackson’s Art Prize 2023 (formerly known as Jackson’s Painting Prize) with her acrylic on canvas painting, Out of Now. Her work investigates identity through a story of migration, using references from family photo albums. We called Melissa in her New York studio to discuss her process, materials, ideas behind her series of works, and how it felt to be the first international winner of Jackson’s Art Prize.
Interview with Melissa Ling, Winner of Jackson’s Art Prize 2023
0:00 Introduction
0:24 Could you start by telling us about your artistic background?
1:14 What ideas do you explore in your work?
1:54 Where does a painting begin for you?
2:54 How long does it take you to make a painting?
3:28 How did you choose the colour palette for Out of Now?
4:26 Can you tell us about your New York studio?
5:32 How did you make the decision to enter Jackson’s Painting Prize 2023?
6:19 How do your painting and drawing practices inform each other?
7:15 Which artist tools do you find indispensable?
7:43 Why do acrylics work for you?
9:21 Can you tell us the story behind the title of Out of Now?
11:12 What makes a good day in the studio for you?
11:38 How do you know when a painting is finished?
12:09 Are you going to continue working on this series of paintings?
12:39 How does it feel to be the first international winner of the Jackson’s Painting Prize?
13:38 Credits
Out of Now, 2021
Melissa Ling
Acrylic on canvas, 91.44 x 60.96 cm | 36 x 24 in
“While I’m painting, I’m consuming other things that will inevitably bleed into my work, whether its a book that I’m reading, or maybe lingering images that I’ve just seen from a movie. I think in that way, painting becomes something new, it’s an ongoing conversation between the past and the present.”
Melissa Ling in her studio
Interviews with Past Winners of Jackson’s Art Prize
Lorena Levi, winner of Jackson’s Painting Prize 2022
Miranda Boulton, winner of Jackson’s Painting Prize 2021
Ruth Murray, winner of Jackson’s Painting Prize 2020
Iain Nicholls, winner of Jackson’s Painting Prize 2019
Shop Acrylic Painting on jacksonsart.com
This is an extremely absorbing interview
between two eloquent individuals.
Rarely, I think, does the interviewer
engage with such intelligent questions
and the artist speaks so openly and with
such insight in response. Loved this and
the work is fascinating to me, grounded
as I am in photography.