Life Videos

Conversations: Jessica Rankin and Gemma Rolls-Bentley | White Cube

In a recent White Cube conversation, artist Jessica Rankin discusses how she navigates a fluid, improvisational workflow that blurs the line between painting and embroidery. Rankin explains that she never received formal training in either medium, which she credits for the “off‑kilter” freedom that lets her invent on the fly. Influenced by second‑wave feminist professors at Rutgers, she maintains a skeptical distance from her own emotions, allowing paint and thread to argue with each other on the canvas. She describes the process as a back‑and‑forth dialogue—“I paint something, then I respond in thread, then I respond in paint”—creating palpable tension and mystery that forces viewers to look closely to decipher the layers. The conversation underscores how embracing uncertainty and cross‑disciplinary play can produce work that feels both intimate and conceptually robust, offering a model for emerging artists and curators seeking to challenge medium hierarchies.