Jenna Maclean’s practice is rooted in abstract painting, where she explores themes of nostalgia and memory. The focus is primarily on procedural memory, through gesture and the process of intuitive mark-making. Her process focuses on immediacy and embraces repetition. Jenna’s paintings allow for the viewer to enter a space of reminiscence. A place that’s not exactly there but fragments remain. This could be through colour choice, application methods or mark-making.

See Jenna’s work as part of our annual Summer open call, Something in the Mirage, which runs July 17th to August 8th, featuring an incredible collection of works by twenty nine artists inspired by the dreamlike shimmering of summer sunshine, heat hazes, lingering afterimages, or maybe the momentary glint of something half-seen and half-imagined in the dappled golden light.

Hi Jenna! Can you tell us how your artistic journey started?
My journey as an artist began in 2017 when I left school, with barely any qualifications to my name. I knew art was the only subject in school I enjoyed and gained something from. I left school and began NC Fine Art at West College Scotland, Paisley. If it weren’t for Ian Macpherson (my lecturer at the time) recognising my love for art and allowing me in on the course, I’m not sure where I would be today. It gave me many opportunities such as exhibiting at W.A.S.P.S studios in Glasgow and volunteering as an art therapist assistant in ‘The Mill’, Paisley.

How did you arrive at the theme of your work?
My work has evolved greatly over the years. I never set out to be an abstract artist. It wasn’t until I began my Undergraduate at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee, when one day I had a piece of discarded wood/board and an old can of wall paint. I began making marks with a printing roller and my lecturers at the time told me to keep going with it, so I did, and I haven’t looked back since!

What emotions or reactions do you hope viewers experience when they see your artwork?
My paintings allow for the viewer to enter a space of reminiscence. A place that is not clearly there but fragmented. This could be through colour choice, application methods or mark-making. I want the viewer to experience a sense of peace and fulfilment.

How do you overcome creative blocks?
I am lucky enough that I don’t often experience creative blocks, but if I do, I actively engage myself in applying for residencies, funding and open calls. This way, I am constantly involving myself within the artist community and keeping myself up to date with what opportunities are available to me. I have also been trying to work on a smaller scale; this way I can make work quickly that is more accessible.

What challenges did you experience during the creation of your work and how did you overcome them?
I often find that I step away from my paintings too early and call them finished. Although now, I’m still deciding whether that’s a good or bad aspect of my creation process. Sometimes I feel as if I need to make more marks, but I work gesturally and intuitively, and in some cases, I feel I physically can’t make marks anymore.

How do you typically approach your creative process from initial inspiration to the completion of your artwork?
I must be in the perfect headspace to create work. If I try and make a piece of work when I don’t feel like it, things often don’t go as I hoped. I have to kind of hype myself up to create work. I usually go straight in, without any plan or direction and let music guide me. I blast music and have a can of red bull and I’m ready to go.

Music was a great part of my research this year at GSA. Music has a powerful capability to promote emotional stimulation within the human brain. This can reconnect us to memories and the nostalgia behind them. When painting to varied genres, for example Tchaikovsky’s symphonies or Jazz genres like Miles Davis, it created emotional shifts during the mark-making process, resulting in gestural marks.

Are there any upcoming events or additional information you would like the audience to know? 
To see more of my recent work during my time at Glasgow School of Art, please come along to the Postgraduate Degree show at the Stow Building, 43 Shamrock St, Glasgow, G49LD from 29th August to 4th September.

Find out more about Jenna’s work on Instagram. Something in the Mirage runs at Six Foot Gallery until August 8th 2025.