Jess Holdengarde
Image credit: Lucy Skaer, South Lochs, Isle of Lewis, 2025
Contact & Socials
​email: jessholdy@gmail.com
instagram: @jess_holdengarde
substack: Jess_Holdengarde
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Jess Holdengarde is a lens-based artist from South Africa, now living and working between the Isle of Lewis and Glasgow, Scotland. Their work examines photography’s role in responding to environmental, social, and economic crises, focusing on how image-making can inspire critical reflection and hopeful action.
Through plant-based darkroom techniques, foraged materials, and site-specific approaches, they integrate sustainable methods across photography, writing, sound, and moving images. Holdengarde has exhibited internationally in Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK. In 2024 they were the receipent of the Verzasca Foto artist in Residence programme in Switzerland, and have just had their first major solo show at Stills Centre for photography in Edinburgh.
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Foraging, recording, and immersing themselves in the surrounding landscape are central to Jess’s practice. The darkroom is approached as a site of alchemy and performance, where light, silver, and organic materials collide to produce images of transformation and suspension. Through the use of sustainable materials, their process embeds the physical landscape into the work itself.
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In recently moving to the Isle of Lewis, Jess’s aim is to support the sustainability of their practice in a rural landscape whilst continuing their international practice as a Scottish-based artist. ​Jess’s practice is grounded in a commitment to sustainability and slow, intentional methods. By bridging art and nature, they aim to foster dialogue about ecological responsibility and create meaningful opportunities for collaboration and learning within the arts.
EDUCATION
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2016 Bachelor’s of Fine Art (Distinction in Studio Work) Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town
2021 Masters in Fine Art (Distinction) The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
SOLO SHOWS
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2024/25 GLIMMER, Stills Centre for Photography, Edinburgh, UK (Supported by Creative Scotland, Swiss Embassy UK, Wilhelmina Barns Graham Trust, Verzasca Foto)
2022 Urban Entanglements, Ilali Studio, Berlin, Germany (Supported by Ilali Studio and Creative Scotland)
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DUO SHOWS
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2024 Across the Landscape, in collaboration with Melanie King, The Margate School of Art, Margate, UK (Supported by Creative Scotland)
GOUP EXHIBITIONS
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2013 Rhodes Student Exhibition Grahamstown National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape
2014 Where The Wild Things Are, Curated by Nina Liebenberg, Michaelis Upper Gallery. Cape Town, SA
2015 LunchBox, The Eye Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 In bed with Series/Friends, performance with Dr Alexandra Ross, World Art Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2016 Orms Staff Show, CTSP, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 By Way of Hand, CTSP, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 Out Of Nowhere, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2017 Redemptive Beauty, Eclectica Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2017 Orms Staff Show, CTSP, Cape Town, SA
2017 Re (union), Art.b Gallery, Belleville, SA.
2017 Salad, Summer Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2018 Close Encounters Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2018 Meditative Moments, Group Show, Gallery One11, Cape Town, SA
2018 Summer Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, SA Art Fairs
2018 Investec Cape Town Art Fair with SMITH Gallery, Cape Town International Convention Centre, SA
2019 Emphatic Whispers, Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town. SA
2019 Someone You Love Has an Abortion Story to Tell, Constitution Hill, Women’s Jail, Johannesburg, SA
2021 The 195th RSA Annual Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK. [Online]
2021 Hot Wheels, GSA MFA Showcase, The Glue Factory, Glasgow, UK
2021 In Process, an exhibition by Fix Photography Collective and GSA, The Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow, UK
COLLABORATIONS
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2020 What’s the name of that yellow flower (Temporal Landscapes), in conversation with Catrin Menai, The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, UK (Supported by GSA Sustainability Award)
2020 Recantations, in collaboration with Kate Holford, The Savings Bank, Glasgow, UK.
2021 Dreaming Lockdown, ongoing video project with Glasgow based artist, Beth Shapeero, Glasgow, UK
2025 GLISK, artist-led residency with Mhairi Law, Island Darkroom, Isle of Lewis, UK (Supported by Creative Scotland)
PUBLICATIONS
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2021 a holding place, Collaborative Publication with Glasgow based artist, Lydia Davies, Glasgow, UK
2022 ISM magazine, 4th edition, artist interview and commission cover, Glasgow, UK
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RESIDENCIES
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2017 Berlin Art Institute, Berlin, Germany
2018 Warren Editions, Printmedia Internship, Cape Town, South Africa
2022 Ecologies of Perception, Research and Development Residency, Ilali Studio, Berlin, Germany (supported by Ilali Studio & Creative Scotland)
2023 Island Darkroom Residency, Isle of Lewis, UK (supported by Island Darkroom & Creative Scotland)
2024 Verzasca Foto Artist in Residence, Verzasca Valley, Switzerland (Supported by Wilhemina Barns Graham Trust)
2025/26 Stirlings Artist in Residence, Stilring University Arts Collection, Stirling UK
COMMISSIONS
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2025/26 FORTH20, Research and Climate Policy Innovation, Stirling University (Supported by Lux Scotland and Stirling University)
2025 The Living Camera, Lyth Arts Centre, Caithness, UK (Supported by National Lottery Youth Fund)
2022 Figurative Alchemy, Bristol, United Kingdom (private collector)
AWARDS
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2025/26 Stirlings Artist in Residence, Stirling's University Arts Collection, Stirling UK
2025 Hospitalfield Interdisciplinary Residency supported by Hope Scott Trust
2024 Creative Scotland Open Fund, GLIMMER, Production support, Stills Centre for Photography
2024 Stills and Verzasca Foto Artist in Residence, Verzasca Valley, Switzerland & Scotland
2023 Creative Scotland Open Fund, The Natural Process, Research and Development
2022 Creative Scotland Open Fund, Ecologies of Perception, Research and Development
2020 Re-rewarded The Oppenheimer International Memorial Scholarship
2019 The Oppenheimer International Memorial Scholarship
2019 The Glasgow School of Art Governor’s International Scholarship
2017 Short-listed for Arts and Thread Future Creator Award
2016 Humanities Scholarship, University of Cape Town, SA