Jess Holdengarde
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. Part of this relocation is about the desire to collaborate with Mhairi Law and Island Darkroom to develop a rural analogue residency program that fosters international reach for the Outer Hebrides.
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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.
CV & Awards
EDUCATION
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
2022 Urban Entanglements, Ilali Studio, Berlin, Germany (Supported by Ilali Studio and Creative Scotland)
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DUO SHOWS
2024 Across the Landscape, in collaboration with Melanie King, The Margate School of Art, Margate, UK (Supported by Creative Scotland)
GOUP EXHIBITIONS
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
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
PUBLICATIONS
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
RESIDENCY/INTERNSHIPS
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)
COMMISSIONS
2022 Figurative Alchemy, Bristol, United Kingdom (private collector)
SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTATION & TRAINING
2022 Millfield Darkroom, Millfield School, Somerset, UK
2022 St Pauls Community Darkroom, Real Photography Company, Bristol, UK
FACILITATION & WORKSHOPS
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2020
Inkcubeko Nezobugcisa NPC, Xhosa language LGBQT activation sessions
Xhosa speaking photographic activation sessions for LGBQT creatives in South Africa by an Initiative in Woodstock, Cape Town. This has been I worked with the initiative on a consultation basis helping them design a sustainable community project. This is currently taking place on a bi-weekly basis.
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2016/20
Art+Feminism Activation Sessions
Co-host with Dr Alexandra Ross for a series of online and in person wiki-edit-a-thons for the Art+Feminism Campaign. The organisation is committed to closing information gaps related to gender, feminism, and the arts, beginning with Wikipedia.We hosted our first session in South Africa together in 2016, and have hosted a series of events in South Africa and Glasgow each year.
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2021
FIX Photographic Collective
Co-founder of a recently established photographic collective in Glasgow with Christina McBride. Our aim is to create a resource and alternative lensed based educational space which has more concern for the environment and community. The collective is hosting a series of sustainability events with GSA to coincide with COP26 in November 2021.
2021
Close Of Play: Climate Emergency and Creative Action Series
This was a series of events hosted in November and December 2021 which included the exhibition ‘In-Process’, an online panel discussion, a guest lecture and a number of workshops. The month long activations were organised by GSA and Fix Photography Collective to coincide with COP26 in Glasgow. The series of events expanded a dialogue around issues of sustainability and offered an opportunity to establish a space for conversation, participation and support which offers alternative methods of co-creation in an ecological crisis.
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2023
Art for Healing Campaign with Positive Vibes Organisation and We Lead Orginisation in Kenya & Guatemala.
Lead facilitator for a new pilot programme & innovative project that brought the process of sustainable and alternative photographic practices to facilitate healing and action in specific countries. This was one of the first international projects to utilise natural and organic processes to allow participants to nurture their healing process as a community through tactile methodologies that supported communication and sharing. The project culminated with rightsholders creating a publisehd book in Kenya & a public exhibition in Guatemala City.
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TECHNICAL PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK
2015-2017 Photographic and personal assistant to Photographer Vanessa Cowling, Cape Town UK
2016 Research assistant to Professor Svea Josephy, at Michaelis School of FineArt, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 2nd Shooting Assistant to Sara Thomson, Crew Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
2018 - CURRENT Broadscope Studio Manager, Glasgow, UK
PHOTOGRAPHIC TEACHING POSITIONS
2016 -2019 Part time Lecturer at Orms Cape Town School of Photography, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 - 2017 Assistant Pottery Teacher at The Hill Primary School, Constantia, Cape Town, SouthAfrica
2016 - 2017 Assistant Pottery Teacher, Reddham House, Constantia and Greenpoint, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 Assistant Art Club Teacher, Reddham House, Constantia, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 Part Time Assistant Lecturer to Ashley Walters, Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 Part Time Assistant Lecturer to Vanessa Cowling, Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT, Cape Town, South Africa
2019 Photographic workshop facilitator at House for an Art Lover, Studio Pavilion, Glasgow, UK
2019 Creative Photography Teacher at Summer School for Teens, Stirling University, Stirling, Scotland, UK
AWARDS
2024 Stills and Verzasca Foto Artist in Residence, Verzasca Valley, Switzerland & Scotland
2024 Hospitalfield Interdisciplinary Residency supported by Hope Scott Trust
2022 Creative Scotland Open Fund for Individuals, Ecologies of Perception, Research and Development Project
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