Born and raised in the Cayman Islands,
John Reno Jackson is an interdisciplinary artist based in London, England. He draws inspiration from his Caymanian/British heritage and the dynamic environment surrounding him. He is currently pursuing an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art.
Jackson's artistic journey began with foundational courses in painting and drawing at the Art Academy London in 2015. After a educational hiatus, he partook in TURPS Correspondence Course from 2020 to 2022, learning from Phil Allen, Between 2022 and 2024, he attended BFA courses from The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL. He is currently pursuing an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art, where he is a recipient of the prestigious Sir Frank Bowling Scholarship, and has made history as the first Caymanian to attend the school.
Between 2020-2025 he studied under: Dr. Onya McCausland, Andrew Pierre Hart, Phil Allen, Liz Rideal, Peter Davies, Neil Jeffries RA, Milena Dragicevic, John Slyce, Tom Palin, Clintel Steed, Gil Ord, Katrina Blannin, John Bunker, Phoebe Unwin.
His artwork has been showcased in numerous exhibitions, “Gestures of the Unseen”, TERN Gallery, Bahamas (2024), "The Nomenclature of Colours III", The Slade School of Fine Art, Corner 7, (2024), “Conversations with the Past - In the Present Tense”, NGCI (2023), “Caribbean Linked VI”, Atelier 89’, Aruba (2022), and most notably his solo show "a heron amongst the storm", NGCI (2022). Jackson has been honoured to receive grants from CATAPULT I & II (2020, 2022), organised by Kingston Creative, Fresh Milk Barbados, and AFJ. He was the first Caymanian to attend the PADA Studios residency program in Barreiro, Portugal, in 2020 and again in 2023. In the summer of 2022, he had the privilege of attending Caribbean Linked VI at Atelier 89' in Aruba.
His multimedia exploration encompasses themes of memory, preservation, isolation, and identity in relation to Afro-Caribbean experience.
Jackson's work reflects current and historical contexts within the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean region. He uses diverse materials and techniques to integrate traditional Caymanian crafts, such as the silver thatch palm, with found objects like fabrics, dirt, sand, and discarded ephemera.
Jackson is intrigued by the contrasting values assigned to objects and their inherent identities. Investigating the narratives from an artwork's experience with nature, culture, and the viewer - makes it possible to understand the plurality of post-colonial experience. Recently, he has been experimenting with placing artwork outdoors, exposing it to human interaction and environmental conditions, and uniting multiple narratives.
Here is a quote from TERN Gallery: “... (Jackson) uses his painting practice to explore indigenous Caymanian culture. Through the investigation of flora, fauna and the ever-present changes to economy and landscape, Jackson is pushing past the tourist narrative of the Caribbean islands to unearth indigenous technologies and relationships between the locals and the land. Before The Cayman Islands’ economy was stimulated by its financial sector, the small island nation’s historic connection to Jamaica and the British Empire placed its identity between these disparate places without significant cultural markers. However, Jackson’s non-representational abstract works reference tools like the silver thatch broom, the technology of basket weaving, the combination of organic and man-made materials to create dimensions in the work while being steeped in western art history.”
With his works becoming a part of the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands' permanent collection (in 2020, 2021, and 2022), Jackson is honoured to contribute to his homeland's cultural legacy.
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