[PICA] So, tell us about your background. 

[Mossy Jade] In making? In all of it?

[PICA] In all of it. 

[MJ] I’ve always been a visual artist, ever since I was a kid, working with music, performance and installation art. I’ve also been tattooing for eight years, but it’s been sitting a little bit more in the background recently. My arts practice really expanded and took off when I moved back to Boorloo five years ago. 

[PICA] Where did you move from? 

[MJ] From Narrm (Melbourne), which is where I started tattooing in this DIY, underground, self-taught movement of artists and shops. People would just call us scratchers (Mossy laughs).

[PICA] Do you think tattooing and the visual arts have always ran concurrently for you? Was there ever a time when you focused on one more than the other? 

[MJ] It felt like such a milestone to be able to say I work for myself as a full-time artist, and I owe that to tattooing. There’s been a really beautiful following and community around my tattooing, so it takes up most of my time. Although I’ve had some solo shows, and last year, I had a painting shown at the Art Gallery of WA that got acquired into the state collection which was wild. 

In my tattoo practice, there is an emphasis on drawing designs directly onto the skin to create something perfect for my client and their body. And, you know, the body stores so much memory and emotions. I pick up on people’s narratives, which can become woven into their tattoo design. It can be a very intimate, collaborative space full of trust that I’m trying to honour. But as you can imagine, I can get burnt out so I have been trying to recalibrate and re-energise by spending time painting, and then I’ll come back to my tattoo work with the energy it deserves. 

[PICA] Do you think that the intimacy of tattoos and how they are developed for an individual’s body translates into your painting?

[MJ] I think it’s common amongst artists to be so close to their work that they can’t properly see it. Recently, I got paint-on stencil ink and have been experimenting with painting designs onto my clients.

I’d love for my paintings to influence what the tattoo designs look like in the future, connecting my two practises. There is this balance between what feels inspiring and exciting to me and what my clients want. There is sort of an ethos and an energy around who comes to see me, and seeing that community form is a gift. 

Clients tell me stories about clocking people, spotting a Mossy tattoo, and that it made them feel more comfortable to go up to the person knowing they would likely connect.

[PICA] So, you just finished a Quick Response Residency at PICA. 

[MJ] Quick! 

[PICA] Very quick. Two weeks. In-and-out. In those two weeks you created an entirely new body of work. 

[MJ] Yeah. I came into that space so joyful and elated. I haven’t accessed many studio spaces before so being able to paint at PICA was amazing. 

I would find canvases on the sides of the road during curb-side collection that I would paint in my yard. I would buy mis-tints of acrylic house paint and mix them with brighter pigments to make my colours. I’ve always been thrifty in making spaces work or resourceful with collecting materials, but for PICA, I came in with fresh canvases and new oil paints. It’s such a brightly lit space – and emphasis on space – like it echoes in there! It has been amazing but then the perpetual doom of, oh, my God, I’ve only got two weeks here.  

It was my first time using oil and she needed time to dry honey. I pulled a lot of late nights but finished the collection in ten days, then took a long bath. It was as much a learning curve as it was finally my chance to bring a vision to life.  So, it was great.  

[PICA] Good. We’re glad you enjoyed it!

[MJ] Thank you!

[PICA] Those ten new works are in your next exhibition? 

[MJ] Yes! The exhibition is called Love Letters, a one night only show at Kings Street Arts Centre. This collection is an ode to Boorloo. 

[MJ] Recently I’ve realised something about my work, which is that it’s always about place and in response to where I am. Whilst making these works, I have tried to capture the essence or experience of this place. The paintings act as visual love letters to Boorloo and my memories here. 

Having grown up here, I used to feel isolated and disconnected, but I’ve witnessed this place change and transform over time. The streets used to be quite cruel and violent in my experience as a young queer person, but nowadays, I feel more in harmony. The natural landscape and ocean are always beautiful. They promote this sense of ease and expansiveness, like the big sky. I have so many beautiful memories here.  

Things are still complex, as beautiful as this place is. There’s been some progress in the right direction, but this is still land that’s been colonised and upholds settler colonial occupation. We are digging up a huge amount of non-renewable resources and our government’s investments in mining have seen sacred sites destroyed and First Nations people displaced from their country. First Nations people still fight for their treaty and human rights as the first people of this country. So, it’s beautiful but it has more progress to make. I feel very privileged to have a relationship with this place. 

[PICA] You said this collection is an ode to Boorloo. Would you also say it’s a farewell? 

[MJ] Awwww, yes, it is. I have a visa to move to London. It’s going to be a bit chilly innit! 

I moved back to Boorloo quite abruptly. Mostly for family who really needed me. I would later realise how much I needed them. These have been some of the hardest years, but also healing and generative. I’m more connected to my little sisters than ever, and my adoptive stepfamily. I’m so grateful for the women in my life who have shaped me, and the close friends I have here. But yes, big sis is looking at her own clock and thinking it’s time to go and take what you’re doing and see where you can grow. A big motivation in moving is to create work, collaborate and expand my voice as an artist. 

I visited London late last year and there were so many galleries, artist, so many trans girls I met or and would see walking the streets. I really didn’t like London at first, but it became evident that I was being called there. I’ll have to keep you posted. 

[PICA] Keep us posted! Please. 

A question that every artist that’s grown up here is asked: do you feel there is that necessity to move away to grow? As someone that’s been to Melbourne and returned, and now leaving again, do you feel like that’s an essential part of an artist’s timeline? 

[MJ] Yeah, I do, because you want to be able to understand different experiences of life, culture, religion and politics. Because I think having that knowledge and open mind or awareness is… hot.  

I think we have a really beautiful, contained unique thing going on here, so it’s really generative for people to leave and come back and share new inspiration to contribute to this culture. I definitely moved back from Narrm with the motivation to create more of a queer community and an underground tattoo scene.  

There are so many new spaces that have come into fruition, bringing people together creating a sense of belonging and community for First Nations people, people of colour, queer and trans people, that makes an impact on Boorloo’s culture, and opening the mindset of broader society which will continue to grow and expand. It’s really great.

[PICA] Yes, well, we will miss you. That’s for sure. 

[MJ] I’m going to miss you too! 

I’m going to be keeping my eye on things here. If PICA has an art gig for me then I’m booking that ticket! Because there’s no place like this and it will always be home.  

I’ll be repping Boorloo and WA in the UK. Yeah. 

[PICA] That’s a must!

Images: Mossy Jade, Love Letters, in-situ, Quick Response Residency, 2024, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA). Photo: Tülay Dinçel