Behind the Portrait: JR Ewan
JR Ewan, co-founder of Glasgow’s Southside Studios, is an artist and maker whose journey is marked by his family’s legacy and his own creative evolution. In this edition of Behind the Portrait he shares his insights into his creative process and his experiences working with diverse artists at Project Ability and his own Southside Studios.
This portrait forms part of Simon Murphy’s ‘Govanhill’ project. A book of his images is now available to purchase published by Gomma Books. Follow @smurph77 on Instagram for more.
Interview by Devon McCole | Photo by Simon Murphy
JR Ewen, co-founder of Glasgow’s Southside Studios, is an artist and maker whose journey is marked by his family’s legacy and his own creative evolution – whether sculpting colossal art installations or sharing his love for bagpipes with his great grandfather.
Influenced by his father’s artistic spirit and inspired by his great grandfather’s plethora of practical skills, he shares insights into his creative process and his experiences working with diverse artists at Project Ability and his own Southside Studios on Westmoreland Street; a space for artists to rent out studios and work on their own projects.
This was taken when I was dressed in my Dress No.1s, heavy, traditional gear for the Govanhill International Festival a few years back. Simon Murphy caught me and took me aside to this wall at the garages near the health centre – I think it’s his favourite wall for a photograph – and he got the picture then.
My dad George Ewen, encouraged me to play an instrument, he knew it’d be good for me when I was older. So I took up the bagpipes, they were incredibly difficult to learn to play but now I am grateful as I get a lot of enjoyment from playing in bands like Saor Alba Pipes & Drums, Pipe Band Aid and Barrhead & District Pipe Band. You can play weddings, or other events that, if you were a drummer for example, wouldn’t be available to you.
My great-grandfather, Alec Ewen, played the bagpipes. He served in the Gordon Highlanders and lived most of his life in Aberdeenshire. His set of pipes are a cherished piece of the family and I was honoured to become custodian of them a decade ago and get them playing again. He was a really hard man, I’ve been told, and very practical. And he was proud of his Scottish heritage, the bagpipes were a big part of that.
An artist’s job can be a difficult one. But I find one job follows another job, just like any sort of tradesman. The work just kind of snowballs really and you gain a lot of experience. It’s all about problem solving; being a self-starter and working things out for yourself.
My dad’s influence has stayed with me throughout my life. He was a GP but he also did a lot of painting drawing and photography at home. Dad was always really good at art and drawing and always encouraged me to do so. He had the best technical drawing pens and fine paper and pastels I could use. He’d give us his leftover paints and materials to use.
Art school was the foundation that allowed me to develop my practice. It was a real eyeopener in terms of understanding how to contextualise your work; how to position your work within a broader conversation and how to speak about it critically.
It’s fantastic that after art school I managed to get into a job role where it was kind of my field anyway. I started working at Project Ability, a charity that works with people with learning disability or learning difficulties, people who’ve experienced mental health issues and children and young people with autism. We don’t class it as art therapy, but people benefit from it in that regard. The focus is on making quality artwork, that’s the focus we’ve always had. I still work there as a technician. I’ve been working there as a technician for 23 years.
I recently worked with the Tramway on this massive clay sculpture, we called it the ‘god monster’. It was part of Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran’s exhibition, Idols of Mud and Water. It was an insane piece, I mean huge. That was pretty wild. I’ve gotten to work on pretty interesting projects over the years.
When we started this place, we didn’t know what we were doing. We had been in studios before, obviously. We had an art background, so we were makers. But since starting the Southside Studios, it has been an incredible place for me to grow as an artist. There’s about 14 or 15 people that rent studio space from us, it’s always interesting to see what the other artists are working on.
Self motivation is very rewarding. It’s important to always be learning something new, and I think it’s especially important to find someone you can learn from as well. That’s invaluable. My great-grandfather Ronnie Swan was that person for me.