In a ‘normal’ year, this collaboration between artist Jasmine Mansbridge, stylist Megan Morton and photographer Zan Wimberley would never have happened. It was only because an exhibition of sculptures Jasmine was due to show in 2020 was cancelled that she even considered alternate ways of documenting her Thought Catchers – a series of hollow, perspex cubes with coloured interiors.
Thought Catchers first appeared in Jasmine’s paintings around seven years ago. ‘The cube symbolises the contained nature of a thought, and then the cut away shapes represent the flow of the thinking process’ she explains. Gradually Jasmine evolved these painted into three-dimensional installations and sculptures, creating a more tangible symbol.
The most ambitious Thought Catcher was made earlier this year and is a two-metres square interactive steel sculpture with a mirrored surface to engage the viewer with not only their own thoughts, but also the surrounding environment.
Jasmine was due to have a solo show of smaller Thought Catcher sculptures this year, but COVID-19 had other plans. ‘The installations are so much better observed in person and I was disappointed, along with many other artists this year, that I was unable to show the work in an environment that saw them at their best’ says Jasmine. She reached out to Sydney stylist Megan Morton to commission a product shoot with the idea of documenting the sculptures online. Another creative, Melbourne-based photographer Zan Wimberley, was working in Sydney at the time (before the Victorian/New South Wales border closed), and the stars aligned for the trio to collaborate. Jasmine posted up the sculptures and offered up complete creative control to Zan and Megan (who only met for the first time on the shoot day!), allowing the Thought Catchers to take on a new life of their own.
‘I had tingles up and down my spine’, recalls Jasmine when she first saw the images a few days after Melbourne went into lockdown. For Megan, the series was one of her favourite projects to have worked on in 2020. ‘This commission tested some of those inner stylist skills that can lay dormant under “normal” circumstances’ Megan says. A collection of six of the team’s favourite images are now available to purchase as art prints (as well as the original Thought Catchers).
This collaboration reminds us that sometimes, the most creative outcomes are those made in challenging circumstances!
You can buy the Thought Catcher prints and the sculptures from Jasmine’s online store here!
