Artist Profile: Jessica Ticchio
This is part of a series of interviews with Sugar Glider Digital’s artists, where we explore their practice and perspectives on digital art.
Photo credit: Sonia de Pellegrin
“I love the juxtaposition of my utopian, serene dreamscapes against the chaos of a big busy city. And I love the idea of art in unexpected places – reaching people who may not even know they need it.”
1. When, and why did you start making digital art?
I’ve been creating digital art in different forms since the 2010s. My dad is a graphic designer and illustrator, so I grew up on the Adobe Suite. I think I would have started experimenting with digital collage, illustration and graphics from as early as 2007, but it wasn’t until 2017 that I started learning 3D.
Up until then, I had been experimenting across countless mediums — 2D digital, lots of hand illustration, physical sculpture, painting, watercolours, spatial design, object design — a bit of this, a bit of that. I remember really struggling to find “my style” because it was hard to create consistency amongst such different mediums. My wonderful partner, David Porte Beckefeld encouraged me to learn 3D after seeing my work across all these mediums. 3D instantly became this real culmination of worlds for me - an intersection of digital creativity and more tangible practices like sculpture, and it was my first experience of a creative medium that felt all-encompassing and therefore liberating. My art practice suddenly felt multidimensional and limitless, and creating my own “worlds” is something I’ve been doing ever since :’)
2. How has your digital art practice evolved since you started?
When I started 3D in 2017, I spent a lot of time learning the basics with really no idea where an artwork was going to end up. Over time, I started to gravitate towards certain stylistic decisions - palettes, materials, compositions, styles - and by 2020, I had finally developed what I was never able to grasp before… my own artistic style!! To this day, I have not had formal training in 3D, but thanks to YouTube tutorials and my 3D guardian angel David, I’ve been able to keep learning new ways to evolve my work.
I believe every artwork should build on the last, a stepping stone to a new technique, material, subject or process. Always learning, nothing staying the same. Lots of small steps over time = progress!
Artwork: Jessica Ticchio, Sky Sculpture 1
Image credit: Claire Armstrong
3. Tell us about your favourite digital art project that you've worked on.
A project I hold very close to my heart is my 2023 artist collaboration with Mecca. Most people know Mecca as the incredibly popular Australian beauty store, but many don’t know they are an incredible champion of women in the creative industries.
Our project together was the epitome of creative freedom and collaboration - there was myself, the amazing Mecca team, models, photographers, make-up artists, retouchers and more all working together to bring the vision to life.
4. What spaces would you like to see more digital art in? Why?
The world needs more public art! With ads and marketing infiltrating every part of our existence these days, it is always such a breath of fresh air to see art in the city. Over the years, this has been a focus of mine and I have been very fortunate to have exhibited artworks on digital billboards in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay and the Verone building in Paris.
I love the juxtaposition of my utopian, serene dreamscapes against the chaos of a big busy city. And I love the idea of art in unexpected places – reaching people who may not even know they need it.
5. What is your relationship to the tools that you use to create digital art with, and how does that compare to other artforms?
For me, it feels like the digital art realm is truly limitless. With tech constantly evolving, there are always new tools and new combinations of tools for creatives to explore. Compared to other art forms, 3D can sometimes feel quite overwhelming because of it’s limitless nature. When you have infinite options, which path do you take?
I’ve learnt to focus on exploring the tools that I most naturally enjoy and gravitate towards. I personally love spending time outdoors and actively try to minimise the amount of time spent sitting at my computer, so a go-to tool for me is my tablet.
I am also endlessly fascinated by the intersection of the physical & virtual realms, and this has naturally led me to use tools that have more of a “tangible” feel to them. Sculpting in Virtual Reality, using physical controllers and a headset, is a favourite as it gives the uncanny sensation of creating by hand. It’s important to me that my work never loses its human feel so my tools are definitely chosen with that in mind.
6. Who are your 3 favourite digital artists at the moment?
Ines Alpha always. Her new role as Prada Global Creative e-makeup artist is the embodiment of her constant evolutions; someone who is always taking her art to new heights
Pilar Zeta - I love Pilar’s seamless blend between digital and physical spaces. Pilar’s art takes the forms of so many mediums, but I am especially in love with the transition from 3D concepts to stunning bespoke furniture and large-scale immersive installations.
Tessa Forrest - Beautiful mindful reminders and colour palettes that make me very happy.
“Interweaving your life with more creative communities will do incredible things for both inspiration and motivation.”
7. What advice would you give to someone who wants to try making digital art?
For me, the hardest part of learning 3D was just getting started- classic. As mentioned, there is just so much out there so it can feel quite overwhelming. Start by learning the basics - I used a fantastic Cinema4D tutorial series by Grayscale Gorilla. After having an understanding of functionalities, I found moodboarding and saving stylistic references for the general realm you want to explore is a good next move. From here, allow yourself plenty of time for experimentation.
YouTube will be your best friend if you’re self taught like me. Remove the pressure of needing to “create an incredible artwork” and just enjoy playing around with different tutorials, exploring different effects you can create. Eventually, you will find a thread you like, and you can keep following and evolving from there. Enjoy the process and never stop learning :~)
8. Where can we see more of your work?
Instagram (@jessicaticchio) is realistically my most up-to-date portfolio - I’m always sharing new artworks, exhibitions, inspirations + behind-the-scenes glimpses into my creative process and life all intertwined into one
My website contains more focus on specific projects, as well as more detail about me, and my art & design practice, if you want to deep dive :-D
9. Anything else you would like to mention in this feature?
As my art career continues to develop, I’m constantly experiencing such joy from connecting with new creatives. If you’ve been thinking about DMing a creative in your city, do it! Go to the exhibition even if you’re alone, and say hi if you recognise someone! Go to the artist meet up! Submit your work to the art mag! Make more creative friends! Interweaving your life with more creative communities will do incredible things for both inspiration and motivation.
Artwork: Jessica Ticchio, Mirage
Image credit: Claire Armstrong