Painter
Jennifer was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1974. She received her BFA from the University of Ottawa, and MFA from the University of Western Ontario. She moved to Nova Scotia in 2003 to run the eyelevelgallery, an artist-run centre in downtown Halifax. Now based in Montreal, Quebec, Jennifer is pursuing her multi-disciplinary artistic career and in her spare time manages the Independent Media Arts Alliance, in the role of National Director.
Jennifer is the recipient of several grants and awards including a production grant from the Conseil des arts et des letters du Quebec, a grant for emerging artists through the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the arts. Her paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Canada. She has taught at the University of Western Ontario, Dundas Valley School of Art and has a strong passion for advocating for the arts with an emphasis on artist-run culture.
MATERIAL PROCESS AND COMPOSITION
The painting supports (122 cm x 122 cm) consist of wood panels that are sanded flat, gesso is applied, sanded, re-gessoed, sanded, etc. until the finish is completely smooth with very subtle dips and marks from the hard wooden surface. Then, between thirty and forty layers of thin glazes are applied with very little evidence of brush marks. The result of this is the illusion of depth and distance, very subtle clouds, while the highly detailed, realistic depictions of the subject stand out in sharp contrast. When numerous panels are assembed in a grid, the blue backgrounds, shifting in tone and value, dominate the visual field while the small narratives emerge and pop forward.
The imagery within the subject matter is taken from documenting transport vehicles in ocean harbours, airports and within city spaces. Additional imagery is taken from the internet – google images has an increadible array of visual documentation of things such as home-made bottlerockets, spaceships, cheerleaders, white inflated golf tents, among endless amounts of images depicting leisure activities and objects.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
My work is influenced by a variety of mediums, social spaces, and everyday life. Key concepts include artifice and display and how these can create atmospheric space within painting. As a juncture, the small and detailed representation of leisure activity combined with transport vehicles acts as the catalyst for disrupting the painting field. The use of humour - the uncanny - within the pictorial narrative introduces a subtle, but complex compositional language.
In short, I am building an artificial sky, panel by panel with miniscule elements that highlight the bizarre attributes of leisure activities emblematic of western culture.
In Outer Space Living is Easy, outer space is a limitless area for exploring depth of surface and, of course, strange vessels that comment on our lives and customs on earth.
The conceptual framework considers socio-political conditions in today’s world. When I began this work I was thinking a lot about the decadence and object-oriented lifestyle of our culture. In today’s global economic crisis, these images become even more telling. There is no overt political message, however, the work encourages us to look at who we are, what we value and asks where do we go from here?
The use of humour is used to frame some of the sillier aspects of leisurely living today. My objective is to move the viewer through the seductive surfaces and expansive, overwhelming space while introducing an overview of some of the multifaceted attributes of “easy living” today.