Jennifer Bennet
– The Body At Night
Oil on Board
Two years ago, when I had just turned 40, we moved from Oregon to
Duluth, Minnesota. This was my opportunity to begin my new life as an artist. I
returned to college and I will shortly receive my BFA and will then go on for an
MFA. Finally devoting my life to art has been the right choice, and I feel I am
being helped and assisted in every step. I am using a technique I learned from my professor... underimages are
superimposed upon one another at random over a color wash. Paint is then
applied, reducing, and allowing new shapes and images to emerge. I have taken
this technique and create "memory paintings," using specific life
events, travels, etc. as the source for my underimages. Intuition, chance, and
discernment transform these specific ideas into amazing new shapes, with new
meanings and associations. My previous degree in biology informs many of my
paintings, which often suggest cellular or other organic structures, which
fascinate me. This specific painting, The Body at Night, is based on my memories of
Venice, Italy. The deep green black at the bottom reminds me of the canal waters
when I first saw them on a velvety, warm summer night. The deep reds and gold
remind me of the opulence of Venice, and the rich and vivid Italian culture. The
shapes in the paintings are mysterious, and the lengthwise divide is symbolic to
me of the channel, the flow, the direction in our life. The dark, and the light,
the beauty of each with their own illumination. My wish is that my paintings will bring the viewer reminders of the connections between things, and to see the mystery and loveliness of the world. I am at the middle of my life, and at the beginning of my career. I put prayers and blessings into my paintings, and I hope they bring interest and meaning to all who see them. |
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