Jen Stark Lecture: Art, Science & the Cosmos
I'll recently did a lecture at SCI-Arc on January 15th in Los Angeles. I talked about my artwork and its relationship to universal shapes in nature and science. Jen Stark: Art, Science & the Cosmos Lecture at SCI-Arc: the Southern California Institute of Architecture Wednesday, January 15, 7 pm W.M. Keck Lecture Hall SCI-Arc / 960 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
See the full lecture HERE
New Scientist Magazine
My work was on the recent cover of New Scientist Magazine. "Why Space Has Exactly Three Dimensions"
photo by Harlan Erskine
New mural and hanging sculpture in Chicago
I was commissioned by The Arts Initiative (Primary Projects) to create a large mural on an escalator "Drippy", and an 8ft x 20ft hanging sculpture "Wormhole" in the new mall Fashion Outlets of Chicago. The Arts Initiative, a newly formed collective dedicated to placing highly interactive visual art in public venues, announced a lineup of more than 10 nationally and internationally recognized contemporary artists for its initial installation, which will be housed within the forthcoming Fashion Outlets of Chicago.
Artists Include:
Daniel Arsham, Bhakti Baxter, Jim Drain, Friends With You, Cody Hudson, Alvaro Ilizarbe, Andrew Nigon, Kenton Parker, Bert Rodriguez, Jen Stark & Austyn Weiner.
The brainchild of AWE Talisman Chairman Arthur Weiner, which is curated by acclaimed Miami-based collective Primary Projects, the installation will include work from the likes of artists Daniel Arsham, Jim Drain, Friends With You, Bert Rodriguez and Jen Stark, among others. This project represents the future of highly interactive visual art in public venues: artist-driven ideas actively integrated into the architectural framework and viewing space.
The artists chosen by The Arts Initiative will enrich and enliven the multi-level shopping center in a way that is sure to redefine public arts spaces for years to come.
Drippy-lores
Photo by Clayton Hauck
Drippy-02-lores
Photo by Clayton Hauck
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Photo by Clayton Hauck
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Photo by Clayton Hauck
Fashion Outlets of Chicago, located in Rosemont, IL, is developed, owned and operated by AWE Talisman and Macerich. The 530,000 square foot fully enclosed structure spans two floors and includes a diverse portfolio of more than 130 outlets. The Fashion Outlets of Chicago will open August 1, 2013.
Fashion Outlets Chicago 5220 Fashion Outlets Way, Rosemont, IL 60018
"Summer Reading" group show at The Hole Gallery
My work is included in a group show at The Hole Gallery in NYC. I hope you can make it out.
Tri Angular / 35" x 35" x 25" / acrylic paint on wood / 2010
SUMMER READING July 18 – August 24, 2013 OPENING: Thursday, July 18 from 6-9pm
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Airan Kang / Alexander Rodriguez / Andre Saraiva / Andrew Kuo / Brad Phillips / Brian Belott / Brian Dettmer / Clare Rojas / David Shrigley / Devin Troy Strother / Dustin Yellin / Gareth Long / Geoff McFetridge / Harland Miller / Hollie Chastain / Holton Rower / Jacqueline Rush Lee / Jen Mazza / Jen Stark / Jesse Edwards / John Copeland / Kembra Pfahler / Leo Fitzpatrick / Long Bin Chen / Matthew Higgs / Matthew Stone / Michael Dumontier / Miranda July /Neil Farber / Paul Bright / Peter Funch / Scott Reeder / Sean Landers / Shane Bradford / Simon Evans / Taylor McKimens / Toilet Paper / Troels Carlsen
The Hole is proud to present “Summer Reading”, a group exhibition and transformation of our Bowery galleries into a giant art book reading room. With works of painting, drawing, sculpture and photography, artists in this show explore the relationship of literature and print media to the realm of fine arts, or perhaps the slippages of meaning and experience between the act of reading and that of looking.
Please join us any lazy summer afternoon to come in to check out the exhibition and grab something off the shelves and sit in a big chair and peruse it. With over five thousand titles within reach on our shelves, including contributions from Printed Matter, D.A.P., powerHouse Books, PictureBox, Anteism and many of our gallery friends, this free reading room will contain a lot of new titles and rare old catalogues.
Our library furniture was generously provided by Bright Lyons in Brooklyn, run by Paul Bright whose contribution to the exhibition is an installation of his massive zine collection installed on the back wall of the gallery.
NOW Toronto Article
Into the vortex: Three-dimensional spirals inspire
By David Jager
Into the vortex: Three-dimensional spirals inspire by David Jager Los Angeles-based artist Jen Stark doesn’t hang her work in galleries; she creates inter-dimensional rifts in their walls. Occupying a wholly original territory between painting and sculpture, she literally builds her complex vortices into walls or pedestals, giving the impression that they’ve opened into rainbow hued wormholes. Behind each of these manifestations is a daunting degree of meticulous craftsmanship, handicraft and math. Stark’s three-dimensional spirals and eye-brain workouts are derived from a mix of sacred geometry and fractals painstakingly reconstructed by hand using brightly coloured paper, foam board and glue. It’s Stark’s patient commitment to detail that lends her works their hallucinatory vividness. The geometrically precise swirl of Vortextural is made all the more compelling by the ambiguous rainbow-hued shapes around its rim. She skirts the chaotic edge of her mathematically precise constructions in ways that make them more playful. And she’s not afraid to revel in the pure joy of colour running wild, as in Drippy, where it appears that a prismatic glob of colours has started to literally run down the wall from the gallery ceiling. Dimension makes its visual impact with more restraint and elegance. A series of concentric rings suspended by threads to form a receding tunnel floating in mid-air, it evokes the colour spectrum and its perceptual trickery. Circling around it, however, you’re surprised to discover that the far side has been rendered in black and white, a monochrome inversion of the same work. Pulsating, mathematically complex geometries bursting with colour are things we associate with waving glow sticks at 4 am. Stark gives these old psychedelic tropes a conceptual retrofit, infusing them with a clean, playful, contemporary edge.
ARTORONTO Interview
A new interview on my new show "Vortextural" at Cooper Cole Gallery. Written by Shellie Zhang. Enjoy!
Interview with Jen Stark (J.S) by Shellie Zhang (S.Z)
Recognized by their mesmerizing spirals, loud colours, and op-art attributes, Jen Stark’s paper sculptures draws inspiration from an array of natural phenomenons within mathematics, nature, and cosmic space. Her current solo exhibition at the COOPER COLE Gallery demonstrates a continuation of her studies in optical illusions, colour gradations, and paper’s transformative qualities. Through an amalgamation of the visual qualities found in mandalas, topography, botany, and light, Stark’s work seems to uncover the underlying pulse of the universe. By visually mimicking the elements of time, nature, and space, Stark’s sculptural works stand as a testament to unity and oneness within the world. The entrancing installations create an alluring atmosphere between the surreal, fantastical, and psychedelic, ultimately welcoming viewers escape into the technicoloured realm of Stark’s vivid imagination.
S.Z: Your intricate colour schemes have the ability to appear random and instinctual, while also giving the impression that each hue is meticulously planned out well in advance. In doing so, your work retains a highly psychedelic and hypnotic quality which delves into your audience’s consciousness. Can you talk about your processes with colour and how you managed to find a balance for your work to remain mathematic yet organic?
J.S: My process with color comes from the interest of color in nature and how color is such an attention-grabber….to caution poison in mushrooms, or to reveal a delicious fruit that will spread it’s seed. I love how certain colors look next to each other and attract the viewer’s attention. The exact color schemes are not typically planned out. I usually spontaneously pick colors that I think will look great next to each other and build from there. They balance of mathematics and organic shapes emulates patterns in nature. I love the similarity between microscopic and macroscopic shapes and how even though they are extremely different in size, there is still an underlying shape that seems to construct itself throughout.
S.Z: Although you use 2-dimentional materials, your work reaches a sculptural status which allows it to leap off its surfaces and planes to distort perception. Cosmic Complex seems to rise from the gallery floors and Vortextural is a fantastic title that encapsulates your ability to immerse viewers in a kaleidoscopic dream. You’ve also done larger scale projects such as your mural for the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art. Do you prefer working on large surrealistic interventions or more intimate wormholes?
J.S: I prefer showing my artwork however I can, although I’m a bit more drawn to the sculptures/wormholes in the walls. They just seem to pull the viewer in and leave them mystified. I love them all though.
S.Z: Many of the works in this exhibition possess a pulse-like vibration that leaves viewers in a trance. In particular, Dimension had me captivated for what felt like hours. I’ve read that you are very much inspired by the patterns within nature. Could you elaborate on how repetition and movement play a part in your creative and thinking processes?
J.S: Yes. I have a love for all kinds of optical illusions and things that seem to distort reality in a subtle way. When viewing “Dimension” from one angle, you see a rainbow gradient but once the viewer moves around it, the design suddenly shifts, and they’re looking at an optical black and white pattern. Repetition and movement play a huge role in my creative process. The repetition is similar to how the layers of a plant unfurl and reveal the future layers inside, waiting to grow out. I also love having a tedious process attached to my work, and feeling like I’m piecing it all together to create something amazing.
S.Z: What were some of the challenges in transferring such a fragile set of works and installing them in COOPER COLE’s gallery space?
J.S: Packing and shipping is a huge challenge of transporting these works. I typically have someone make my most complicated crates for me, and I create the rest. Crating is typically pretty expensive if you get it done professionally, but I like knowing I’m able to do it myself and I’ve learned so much about wood-working & building things because of it. Sheets of foam really help to hold the pieces in place and ensure they don’t move during shipping in the creates. The 2 most complicated pieces to install in COOPER COLE Gallery were the hole-in-the-wall “Vortextural” and “Dimension” — the ring-shaped wormhole that hangs in the air. “Vortextural” took about 3 days to build/install and “Dimension” took about a full day. The rest of the pieces were pretty simple and hung in screws in the wall.
S.Z: I believe that this is your first solo exhibition in Canada. Your works have been especially well received in California and Miami. Could you talk a bit about joining Toronto’s art scene and what you hope to accomplish?
J.S: Yes, this was my first solo show in Toronto. I began working with COOPER COLE Gallery a few years ago. They’ve been a great gallery to work with and I am excited about our future plans. I think Toronto has a great growing art scene and I’m happy to be a part of it. In the future I’d love to do more public art sculptures & large-scale murals as well as exhibit my work in more museums.
*Note: The show is on display till August 10, 2013 at COOPER COLE Gallery, 1161 Dundas Street West. Gallery hours: Tuesday & Wednesday: 1 – 6 p.m. Thursday & Friday: 1 – 7 p.m. Saturday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
VORTEXTURAL solo show in Toronto opening July 5th
I'm happy to announce I'll be having a solo show in Toronto opening Friday July 5th from 6-10pm. If you're in the area I hope you can make it out.
VORTEXTURAL A solo exhibition by Jen Stark Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto
Opening July 5th from 6-10pm
For more information, please contact the gallery: INFO@COOPERCOLEGALLERY.COM WWW.COOPERCOLEGALLERY.COM +1 647 347 3316
art ltd writeup
Here is a great review of my 2012 solo show at Martha Otero Gallery. It is featured on Art ltd. Magazine and written by Shana Nys Dambrot. Check it out HERE
Jen Stark: "To the Power Of" at Martha Otero Gallery by Shana Nys Dambrot Jan 2013
Jen Stark is a woman who knows how to make an unforgettable entrance: literally. Not only has she managed a smashing debut as an official LA-based artist, moving here from her native Miami a matter of weeks before the opening of "To the Power Of;" but the most dazzling of all the hypnotic works in that show are a pair of sculptural objects carving out geodesic portals that shimmer like rainbow rifts in the fabric of space. Both the freestanding Cosmic Distortion, 2012 (standing 36 1/2 inches) and the wall-embedded recess Whole, 2012 (with a radius approximately 42 inches) are impressive feats of patience, precision, and advanced fractal mathematics that beckon viewers forward, daring them to lean further, to reach inside when no one is looking, to go in. These negative spaces contain within their receding dimensions crisply defined, twisting stacks of cut paper, orchestrated to replicate geological, cosmological, and striated optics. Engineered through a process of algorithmic measurement and chromatic zestiness, her results speak to both the mysteries of sacred geometry and funhouse psychedelia.
By way of contrast, the wall-hanging Cascade (69 inches long) is made with the same classroom-simple set of materials, but references looser kinds of fractal math, such as that which might formulate the patterns of a waterfall, or a peacockÕs feathery spread. The level of dense, tiny detail in all the work seems to defy the limited powers of the hand and eye, rendering with a microscopic precision and macroscopic perspective at the same time, laying claim to the universal fundamentals of material structure, and to the joy of pure delight. Other acrylic paint-based works reference the striated fields, or alternatively set them to dissolving in waves of layered, organic, expressive abstraction. Those paint and felt-tip on paper works are vibrant and organic and quite beautiful, like ramshackle English-style gardens infused with a jazzy palette; but it's the construction-paper constructions that possess the alluring oomph of the magical. They don't depict so much as they evoke, or reenact, the sacred geometry of crop circles and star maps--but with a whiff of light-hearted Burning Man-style paganism, a nod to schoolroom craft time, and a wallop of post-Op Art abstraction.
Mural in DC
I just completed a large mural in Washington DC called "Cosmic Explosion". The mural was commissioned by a company called Vornado and painted inside their DC office. I painted 1 large mural (about 30 ft x 20 ft) and 4 smaller murals around their office space. The mural was painted by hand with Golden Acrylic paints.
The Miami Project Fair during Art Basel Miami: New holographic work
Come check out my 2 new holographic pedestals during Art Basel Miami at The Miami Project Fair. I'll be exhibiting in booth #719 with Cooper Cole Gallery. The fair is on from December 4th-9th. Check their website for hours: http://www.miami-project.com
The Miami Project Art Fair Booth 719 / Cooper Cole Gallery 2951 NE 1st Ave. Miami, FL 33137
DETAIL "Holographic Square" / 17" x 17" x 36" / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012
"Holographic Square" / 17" x 17" x 36" / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012
"Holographic Circle" / 20" x 20" x 35.5" / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012
Math & Psychedelia Inspire: Interview on CoolHunting.com
Check out my new interview up on CoolHunting.com explaining lots of things, and how my new solo LA show at Martha Otero Gallery is inspired by math and psychedelia. See the whole interview HERE:
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Art & Conversation with MOCA curator Alma Ruiz, artists Jen Stark & Sam Borkson (FriendsWithYou)
Please join us for an afternoon of art and conversation with MOCA curator Alma Ruiz, Artists Jen Stark and Sam Borkson (FriendsWithYou). Saturday November 3, 2012 at 3pm. On the occasion of Jen Stark's gallery exhibition To the Power Of.
Please RSVP at: gallery@marthaotero.com
Martha Otero Gallery 820 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90046 #(323) 951-1068
Smithsonian's "40 Under 40" book
The Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery came out with a book of their current show that my work is included in "40 Under 40: Craft Futures". Here is the article and photos of the book. If you'd like a copy for yourself, the book is also available to purchase HERE.
"40 UNDER 40" group exhibition book Written by: Nicholas R. Bell
The politics of craft, often so close to the surface, are largely absent from the paper sculptures of Jen Stark. Rather than tackle the deficiencies of contemporary culture, these unexpected objects serve as psychic way stations--colorful oases for individuals to de-stress through the contemplation of joyful things. In this sense they take up anew the mantle of Fancy--boisterous and bright aesthetic movement of the early nineteenth century that reframed American decorative arts through a whimsical lens. The exploitation of vivid color and pattern was paramount then, and returns as the foundation of Stark's oeuvre.
The artist first turned to paper as a student seeking an affordable medium, and from a materials standpoint even her most complex works remain deceptively simple in their construction. Start stacks sheets of drawing paper in the order she wishes them to appear, then cuts into them one leaf at a time, finding rhythm in their expanding geometries. She cites fractals as an influence on her work, and it is easy to see the attention paid to such natural phenomena. The tight margins between layers of color mimic evolutionary progress--the smallest shifts altering the final makeup the whole.
Power of Being is indicative of Stark's eye-popping style. A six-pointed star leaps off the wall, lending the paper a dynamic topography, then trickles down in ragged layers to a distant root. Alternating color pairings are both playful and suggestive of the star's meaty past, while its lingering tail invokes the underbelly of an iceberg. It is only one trick up Stark's sleeve to convey depth through the slimmest of things. Piece of an Infinite Whole demonstrates the artist's ability to transform space through the stacking of paper. In this case she has broken through a wall, removing the piece from the actual gallery, as if the right combination of colors might open up a wormhole in otherwise staid white cube. This rupturing of the standard plane is a recurring theme in Stark's work, and marks a current of provocation running beneath the simple pleasure of viewing it.
Stark underscores the labor inherent to her medium in How to Become a Millionaire in 100 Days. Toying with this culture's get-rich-quick mentality, and the notion of wealth as the accumulation of currency (i.e., paper), she has individually cut one million pieces of paper and left them in a glorious pile of bespoke confetti. A quick calculation based on the title uncovers a working rate of ten thousand scraps cut per day, a pace that would make anyone blanch, and one that serves to highlight her physical as well as mental determination.
Ultimately, Stark's palette and her deft use of the knife enchant not only through their brilliance, but also through her transformation of the most common of materials into something unique. Functionally, these strange forms serve little purpose, but to lose them would also be to miss them as one misses the most practical of things. Such is the importance of our ability to escape down the nearest, brightest rabbit hole.
Talk at Chapman University
This Wednesday October 17, 2012 at 7 p.m. I'll give a talk on my work at Chapman University in Moulton Center 213. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 714-997-6729. Visual Arts Thinkers Series Kicks-off with Jen Stark Wednesday October 17, 2012 at 7 p.m. in Moulton Center 213
Chapman University One University Drive Orange, CA 92866
More information HERE
To the Power Of: Installation Shots
Some installation shots from my solo show at Martha Otero Gallery. The show runs through Dec 1st, so if you're in LA come by.
(Installation view) photo by Brandon Shigeta
"Cosmic Distortion" / 22.5 x 22.5 x 36.5 in / Hand-cut acid-free paper, glue, wood, foam board / 2012
photo by Brandon Shigeta
"Prismatic Radiation" / 47 x 47 x 1 in / Wood, acrylic paint / 2012
photo by Brandon Shigeta
(Installation view) photo by Brandon Shigeta
"Whole" / 3 x 3 x 3.5 ft / Installation of hand-cut acid-free paper, foam board, glue / 2012
Martha Otero Gallery 820 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90046 #(323)951-1068
"To the Power Of" solo show in Los Angeles
Martha Otero Gallery is pleased to present Jen Stark’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, To the Power Of.
Opening Reception is September 28th from 6-9pm. Show runs through December 10th.
Jen Stark’s work is instantly recognizable for its breathtaking color spectrums rendered in mind-bending forms cut from paper, wood and other organic materials.
Stark's sculptures seemingly reconstruct elements of time, nature and the cosmos on an exponential scale. She draws inspiration for her works from the rhythmic visual qualities of mandalas and other such sacred objects, while they simultaneously behave like the imagery of topographic maps, geometric repetitions and three-dimensional prisms. This aligns directly with her interest in mathematics: ‘to the power of…’ being a statement of exponential growth also infers the definition of ‘power’ as both the possession of physical or mental control and the fortitude to act decisively. Her unique experience working with fibers is displayed in her delicately constructed patterns, which resemble the flowing movements of fabric versus the perceived rigidity her actual core materials. Stark's unflinching attention to physical detail and a commitment to shaping the object into something far beyond its origins result in a body of work which borders on the unbelievable.
With each successive individual project, Stark becomes bolder in her efforts to lure viewers into her kaleidoscopic environments. The work stands alone as a signature piece of superior craftsmanship and imaginative prowess, but Stark remains conscious of how the work is inextricably bound to real space and time. In this vein, Stark pushes the envelope of visual art production, recalling both the psychedelic experience of Op Art and the endearment of handmade totems and mystic charms.
Jen Stark was born in Miami in 1983. She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005, with a concentration in fibers and a minor in animation. Stark was the 2008 recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium's Visual and Media Artist Fellowship and, in the same year, won first prize at MOCA North Miami's 10th annual Optic Nerve Film Festival. Stark's work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Chicago, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, London and Miami. Stark has been the subject of televised interviews for PBS Arts, WLRN South Florida and the Wet Heat Project. Stark's work is held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, the West Collection in Oaks, Pennsylvania, and the Cricket and Martin Taplin Collection at the Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach. Stark lives and works in Los Angeles.
For more information and artwork inquiries, please contact: gallery@marthaotero.com
820 NORTH FAIRFAX AVENUE LOS ANGELES, CA 90046 t. 323 951 1068
Smithsonian American Art Museum: Renwick Gallery
I will have work included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery Anniversary Show called "40 Under 40: Craft Futures". The opening will be July 20th at 10am, with the curator’s talk at 12 noon, followed by a catalog signing. The show will run at the Renwick through February 2013, after which it will tour nationally at locations to be announced. You can find more information about the show and all of its artists on the show’s webpage here. Check out a slideshow of all 40 artists here. The museum also intends to acquire my sculpture, pictured below. For more information, go to the exhibition page: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/renwick40/#40artists
"Power of Being" / 64" x 25" x 5" / acid-free colored paper on wood / 2011
The Smithsonian American Art Museum: Renwick Gallery
Juxtapoz Magazine feature March 2012
Check out this awesome interview I'm in, written by Gabe Scott, in the March 2012 issue of Juxtapoz magazine. Feel free to read the entire interview in the text below the images: "While this singular aspect allows the sculptures immediately to command one’s attention, upon further observation, the viewer can easily find a quiet ambiance that reverberates in a deeply contemplative state. Only gravity and spacial boundaries seem sure to limit the potential of her work, as her ability to shape, form and render appears infinite." —Gabe Scott
Gabe Scott: I think that the combination of places where you’ve studied and worked is really fascinating. You are a 3rd generation Miamian, and studied at the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore. I feel that most creative people are influenced strongly by their surroundings, climate and including weather. Is this true for your? How would you say the two very different urban areas have contributed to or influenced your work?
Jen Stark: I definitely think environment and upbringing can affect art-making. Growing up in Miami I experienced so many different cultures and their colorful energy probably rubbed off on me. Also in Miami, plants are green and thriving year-round, and I was always surrounded by an abundance of them. I think my interest in nature sparked my love of accumulation, layers and microscopic patterning. Because it seems that many people can become stagnant in Miami I decided to go to Baltimore for college, even though I had never visited, or even been in real snow before. I guess the cold weather and fear of crime rate sort of forced me to become creative in the studio, focus on my ideas and let loose the vibrancy! Also, I attribute the start of the paper sculptures to a study abroad trip I took to Aix en Provence, France.
Gabe: When you arrived in France, what was your intent as far as the direction of developing your work? Explain the circumstances, both financial and otherwise, that shaped your shift in direction and contributed to your evolution as an artist.
Jen: When I arrived I had no exact artistic direction. I knew I loved colors and labor intensive work, but hadn’t pin pointed my style yet. I brought two suitcases full of clothes and decided to purchase art supplies when I got there. The euro was very high, so when I went into the art store, I decided to buy one of the cheapest materials, but one that had potential. I purchased an assorted color stack of construction paper and began experimenting in my studio. Eventually, I began turning them into three-dimensional sculptures. Having little money to buy expensive art materials helped me become more creative with the supplies I had, and turn lemons into lemonade! It made me realize I could create artwork out of anything, as long as it was a unique idea and I worked hard at it. That was definitely a big turning point in my evolution as an artist. So, in this case, necessity allowed me to discover a new way of art-making.
Gabe: I sometimes start to give myself a headache, in a good way, trying to follow the geometric composition and spectrum in your pieces. Is mathematics an integral part of your process? Over the course of production, do you allow for much improvisation, or do you find it to be meticulous and orderly?
Jen: Yes! Math is a big part of my work, but I was never very good at it in school. I think I have a better understanding of visual math, and, in fact, every once in a while a mathematician will email me saying that one of my pieces looks just like a specific equation. I sketch the sculptures out before I create them, and there is usually not too much improvisation when constructing them. I might change tiny things but they end up very similar to the sketch. I make drawings too, and see these as more of a spontaneous, organic process. They allow both my mind and hands to take a break from the monotony of the sculptures. The sculptures are very orderly, but when I get in the swing there is a meditative quality in the repetition that I love.
Gabe: How would you characterize your work from a categorical perspective? Sculptural? Collage? Neither? Both A and B?
Jen: I would categorize my work as sculptural because I’m taking something two-dimensional and making it three-dimensional.
Gabe: In order to truly utilize the possibilities of something universally recognized as construction paper, you must have considerable knowledge of fibers and their science. Tell me how you developed this focus and how it is vital to your work. Why were you drawn specifically to this as a medium?
Jen: In college, I majored in Fibers. This usually throws people off because I mainly work in paper and wood, but Fibers at my college was more of a technique and concept-based major. They taught us the basics of things like sewing, screen-printing and weaving, but there was also a big emphasis on ideas, process and accumulation. All the Fibers majors had a love of time-intensive work, and I think that has connected us. I’ve always been drawn to intricate work and labor-intensive, handmade things, so discovering the paper sculptures was a gradual journey from age two to 28! I love how common and versatile paper is. It is in everyone’s daily lives and people tend to overlook the amazing things it can do and be transformed into. I also love the idea of taking something that’s two-dimensional and flat and making it three-dimensional and intricate. I’m still discovering things about my work, which is what keeps me going and makes it fun.
Gabe: I feel like your work imitates a lot of aspects of the natural world—topography, light, heat and gas spectrums, geodesic quantities as well as qualities employed by other natural forces like gravity or relativity. This obviously plays into the mathematical relationship with your process. Do you find yourself discovering similarities in these natural phenomena and their occurrences within your work as each piece unfolds, whether on paper initially or over the course of rendering a sculpture?
Jen: Yes! My work definitely emulates nature. I love how nature is a vast unknown that we have barely begun to understand. I hope to evoke a similar feeling of awe and mystery in my artwork. I enjoy the layers of topographical maps, and how naturally occurring micro designs can look the same as zoomed out macro images. All of these ideas of natural designs are in my head as I execute a sculpture, and they influence my cuts, colors and shapes. The sketches for the work have a bit of this in them, but they really come out in the details as I start creating the piece.
Gabe: You recently did a stop motion animation piece with soundsmith Dan Deacon for the PULSE fair in Los Angeles. How did that collaboration come about? Was this the first time you have animated your sculptures?
Jen: This is officially the third stop-motion animation I’ve created with paper. I’ve always loved animation and I enjoy the time-intensive process and hand cutting each sheet. I am essentially creating a paper sculpture, but instead of simply hanging on the wall and being static, it is animating and moving, and by the end it is pretty much a destroyed pile of cut-up paper.
Gabe: How does your ear translate things to your eye as far as the piece with Dan Deacon? If you are starting with a piece of music, especially one that has a sound collage impression, how do you feel your aural senses can influence your visual senses?
Jen: I’ve only done a few animations, but I try to just make the animation flow with the music. Dan Deacon’s was the first animation I created where I had the music before I began animating. The music is added in the end with others I’ve done. Doing an animation to Dan’s music fit well because the song he gave me was so fluid and almost seemed meditative, which worked well with the organic feel of my animations. It is hard to precisely match up the music with certain moments in the animation. I just take the mood of it and go from there, so it is not too much pressure.
Gabe: I feel like your work could lend itself quite well to outdoor installations on a grand scale, given the right weather resistant materials. With your interest in various aspects of the natural world, do you consider producing work that can exist as an intervention with the environment?
Jen: Yes, I would love to get into larger outdoor sculptures out of wood, metal, or plastic. It would be great to make big installation type work where the viewer can be immersed and actually walk through the piece out in nature. I am totally open to this and hope to do it someday soon! As far as recent outdoor projects, I just finished a huge 90' x 35' dripping psychedelic mural on the outside wall of the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art that was finished just in time for Art Basel Miami in early December, 2011.
Gabe: In respect to outdoor events, I had a dream that the topographically influenced aspects of your sculptures lead to you to ambitious long term projects that had a limited lifespan, a la Jean Claude and Christo. Could you foresee embarking on a kind of project that travels beyond the bounds of civic interaction and seeks to simultaneously engage in a dialogue with a specific natural landmark?
Jen: I would absolutely love to someday make a monumental artwork that transcends a gallery. Maybe something dealing with outer space or in the ocean would be great. There is an artist named Jason deCaires Taylor who sunk a bunch of human statues in the Yucatan ocean, which besides looking amazing, used material that encourages reef growth; so someday this sculpture will become a reef thriving with life. I love this idea, and it would be fantastic to someday create artwork at this sort of level, something dealing with both visual and environmental benefits.
Gabe: You’re currently living and working right in the middle of what seems to be a pretty adventurous art scene in Miami—I think people are most familiar with it during Basel and the satellite fairs, which I’m sure is not an appropriate slice of normal life there. How would you describe it in terms of soul, style and character?
Jen: Yes, Miami is very different outside of Basel. Lots of local artists here complain that Basel doesn’t give enough exposure to the real art scene, and that visitors just put up walls, sell art, get drunk and leave. That’s true in a way, but I also think Basel has been a good thing for Miami’s development and helped create more interest in the art scene here. Miami is a fairly young city. There is South Beach on one side, the Florida Everglades on the other, and the Florida Keys to the south, which all make it a pretty diverse and unique environment. Miami is full of things like beaches, tourists, good Cuban food, thunderstorms, tropical plants, and beautiful clouds. It’s not an easy place to be successful doing your own thing, but if you are able to, it is easier to stand out than say in NYC or LA. In terms of art, Miami has a blossoming community that has a lot of great things happening, but also has its weeds. There are a lot of mediocre galleries that tend to pop up once an area gets popular. But if you sift through these and know where to look, there are some great energizing collaborations and art shows happening here. Overall, I’m excited to be living here and have some other awesome Miami friends who are doing great things like FREEGUMS, FriendsWithYou, Frances Trombly, Jim Drain, Bert Rodriguez, Little River CSA and Nick D. Lobo, among others.
Gabe: What would you tell people that Miami has to offer that most outsiders aren’t aware of? And what should they pay more attention to the next time they find themselves there, both as an art community as well as socially and culturally?
Jen: It’s hard to know how day-to-day Miami really is if you only come during the fair. I would suggest trying to make it out to artists studios, visit and talk to them. Otherwise, try to meet the locals, see where we hang out and don’t get caught up in too much partying! I also recommend coming to Miami at a more slow paced time outside of the fairs.
Outdoor Mural on Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art
Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art commissioned me to create a large outdoor mural on their building. It is 90 ft long by 35 ft wide. Here is the result:
Acid-free / outdoor mural on the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art / 2011
Here is a time lapse of the mural being created: