About Jen CoffeyI have been creating art in any available form for more than 35 years, using an A.A in Fine arts, my first career as a professional framer, and secondary career in the plant nursery business as influence. As well as the influence of my mother, who was a painter, photographer, ceramicist and automotive detail painter. We are essentially Jacks-of all artistic trades. It has proven to run in the family - this love of anything creative, and the desire to learn one thing and then another... This constant interaction with the muse. I’ve dabbled in: photography, computer graphics, ceramics and porcelain dolls, sewing, embroidery, jewelry, copper enameling, airbrush, murals, refinishing and upholstering furniture, writing, and just about any crafty thing I come across.
The majority of artworks are done in either colored pencil or watercolor. I alternate between the two, sometimes combine them. In this arena there are essentially two main styles that have come to the fore. Both of which are reflective of mood, life, internal and external influences. Part of the goal for me, in creating is figuring out why one instead of the other? How does inspiration mix with all of these influences to determine what to create? It’s an ongoing exploration. And one in which it’s proven profitable that there seems to be no answer. The first style is that of “the People Pieces”. (The figures, which is what is represented in this show.) The figures are primarily focused on connections. Connections between individuals - Individuals invoking emotions - Colors representing the emotions - Colors as energy and how the colors can also imply the connections between one figure and the next. Movement, actions and the direction in which they flow can also represent all of the above, however the colors have to be the critical focus. I can see multiple applications of one image, dozens of possible colors, themes, moods. But have found that except by strictly mechanical means, they are impossible to redraw. No two are ever alike, 'Someone' always moves, or grows, or shrinks. They are jigsaw puzzles in which the colors tell the story as much as the puzzle pieces. There is a meditative process to the making of these images. It’s a symbolism I’m constantly evolving, adding layers upon layers to the concept. Much like Indra’s Web: Nets, webs, spirals, radial symmetry often make appearances, reasserting the interconnectedness of all things. I believe these pieces speak for themselves to the viewer, I am merely a conduit for the work as works sake. The second style is an intricate form that incorporates a realistic approach based on a fascination with symbolism and fused with a surrealist aspect. It is an Internal fairytale world, infused with symbols, personal iconography, personal philosophy, and how I relate to everything that has lead me to now. In the work on these I am often capturing my internal processes in which I’m dealing with things that have no visible relation to the piece, and so what I see in it ends up a very intimate thing that is likely not visible to anyone else. The females most often represented are and yet are not me. The prisms of mythology, fairy tales and even current fiction are often influences. In these images, there are often mysteries. I know there are things inside the boxes drawn on the page, I know what is behind the doors... The viewer is left to their own conclusions. The story can and should be everyone’s to make of it what they will. "Eternity is in love with the productions of Time" ~ William Blake As am I. |
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