Jennifer D Anderson

Almost Reality II

The Almost Reality exhibition at DVAC will include twelve images from my shades series.

This is a recent statement I wrote about this work:

I layer imagine upon imagine, skin on top of a portrait, lace below an x-ray, toys with old age, a variety of faces. I layer photographs I have taken, ones I have found, handwritten notes and medical diagrams. I layer to reflect how human identity is a composite of stories, memories, information, physical sensations, as well as the mechanisms that make one human.

 

I adhere whisper thin sheets of paper together until they are inseparable. I adhere to create images with a three-dimensional depth as one layer is seen through another and another.  I adhere because we are amalgamation, complex and nuanced our identity includes the physical, spiritual, past and present – one part cannot be removed from the rest.

 

I contrast, male and female, beauty and horror, skin and bone, childhood and senility. I contrast to reflect the richness of the human experience and our dualities. I contrast front and back to let the curious viewer see more, to express how we always are more than what the eye first sees.

 

I cut with small sharp scissors, shaping these images into the profile silhouette of one of my models. I cut to reference the work back to the body, to point to the commonality of the human form, as the vessel we each temporarily have to hold our own stories. 

Upcoming Exhibition

My work will be including in a three person exhibition at Dayton Visual Arts Center opening a week from today. The title Almost Reality poetically embraces the concept of truth, mistruth and the visual image.

The Dust Has Settled

I thought I would take the opportunity to post images of my studio renovation project. The first photographs are the before images. A garage that was in poor shape to say the least and a workable but not opportune studio.

The garage was without windows and the door when closed was not fully sealed so the space was often extremely dusty and grimy. It was also dark and cluttered due to poorly constructed overhead storage. As you can tell from these photos, the walls were only partly covered with drywall and nothing really matched.

The decision was to open the space up by removing the loft storage and by installing two large windows.

Drywall was hung on all four walls with the raw beams of the ceiling left exposed to give the space a clean yet rustic  feel.

Drywall was hung, a laminate floor installed as well as overhead and spot lighting. Its absolutely beautiful! 

I knew things would be well done, when I spoke with the contractor and he mentioned his own stone carvings. These photos were taken right after I started moving back in. I have moved my flat file and a few other items in since. I decided to also remove the motor from the press and its wheel is now intact and printing beautifully. The project will be fully complete once glass is placed within the doors. And have I mentioned I am counting the days until my semester break?