Jen : the artist's view

I was born in the small Mallee town of Walpeup in the north west corner of Victoria, Australia in 1950. My first introduction to art was from my parents - my father in particular who was interested in the impressionists and post-impressionists, though their interests were not only limited to these two periods of art. After completing my schooling I travelled extensively around Australia and became influenced by the indigenous Australian s as well as the country itself. I have completed formal study to complement my diploma of visual arts gained at Barton Institute in Victoria.

I am continually striving to develop my style of painting and sculpture, constantly pushing back the boundaries of self-awareness and self-identification. To reach out to society with a social and cultural message which can be concep tualised on several levels so that all who see my work may individually gain something positive from it. Hoping to bring together a greater intellectual and social awareness which may bring a greater degree of tolerance and understanding of others and th eir cultures. Sculpture is an aspect of my art which dominates my perceptions of events and people. My sculpture employs many of the styles, techniques and textures apparent in my pastel and oil work.

The use of the pallet knife with pure raw colour and the rough texture show the depth and strength of emotion put into each of these works - where the work has a cultural, spiritual or sociological message. The use of forms in strong raw colours - either abstract, semi-abstract, lines, or boundary edges all convey the messages in a way that is intended to bring out strong positive emotions in the viewer.

In some of the totally abstract work, colour is used to convey emotions and moods. Often there is a subtle use of warm colours creating happy, joyous and comfortable feelings interacting with cool colours w here more conservative feelings, sadness, anger and pain prevail. Each line, shape or colour interlocks with the other to bring about balance and harmony whilst still giving the depth of emotions held within different parts of each work.

My pastel work is introspective and is driven by the strong emotions created by the different periods and people in my life. The colours and the objects are symbolic of emotions, people and their journeys. As an example of a pastel work , Boots in Retrospect uses the positioning of the boots to tell us about somebody's modesty whilst the direction of the light source in conjunction with the horizon line indicates the path taken, emotionally and physically, to this place. The texture of the piece indicates the hidden aspects of the turmoil of relocating from different cultural expectations e.g. as a migrant. The boots are those of a teenage girl and have been discarded, which indicates that the owner of the boots has since moved onward from this point.

My work has been widely exhibited in Victoria and has generally been well received. I have been fortunate to have received awards for some of my exhibited works.