photo: Franco Vogt
Jenny Nelson attended Maine College of Art in Portland Maine, and graduated with a BFA from Bard College, where she received a scholarship to the Lacoste School of the Arts in France. She has been living and working in Woodstock, New York, for 18 years, including an Artist in Residence at the Byrdcliffe Art Colony from November 2004-08. Jenny is represented by galleries nationally, including the Carrie Haddad Gallery, in Hudson, New York; Tria Gallery, in Manhattan; Bryant Street Gallery, in Palo Alto, California; and Dragonfly Gallery, in Martha's Vineyard.
"These strong expressionistic oils show a respect and love of the medium;the abstractions are stimulating and yet gentle, speaking of deliberation, observation and analysis."
Phyllis Gilbert - Woodstock Times
"Nelson's work ranges from the semi-abstract to pure abstraction...all the exotic shapes and colors of a fired imagination."
Mary Cassai - The Kingston Freeman
Jenny's paintings aren't of objects, but of elements: serenity, strength, and energy. Often all on one canvas.
Ross Rice - Roll Magazine Read the whole Article
Statement
Although my early artistic training was focused on the classical and representational, it has always been my natural instinct to depict my surroundings in abstract forms. Most of the paintings evolve as an intuitive reaction to my surroundings, be it interior space, inner space, or landscape. To evoke this kind of sensory memory in my work I apply many layers of paint, using gesture and an internal sense of color. Traces of previous layers will remain visible, allowing colors to interact in ways I could not have anticipated. In this way a composition is arrived at through a series of decisions that are both conscious and unconscious. With great sensitivity to these evolving colors and forms, a very personal abstract language emerges. Focusing on particular shapes or compositions for long periods of time will often result in a series of closely related paintings, which have fully explored my current interest. The paintings are an ongoing process of addition and subtraction until everything on the canvas co-exists with a depth and intensity that seems balanced to me.