Artist's Statement
Artist in front of pieces from the "TMI (or, "Too Much Information") exhibition at the Lilypad in Somerville, MA, 2010
"The brighter the light, the darker the shadow."
~ Carl Jung
Jess Barnett explores the duality of personality within her imagery. Since 2004, her artwork has transformed from a Franz Kline-influenced stark use of color (black, gray, white, and red) to the use of more fluid, colorful, flora-esque marks. Themes include longing, distance in relationships, loss, and remembrance. She often uses painted or drawn words within paintings to emphasize these themes. In her latest pieces, she incorporates hand stitching with colored thread, representing rebirth and redemption.
Works include: paintings involving thread, yarn, and other similar materials; colored pencil drawings; spray-painted objects, using Mason jars, vases, and pieces of wood; glass objects; cards
Materials include: acrylic, gouache, watercolor, and spray paint; pencils; cotton balls; rose petals; window screen; coral; leaves; cosmetics, including lipstick, eyeliner, and eyeshadow; pills; fireplace ashes; charcoal; yarn; thread
Influences include: Andrew Wyeth; Jesus Rafael Soto; Josiah McElheny; Franz Kline; Francis Bacon; Howard Hodgkin; Stephen Gammell; Helen Frankenthaler; Japanese minimalist artists; street and magazine advertising
