Jean Hess

Jean Hess
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

STATEMENT

I incorporate collaged ephemera in all my paintings and assemblages. I like random “surprises,” especially the discarded, old and damaged, including fragments and scraps. These compel me to go in directions I might not otherwise follow.

My work does not teach or tell a story. There are recognizable inclusions but overall it is more about the lapsed-time process and the little skews that occur when I resume after a pause. I hope to surprise the viewer.

Found items are used in a way that obscures the original. I try not to ever use full images, only intriguing portions. I like the traces left in many old finds, especially old schoolbooks: flaking papers, stains from pressed flowers, ink blots, children’s graffiti, old tape used to repair pages. I paint over many elements to further incorporate the image into a larger field, and I also scrape paint away from what is covered, revealing an unforeseen new inspiration.

I typically use acrylic resin to anchor scraps permanently onto wood or canvas. A typical collage painting may involve 30-40 individually-applied layers of acrylic medium. This helps preserve fragile papers in centuries-old books. Recently I have tried to learn about “pure” collage involving paper anchored to paper only with glue. Older papers remain fragile. This kind of work needs to be framed.

Signature elements include: Aerial perspective; Grid; Map; Floating Spheres; Night skies; Luminosity; Visible under-layers including original pencil marks; Secondary colors: Turquoise, coral, indigo, gold, gray.

BIO

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, I have lived in many US cities including Washington DC, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Abiquiu, Atlanta, Dallas and now Knoxville, Tennessee. As with my collage paintings, life has been a free-floating* experiment in embracing what is at hand.

I studied art at Maryland Institute, College of Art, the University of Maryland, and the University of New Mexico. A BA in art and anthropology from the University of New Mexico (UNM) was followed by a MA and further field work in cultural anthropology at UNM.

Social impact research and community development work led to executive positions in research for the US Government and major corporations in numerous US cities.

I teach collage workshops, give presentations, write essays and art reviews and curate shows. I volunteer on the Collage Artists of America Board helping to plan programs. I also focus on my garden, write a monthly Latin etymology column [which is mercifuly humorous] for the Knox County, Tennessee Master Gardener newsletter, and continue to work on collage paintings, textiles and mixed-media assemblage.

*Full Disclosure: I am a certified Master Gardener through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Extension Service. I am an Associacion Montessori Internacionale-certified Montessori teacher who taught pre-school, and was Assistant Registrar in the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at UNM. Additionally: a computer programmer, insurance claims adjuster and telephone switchboard operator.

ARTIST CONTACT

[click to email]
www.jeanhess.com

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