Jodi Bee
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Jodi Bee STATEMENT The aesthetic of Jodi Bee is “more is, almost always, more”, decoratively embellished, meticulously arranged, to create harmony, balance, and a feeling of wholeness. Some of her art involves establishing a narrative. Some works are more open-ended, and some more opaque in their implied meaning, or story. Some of the compositions are whimsical, while other pieces feel melancholic. Her collage work was created by cutting images of beauty or symbolic significance from countless books, organizing, then reassembling many clippings into a composition that emphasizes geometry, in particular, the circle. Some in the series are radial mandalas, while others are symmetrical, or just slightly asymmetrical. A few repeat the shape in a rhythmical sequence, creating an almost musical movement, but almost all incorporate the circle in some way, as a common link. The circle represents wholeness, completeness, and purity. It is the only shape alike at all points, and as a form, potentially with no beginning or end, is the most important and universal geometric symbol in mystic thought. Because it is implicit in other important symbols, such as the sacred halo, the rotating wheel, the face of a clock, the ring, the life cycle, as well as the stars and planets of our cosmos. Also circular, is the tunnel that is the birth canal, and the one perceived in an out-of-body experience, or reportedly at death. The vagina is a circle, and the phallus, a cylinder that fills the void. In religious iconography, most notably Egyptian, Mexican, and Sumerian, dynamism is added to the circles with rays, wings, or flames. They symbolize solar power or creative and fertilizing cosmic forces. Concentric circles can stand for levels in the afterlife, or, as in Zen Buddhism, stages of spiritual development. The circle in the square is a Jungian archetypal symbol of the relationship between the psyche, or self (circle), and the body, or material reality (square). This interpretation is supported by Buddhist mandalas in which squares inside circles represent the passage from the material to spiritual planes. The subject matter in this series explores the sublime feelings of awe and wonder at the peak of a mystical, sexual, meditative, or psychedelic experience. These fleeting moments of great impact, show powerful energy in full development or explosion, such as the big bang, an orgasm, or a flower blossoming. The images depict the creation of a transcendent moment of altered consciousness, one that unites and unveils our human experience with others, and with the rest of the natural world. Common themes run the gamut of Bee’s fascinations and interests. She is inspired by a tsunami of various sources, devoted in following her passions with a sense of wonder and curiosity. All of the subjects below are a selection of those she explores in her recent artistic endeavors: The natural world. Scientific explanation of a variety of phenomena. Symbolism. Flow of energy. Patterns present throughout nature. Music. Magic. The various states of consciousness. Surrealism. Intuition. Sensory experiences. Collections of curiosities throughout history. Meditation. Lucid dreaming. Liminal & transitional moments experienced in our lives. Ritual. Inventors. The cosmos. Emotional states, like ecstasy, the perils and thrills of love. Philosophy. Psychology. The Victorian Era. Mythology. Fairy tales. Religious iconography. BIO Minneapolis-based artist Jodi Bee creates large scale, highly-detailed analog collage works, sometimes incorporating mixed media techniques. As music is a force that drives her practice, she accepts frequent commissions for album cover art for musicians. In 2017, she was a recipient of the Clark Hulings Fund year-long Fellowship. She has shown work in several galleries, both locally and out-of-state, in live music venues, as well as in her first museum group exhibition. Jodi has also successfully completed multiple artist residencies over the past couple years. ARTIST CONTACT (612) 759-7104 IMAGES
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