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About
Resume -
Artist Statement
Some art informs. Some delights. The
paintings of Jean Hess do both, inviting the
viewer to wade into the canvas, to be immersed in organic layers of flowers
and leaves, grids and maps, quotations, the handwritten names of plants and
animals, people and places, graffiti, and the foggy nebulae of starry
constellations. The viewer experiences an emotional emergence of sorts,
then the slow comprehension of connective tissues, liquidity, a cerebral
recognition of blending elements that shape the composition of the work.
History. Geography. Stories told over generations. Love gained and lost.
Displacement. Renewal and hope. Beauty chased through with vibrant color
and amorphous forms. Real lives intertwined with imagistic metaphor. These
are painting to live with, to view and review with every phase of light and
shade. The many levels of media-acrylic paint, pencil, ink, wallpaper,
organic structure, and natural forms captured in transparent yet visible
brushstrokes - hint at the possibility of revelation and understanding. To
the empty canvas, the artist brings both her found history and the
undiscovered fragments of a history yet to be shaped into beauty that will
eventually translate into truth. History and art intertwine: for the artist
in the act of creation, for the viewer by gazing at the surface.
Jeanne McDonald
Knoxville, Tennessee
Jeanne McDonald is a published writer of fiction and non-fiction who lives
and works in Knoxville, TN. Jeanne's most recent book is the novel, WATER
DREAMS. University Press of Mississippi, 2003
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