Jennifer Bain

The landscape of New Mexico influences my painterly space and forms. This is an ancient place that shows marks of the past, demonstrated by weathered surfaces everywhere. The land itself is full of mysterious formations, a vast place that holds small traces of human interaction.

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The paintings aim to reveal the layers I perceive in the earth, rocks and landscapes around me. The distant mountain ranges read as flat shapes with hard and soft edges. They present unfathomable illusions of depth and lack of depth: a constant shifting of space due to the altitude and changing light. Shifting light sources from clouds and thin air create implausible colors and odd, almost indiscernible focal points.

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I build layers in paint mimicking the way the earth builds up layers of sediments. They are then sanded away to reveal the marks, laid down previously, underneath. Buried forms, and deep scruffy lines compete for dominance on the surface, while multiple layers of underpainting and sgraffito create the platform for my translation of experience. The act of erasing creates a window into the layers below, the way wind and water erode land, revealing layers of history.

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In my working process I uncover and discover obscured shapes that I bring to the surface. The sculptures evolved out of these shapes, describing an animated figure where the flat plane is manifested into three dimensions. This has created a compelling relationship between the paintings and sculptures. The additive method used to make the sculptural forms differs from the subtractive excavation methods used in creating the paintings. This contrast illuminates the process of being present while simultaneously gazing into the past.

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I incorporate various detritus, found on my walks, like plastic, wire and rusted metals into many of the sculptures. This inclusion brings the landscape into the three dimensional work in a unique way.