DRAWING & PAINTING
3 weeks - MAY 2021
Within hours of arriving and unpacking, Jess went foraging. Belangee-Englert declared such intentions even before arriving, stating, "(w)ithin the residency, I will be able to acknowledge the connections that tether myself into the environment, such as the landscape and local flora. It’s almost a game of lost and found, foraging through the land and discovering small treasures hidden away. Isolated amongst nature dedicates all my senses to the world around me, a characteristic that influences my practice immensely."
During a 3 week residency, Jess inaugurated the studio space with it's new cement floor. Immediately setting up masonite and a workspace allowed for working on multiple pieces at the same time. Observation and passing by often lead to discussions in informal critique and a dialogue about methods, materials, and more. There was fascination with the spore prints and the foraged objects as they altered over time.
Jess Belangee-Englert's youth was filled with exploring the terrain of the rural Midwest such as forest and fields while gathering various organic elements to examine and collect. This has lead to a deep connection with the land as expressed through art and a long time examination of the symbiosis of the organic relationships. They earned their MFA with emphasis in Drawing and Painting from the University of Kansas in 2019 and their work continues to evolve with dedication.
The primary medium used during this residency was watercolor, but also experiments with various natural inks such as beet juice as well as markers, pencil, or pen and ink. On one occasion, they experimented with potato print pattern.
As art in process does not indicate the final product, these examples show a progression that creates an awareness for an audience of that process and growth of a piece of work. Just as one might observe the slow drying of the objects foraged for this study, time passing and the elements affect the objects as time and the creative mind develop a relationship with the artwork.
Jess was joined by Pita, a great four-legged friend who made friends with the other four-legged attendee, Millie. The residency is open to those with pets with notice and discussion.
For more information and portfolio, visit Jess Belangee-Englert here.
Recording the objects as intricate drawings, the metaphor for mental strife began. Collections of organic form became the subconscious and the breakdown of imagery became intrusive thought. The parasitic entity of mental illness and how it bends reality is what they want to discuss with materiality and cohesion. Collage elements also fracture and disrupt, something they also use to ‘destroy’ their work. Transgression of memory, self-destruction, and warped perception are things they find intrinsic in their work. - J.B.E. bio
Pita & Jess:
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