Exhibition:
Unearthed features 18 paintings that are inspired by the weight of gemstones in our society. They have served roles both practical and symbolic throughout religion, art, jewelry, science, technology and literature. Throughout history, they have often been assigned symbolic meanings based on their visual characteristics. Unearthed explores this desire to use a visual language of colors and shapes to give a tangible form to our intangible emotions and experiences.
Artist Bio:
Catherine Jenks is an artist using paint as a tool and language to express, examine and understand the human experience. She is interested in influencing the viewer’s perception and psychological responses through manipulating color, rendering and composition. Her delicate, representational oil paintings dance along the fine line of displaying the beauty of reality and within the physicality of paint. Her paintings provide opportunities for reflection and reminders that everything is worthy of a close look. Catherine has a B.A. in Art, with an emphasis in Painting, from University of California Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies. She currently lives and works in Santa Barbara, CA and is the Undergraduate Program Manager for UCSB's Art Department.
Artist Statement:
My current body of work, Unearthed, explores the weight of gemstones in our society. From grinding lapis lazuli into painting pigments, to using diamonds in engagement rings, they have served roles both practical and symbolic. We see them in religion, art, jewelry, science, technology and literature. Throughout history, people have equated various gemstone characteristics with symbolic meanings. This desire to have a tangible form for intangible subjects is something I often explore in my art. I’m interested in giving an image to our invisible thoughts and feelings. Painting these stones has let me examine my own visual language in comparison to the history of each stone. Often, they align with my own interpretation of their characteristics, like the fiery red and orange carnelian being linked to strong, proactive energies or the pale blue of blue lace agate being soothing.
In art, flowers and fruit have often been used as a memento mori. Their quick and fragile life cycle serves as a reminder of the temporary nature of life. I find that stones act as a memento mori in a contrasting fashion. Gems have been around for thousands of years before us and they will last beyond us too. Our desire to own and alter these stones is an interesting example of the commodification of the natural world and our desire to wield a bit of its immortal power. The history of these stones has both beauty and bloodshed, but what ultimately stands out to me are how people use them to attempt to understand the world around them, whether through science or stories. And that is what I consider to be the most compelling core of making art. What does it mean to be a fragile human on a floating rock? How can we make the most of this experience? Can we go through a similar metamorphosis as minerals transforming into gems?
We all have to find our own answers to these questions, but personally, I’ve found insight through these paintings. I make the most of life by experiencing deeply, feeling deeply, and taking moments to look at the world as if everything has the possibility to be a precious gem.
Website: CatherineJenks.com
Instagram: @catherine.grace.jenks
