JANE DAVIES

For me, makng art is first a visual and material exploration – I like to make stuff by manipulating materials. The images that evolve from this primary exploration begin to tell their own stories, so I try to stay present to the process without trying to predict the endpoint. My best work is that which emerges over time, often after leaving them for ‘dead’, and then beginning again with dramatic paint-overs. I hope these pieces reveal a bit of the nature of this exploration and engage the viewer in the process.

My most recent work speaks to me of house and home, the domestic realm of personal lives, and all the effort we put into building and maintaining our personal spaces. To me, the “Housing Crisis” and “Housing Block” series are about villages, tight knit communities, and crowded residential areas, where diverse groups of people are bound together by place – by geography and housing availability. In clusters of houses there can be both healthy social fabric and some isolation and loneliness.

The “Sweeping It Under the Rug” series is inspired in part by the quilts of Gee’s Bend. What I like about quilts made from discarded worn out clothing is the worn- out-ness, the giving new life to objects that have been used up in their original context. The title is meant to call attention to our failures to deal with current pressing issues. Sweeping It Under the Rug can apply to the challenges of personal relationships, or global perils such as climate change and political threats. Giving new life to discarded objects expresses hope, while on the other hand our failures to adequately address glaring issues is frightening and disheartening.