Friday, October 31, 2014

Visit to Wichita State University

 
 "In an effort to raise awareness of food insecurity in the Wichita area, the WSU Hunger Awareness Initiative, in collaboration with the WSU Ceramics Guild, will center its October 2014 Hunger Awareness Month on the “Empty Bowls Project.” An international grassroots movement that enlists potters to create handcrafted bowls, Empty Bowls has raised millions of dollars towards the fight against hunger. Conscious Clay is the start of our conversation, an exhibition examining innovative solutions to hunger awareness through clay, community, and conversation. This exhibition features works by American ceramicists Steven Young Lee and Jennifer Hansen Gard, two ceramic activists who strive to make a difference in their respective communities."
I recently had the honor of being an invited artist to participate in Conscious Clay at Wichita State University. The flights were miserable with several delays and an unexpected night stay in Chicago but the people were incredible. It was a warm welcome from everyone on my first day. I started with my artist talk in the morning and in the afternoon I did a short demo with some building processes and surface techniques. I walked off the plane and went directly to my artist talk asking for only one thing- that I could brush my teeth! I made a quick stop in the restroom and even had time to change my cloths before getting started. The following day my good friend Gunyoung Kim, who is the current artist in residence at Lawrence Arts Center, came to visit and we got to relax and watch Steven Lee's workshop! In the evening we attended the opening reception of Conscious Clay at the Ulrich Museum of Art which Steven and I both had work in(my first museum show, yippe)! Followed by a panel discussion that we were apart of for World Food Day. Where we discussed innovative solutions to hunger awareness from our own perspectives, projects, and stories. The Empty Bowls event took place on Saturday morning and Gunyoung and I each purchased a few bowls that I managed to carefully pack up and bring safely back to Ohio. I want to give a special thanks to faculty Brenda Lichman, Ted Adler, and the graduate students who went above and beyond. It was refreshing to be in an environment where people were invested in the same issues and questions I am asking. Wichita is a special place and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a GREAT graduate program. They have a positive and supportive community with dedicated faculty!
Brenda and I at the Empty Bowls event / pre-panel with Steven Lee
Schedule of events.
Panel presentation and discussion.
Empty Bowls event with Gunyoung.
I continued my trip through Kansas with a visit and artist talk at K-State University with the amazing faculty Amy Santoferraro and Andrew Casto. Also a place I HIGHLY recommend and ending with a demo at Lawrence Arts Center with my best friends Lindsay Scypta and Gunyoung Kim!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Jeni's upcoming show MFA & ROY G BIV


Graduate school has gone faster and slower then I expected. Slower during the hard times... and faster as I jump from one project to the other hardly stopping to slow down. My path as an artist has been craved out in a way I never imagined. I entered graduate school thinking I was going to make art about movement and its relationship to the human body. After a year of exploration I was feeling lost, confused, and most importantly I was not fulfilled. At the end of the year I did a project called The Dinner Party, where I invited a group over to my home to share a meal. I served a plated meal to the guests and as they ate they uncovered phrases that enacted movement. At the end of the night when I was left with a pile of dishes I starting thinking about what was important about the project. When I answered food my work took a shift in direction and I began to explore the human relationship to the food we consume. Considering human choice in relation to the ceramic vessel.
I am looking forward to my MFA thesis exhibition that will take place at Urban Arts Space from February 14 - March 22, 2015 with the opening reception February 21st from 5-7.
I am also excited to announce my upcoming exhibition at ROY G BIV Gallery in Columbus, Ohio in April! The Exhibition runs from April 4–25, 2015 with the opening reception Saturday, April 4 th 2015 @ 7:00 PM and an artists’ talk on Saturday, April 25, at 2:30 pm

Concurrent 2014 EASE Gallery


CONCURRENT
EASE Gallery at 
St. Stephens Episcopal Church.
October 10th through November 2nd

Check out a great article about the exhibition written by Denise Blough at  the OSU Lantern.

Concurrent is a group exhibition of current member of the ceramic community at The Ohio State University. Concurrent means occurring or existing simultaneously or side by side. The artist work together side by side in a shared studio space and are now showing their work together in the gallery space. The working conversation that occurs through making in a community environment is transferred to the gallery where it will continue.
Participating artists: Natalia Arbelaez, Ashley Cahall, Allison Rose Craver, Brittany Faye Helms, Jeni Hansen Gard, Forrest Sincoff Gard, Byoung Hoon Kang, Yuanyuan Lu, Britny Wainwright