Opening Reception: Jesse Wood: Eastern Classics

Jesse Wood: Eastern Classics
artist’s reception: Friday, September 6, 5-7 pm
artist talk: Friday, September 13, 5-6 pm
on view: September 6–28, 2024.

Artist’s Statement:
“This exhibit, Eastern Classics, consists of new art from 2022 to the present. The 2-dimensional works range from large oil paintings to small prints and works on paper. They were all created with the intention of communicating my divergent interests and ideas, often using whatever tool was most immediately available or accessible.

The canvases were conceived and executed in three distinct environments: first, a shared Vital Spaces studio in downtown Santa Fe, followed by a second communal space (generously provided at the Fashion Outlets), and finally my own living room. The paintings I did for this exhibit reflect some of these environmental changes, as well as my personal and emotional wandering between roles as an artist, teacher, and single parent. The distances between productive spaces can be felt and seen over the arc of this exhibit, as may the relative success with which I navigated wearing one mask over another.

After leaving art school printmaking became a luxury. I was extremely fortunate to maintain access to my personal press, which I used to print collaborative editions and my own works on paper. In addition to using printmaking to teach, I was also able to leverage my experience as a master printer to take part in professional opportunities within New Mexico and Texas, and to publish small editions in Berlin, Germany. The prints in this show reflect a percent of my educational, experimental, and creative efforts with graphic arts during this time.”

– Jesse Wood