Jessica Kennedy

JESSICA KENNEDY

Profile | Statement | Biography

JESSICA KENNEDY • Profile

I was born and raised in Michigan; studied painting at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and graduated with my BFA in 2005. Most recently, I finished my MFA in the spring of 2009 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I'm currently painting in my studio at SCA Contemporary and teaching locally.

JESSICA KENNEDY• Statement

My love of process, action and the physicality of paint are the driving forces of my work and the natural world is my major source for inspiration. I think about animals, human beings, and plant life and I attempt to create a world in which a single object, my painting, can define all three simultaneously. In this imaginative space, I depict scenes that could take place in a rainforest, in a pond, in a laboratory, or inside the human body. I aim specifically to create imagery that has the potential for that slippage.

Feelings of reverence for nature as well as a distinct fear of its power mingle in my mind, and thus appear in my work. We are a part of the natural world and as such, we are vulnerable to this power. For me, it is both exciting and terrifying to know that something so small that it cannot be discerned with the naked eye (a virus, a cancer cell, a bacterium, a parasite) can destroy us. The way in which nature can be profoundly beautiful, startlingly unpredictable, and indiscriminately violent moves me and inspires my work.

Growth is a theme that appears again and again in my work. It is an enigmatic, rich concept because it can be beautiful, positive and right as well as destructive, grotesque and invasive. Flowers, crops, infants. Tumors, cysts, infections. The paintings themselves grow in layers and I begin each piece without a preconceived notion of resolution. I lay down a simple color field and then the paintings seem to take over and direct their own evolution. Making these paintings is a process of concealing and revealing. It is also somewhat of a catharsis for me; addressing my anxieties in my work somehow allows them to weigh less heavily.

I make this artwork to express my wonder as well as to ease my fears.

JESSICA KENNEDY • Biography

EDUCATION

2009
MFA (with distinction), University of New Mexico, Spring 2009

2005
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Summa Cum Laude), University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Spring 2005
History of Art Minor, University of Michigan, Spring 2005

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2010
12 x 12.  The Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
Art Prize. Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI
Studio Visit Magazine, Vol. 10. Juried Exhibition in Print, Published by the Open Studios Press, Boston, MA
Collect: Inside 8. Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM

2009
12 x 12. The Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
Glow. Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Invade/Evade. Solo Exhibition, Bright Rain Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Crossing: Look Both Ways. The Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM, Jurors: Richard Levy, Viviette Hunt, Janet Dees, Pat Nagatani, & Federico Vigil
Bittersweet : the 15th Annual Juried Graduate Exhibition. Laura Addison, Juror. Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Self Diagnosis. Solo exhibition, Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2008
INSIDE the INSIDE. Two-person exhibition with Lea Anderson,The Petting Zoo Art Space, Albuquerque, NM
All Fresh and Organic. John Somers Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Jessica Kennedy: New Paintings. Solo exhibition, Bright Rain Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Into This Waterless Land. Jason Reed, Juror. North Fourth Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Splash : the 14th Annual Juried Graduate Exhibition. Suzanne Sbarge, Juror. UNM Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM

2007
Judicial Notice II. Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse, Albuquerque, NM. July 2007 through July 2008
In the Cut. Donkey Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Showcase Showdown. John Somers Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Out of the Underground: the 13th Annual Juried Graduate Exhibition.  Laura Heon, Juror. 516 Arts and Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2006
At First Sight. Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2005
Award Winners: Over the Summer. WORK Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
Sequence. Palmer Commons Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
2005 All Student Exhibition. WORK Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
Show Love. 555 Gallery, Detroit, MI

AWARDS

Earickson Trust: University of New Mexico Office of Graduate Studies, September 2008
Barbara Harper Endowed Scholarship: University of New Mexico Department of Art and Art History, September 2008
Harry Nadler Fellowship: University of New Mexico Department of Art and Art History, September 2007
McCluney Memorial Senior Award: University of Michigan, 2005
University Honors: University of Michigan, December 2002, April 2004, December 2004
Dean’s List: University of Michigan, April 2002, December 2002