jennifer williams | portfolio

 

                   

new work 2011

    

 

 

 Written in Water series

My new series of paintings entitled “Written in Water” is a collection of images of a renewed watershed, with life giving waters.  Visions of the future with restored ecological respect and a spiritual relationship to our watershed.

  

 

 

 

Native Waters series

The inspiration for "Native Waters" flows from the artistic legacy of the indigenous Chinook people of the Columbia River, but reflects contemporary voices of the river.  Collaborating with Columbia river carver Adam McIsaac, this series reminds us of a time when people and nature were in harmony.  The river and its salmon were honored and protected as "the giver of life."

  

 

 

 

Disturbance and Resilience series

Thirty years after the eruption of Mt. St. Helens "Disturbance and Resilience" brings together powerful images and words about the volcano from the view of three artists.  Jennifer Williams' evocative paintings, Steve Terrill's powerful photographs and Valerie Rapp's compelling words combine to tell a story of the mountain and the resilience of life.

 

 

  

 

 

 

Where Elements Meet series

In my new series, "Where Elements Meet", I explore the edges where nature is holding on.  Through layers of paint and paper the message is one of hope and healing.

 

  

 

 

 

 What The River Reveals series

In a collaboration of art and science "What the River Reveals" was an environmental installation featuring mixed media paintings by Jennifer Williams and the release of the book "What the River Reveals" by Valerie Rapp.  Sharing words, images and inspiration, "What the River Reveals" tells the story of how we've changed our Pacific Northwest rivers and what we've lost, and also the story of how we can heal.

  

 

 

  

Mapping Mountains, Charting Waters series

In my series entitled "Mapping Mountains, Charting Waters," organic energy and underlying geometry intertwine beneath a heavily textured surface of mixed media.  With environmental undertones, collaged and transferred maps become roots, roads, or veins indicative of the confluence of urban growth and the natural landscape.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 Watershed series

Growing up in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, the ever changing landscape is a constant influence on my art.  As each piece develops, alternating processes of building up the surface and breaking the surface down evokes cycles of regeneration and the notion of a metaphoric dialogue of man's ongoing relationship with the land.  In my series of paintings entitled "Watershed," the land in not solid, but in a constant state of flux.

 

 

 

 

 Endangered Ritual series

As a community resting upon the shores of the Columbia River we are dependant upon many of the natural resources the Pacific Northwest provides.  The condition of our native salmon have come to symbolize the vulnerability of this ecosystem.  In my series of salmon paintings entitled "Endangered Ritual" I strive to show the strength and perseverance of nature, while questioning the imbalance caused by our own presence.

 

 

 

 

 Reflections series

The glass, or "vessel", of wine plays the role of the generic figure allowing the viewer to place themselves in the scene, attaching personal references of time and place.  Defying horizon lines, the composition floats between discrete planes of being.  Whether the mood of the piece is quiet reflection or elated celebration, I aim not at pictorial representation of a traditional still life in capturing a fleeting moment in time, rather in capturing a continuous one.

 

 

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