Jen Crowe is an abstract painter working in oil & cold wax. Her work focuses on ideas of emotional transition, passage of time and connection to place.
For the past twelve years, Jen has also worked as a jewelry designer, handcrafting her own line of sterling silver, gold and bronze jewelry. In 2016 she began weaving, learning the Japanese form of Saori floor loom weaving in Los Angeles. She creates one-of-a-kind warps to weave free form art pieces and woven wearables.
Jen spent her formative years in Wisconsin where she was involved in art and creativity throughout her middle and high school years. She has a degree in art history from Lawrence University in Wisconsin. Jen still has a strong connection to her home state where much of her family resides.
After finishing her degree, Jen relocated to Los Angeles. Here she focused on developing her own work for over a decade. During this time, she helped support other artists by running pop-up galleries. Her time in California solidified her deep connection to the wild western lands. She spent all free time in the mountains, amongst the trees and in the desert before relocating to the Oregon coast. Jen co-owned Vaulted Gallery in Astoria, Oregon from 2019 – 2021. Jen and her husband moved back to southern California in the summer of 2021.
With a hunger for travel and love of outdoor spaces, her work is often an expression of her emotional response to these experiences. To help preserve these natural places she loves, Jen has supported the National Forest Foundation’s tree planting program since 2016.
Statement
My paintings are created without the use of brushes using a mixture of oil and cold wax. I use paint in an extensive layering process to create a “history” on the panel. Throughout this process I focus on the use of color, texture and line. These elements portray depth through subtle shifts in transparency and shape. The varied layers aid in expressing a particular emotional limbo. I often scrape back into the many layers of wax and paint to reveal intricate details of color and the literal history of creating the work.
Painting allows me to express shifting emotional spaces that are based in personal experience. I create these works to transform the space around them. I encourage the viewer to consider an abstract way of thinking about time, space and emotion. It’s through the abstracting of thoughts and feelings that I hope to make the personal more universal.
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