Artist Statement

Artist Statement- Jane Cornwoman Fowler

NEW MEDIA

Jane started using Polyresin Foam, a home construction material, as a sculptural and relief work medium in 1993 because of its lightweight nature, durability, and ability to be affixed permanently to wood and canvas. She used it for a number of projects and finally made a 60 inch wide by 72 inch high multimedia artwork with a six foot Polyresin Foam tree on it. Somebody ripped off a large piece of it at its third major exhibition. The gallery did not pay her for the damage and she stopped using Polyresin Foam and retired the artwork for good.

Jane loves science and microbiology as much as she loves painting and playing the cello. She enjoys developing the process of making kinetic art based on biological functions basic to life. She feels closer to people after being isolated for so long and working at home outside. Her hope is to share her vision with others and provide a glimpse into the processes going on in our bodies as lines of DNA helixes are formed to make various types of cell structures. The function of DNA is to store all of the genetic information an organism needs to develop, function, and reproduce. Essentially it is the instruction manual found in each cell. She chose her colors based on the 23 stains used in microbiology and the 10 stains used in biochemistry for visualizing DNA. Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in microscopic or chemistry samples. In her paintings, time is suspended, but we are just on the brink of interdimensionality. The artworks are imbued with a lyrical unity and extrapolation of humanity. Jane’s hope of nurturing emotion until it rises to the heights of joy in living causes light to radiate from the canvas.

In her process Jane thinks about the activity DNA would make replicating and then applies the Polyresin Foam to the Blick Premier gallery wrapped or traditional canvases. Spontaneity is a key factor that accompanies Jane’s vision at this time of creation. She lets them cure outside for 2 days. Then she applies Krylon Gallery Series UV Archival Varnish and lets that cure for 2 days. Then she carefully applies high-quality Utrecht Professional Acrylic Gesso and two layers of Utrecht acrylic paint with a variety of brushes to fill in all the difficult surface areas over a period oftwo or three weeks depending on the size of the artwork.

REPRESENTATIONAL ART

My representational work draws heavily on my background as a BIPOC woman who grew up in Seattle, Washington, and was influenced by Northwestern Native American art forms. I linger on culturally relevant moments and bring them to life with soft gestures and brilliant tones as the essence of my work. I use my constructions with awareness, but not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to a place of harmony and rhythm. I create fluidity with a vast range of expressions. My African American background is expressed in figurative and mask works. My Native American heritage helps me create visuals for storytelling. Animals, objects of importance to me, and human figures have a spiritual element that is expressed boldly in my artwork and portray my cultural identity. In 2023 I will be doing a large series of 16-inch wide by 20-inch high paintings of the 250+ owls in the Strigiformes order of birds.

The representational paintings are made with Utrecht acrylic or oil paint on canvas, Masonite, and wood. Mixed media paintings include Native American beading, fabric, native materials, and animal fur.

CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT ART

I use my 20+ years as a cellist and harmonica player to imbue my love of music into my pieces with lyrical unity and extrapolations of humanity. Spontaneity is a key factor that accompanies my vision for the viewer to experience. My hope of nurturing emotion until it rises to the heights of joy in living cause light to radiate from my canvases. Touches of intuitive strokes and contrasts in color lyrically combine in my abstract narratives to poetically inspire the human spirit.

I play with space and color as my friend. The fixed mixes with the fluid and replicate the forces of nature at work. In my paintings, everything pulsates with life, on the verge of movement and change.

My geometric art is based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. My love of Piet Mondrian’s constructions of horizontal and vertical lines which call attention to the root plasticity and two dimensionality of painting as an artistic medium drives me to explore non-objective painting.

DRAWINGS

Charcoal & Marker Drawings

These are a collection of drawings made early in my artistic career while I was experimenting with portraiture and still life subject matter. They are on 18 inch by 24 inch paper. They are for sale at $864 each. The marker drawings are going to be urban primitivism,yantras, and contemporary abstract mandalas made starting in 2023 onward.