Biography
For the past three years, Jenny Mendes has been a resident
artist at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.
She has been a fulltime studio artist designing and selling
one of a kind work since 1994. Jenny has exhibited her
work in many places, including: Akar Gallery, Iowa City,
Iowa, The Signature Gallery, Atlanta, The Works Gallery,
Philadelphia, Obsidian Gallery Tucson, Baltimore Clay
Works, and fine craft shows including: Smithsonian Craft
Show, (DC), Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show (PA),
and SOFA Chicago. Jenny has taught workshops at Penland
School of Crafts, and Santa Fe Clay. She has received
Three Ohio Arts Council Fellowships, and has been featured
in several Lark Books.
Artist Statement Dreams and being open to a meditative
state of consciousness while working are primary
conceptual themes in my artwork. I usually approach a
piece twice. First, I create a sculpture or functionally
referenced piece that is all about form. I see it as a
friendly stranger, who I then try to re-imagine. The
real work begins as I discover within the piece a place
of clarity and simplicity which addresses a "beneath the
surface" story. While the content of my work is very
personal, I sincerely hope that my narratives are
universal enough for a viewer to form their own intimate
relationship with each piece. There are so many
different elements that inform my work: patterns and
conversation both in nature, and with people, historical
folk art, old letters, paintings, poetry, images from
the financial times.....a good book.....whatever I am
awake and open to, as I am working. I use low fire clay
and traditional handbuilding techniques to make my work.
Nothing fancy. The surface is painted with
terrasigallota and fired in an electric kiln multiple
times to cone 03.
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