Jennifer Small

Jennifer Small is an abstract painter whose work is about elevating the everyday to express appreciation for the wonder of the ordinary. She is a Pennsylvania native who received her BFA in Painting and BS in Art Education from Millersville University and her MFA in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design. She has exhibited her work in galleries and fairs in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York, Richmond, Raleigh, Columbus, Savannah, and Chicago. Media features have included Artist Talk Magazine, Art Seen Magazine, New American Paintings, Studio Visit Magazine, Studio Break Podcast, and Shockoe Artspeak Podcast. She now works as both a painter and visual designer in Wilmington, Delaware.


Artist Statement

My art, initially abstract in appearance, records a journey of a day in the life—a practice that starts with documentation through the lens of a camera. I see my experiences through special goggles with the ability to transform banal spaces and objects into engaging formal elements that are pulled out of their environment and placed into my painting compositions strictly for their aesthetic significance.

The process of cataloging my everyday leads to the solidification of my memories in a specific time and place and constant access to a breadth of inspiration for my paintings. New inspiration comes out of each new environment I experience, whether as a resident or a visitor, allowing the work to be an ever-evolving documentation of my days.

The work demonstrates loose, painterly applications juxtaposed with more rigid, hard-edge areas of the acrylic paint and spray paint that I use. While the palette is imagined, each painting is an archive of a time and place connected to a personal experience.

I want to challenge the viewer to see the work as personal yet universal—a compilation of my experiences, but also as a way to connect with abstract painting in a tangible way. I want to elevate the humble from unnoticed and small to colorful and grand by putting a spotlight on the unrecognized poetry of daily routine.


www.jensmallart.com

What initially sparked your interest in art?

The process of making initially sparked my interest in art from a very young age. I grew up in a creative household where making was highly encouraged, whether it was art, a meal, a Halloween costume, or a snow fort. It's the process that drew me in back then and has kept me excited all these years later.


What connects your work together, and what keeps you creating?

My work is about how I experience my surroundings, so the connection is my personal journey—what, when, where, and how I see the world. The process of using abstraction to create personal narratives through everyday exploration has been a framework that is always evolving as I move through life, leading to a constant surplus of inspiration that keeps me creating.


Describe your work using three words.

Autobiographical, observational, process-driven.


What are you most proud of as an artist, whether it's a specific moment or who you are as an artist?

I am most proud that I have continued to push myself to create in new ways while still exploring abstraction through the lens of my personal experience with place and time.


If you could be in a two-person exhibition with any artist from history, who would it be and why?

I would want to exhibit with Thomas Nozkowski because he also used abstraction as a method of seeing and interpreting the places and experiences that made up his journey through life.