Jennifer Tenace

My work originates from a love and experience of nature. As I began painting with a desire to mimic certain physical characteristics of natural environments, I realized that, during the process of painting, I was actually feeling an experience of nature. Rather than painting something to appear like nature, I now seek to embody the living act of nature, with no separations between my self, my work and nature.

Because of this experience of nature within the process of painting, I associate my work with landscape painting, even though my recent works are abstract in appearance. I see how my actions through painting are an outlet for me to let go and play in my own created landscape. My art is more about the process of painting rather than a painting reaching a stage that is final, much as a landscape in nature is always alive, always undergoing a process of change – a building up of circumstances, events, influences and memories. In many ways, such landscapes reflect my struggles in life…to slow down, to put things together in a way that is direct and to live in the present moment. I strive to put it all down on the panel, allowing the painting to always be in the act of creation, as there is always a constant adding and taking away from the panel. 

Each work becomes a model of a lifestyle for me, teaching me to pay attention to what is before me in the present and how to react based on instinct and feeling.