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One of our Featured Artist
is Jaymi Zents
On this page, Vancura Gallery will highlight one of the artists we represent. Here you can
see a collection of that artist's work,
and learn more about that artist. The content of this page will change from time to time.
To see pages for prior featured artists, view the listing to the right.
Please see our "All Artists"
page at the "Fine Art" menu tab for a full list of all artists represented at
Vancura Gallery of Fine Art.
Jaymi Zent's "Artist's Statement":
"The past several years have marked a concern with the impact of containment upon the human figure within my work.
Whether bound by
trappings that have been imposed upon the body or bound by those that the body has created itself,
containment can suggest both restraint
and protection concurrently. The contradictions inherent in dealing with the body - from the
ephemeral elements of mood and thought
to the visceral qualities and implications of flesh - are compounded by the reaction of the skin to boundaries.
Figurative subjects allow study of the relationships and co-dependence of dualities:
The repugnant to the pure; Immobility and entrapment
to freedom; The hidden and suppressed to the exposed and uncontrolled; Chaos to quiet.
Material choices are also indicative of the importance of the contrary. Delicately drawn surfaces are
countered by more visceral components.
Hair and skins, despite bearing a sometimes grotesque quality, suggest empathy, as items all have had
a relationship with in life.
In the context of relics, the rawhides find an importance and preciousness, but as rawhides, they reveal
indifference as a discard, a
leftover. Imagery upon this type of skin introduces contemporary notions of identity, adornment,
and sacrifice.
Similarly, silk plays the beautiful against the gross: A luxurious cloth born of the excretions of
silkworms, silk is precious, yet
purposeful as it protects fragile young during development in cocoons. Wax is another common byproduct
often used in my work. A
temperamental substance, it will collect the body warmth of those who touch it for any period of time, eventually gathering fingerprints of
those who have come in contact, garnering an identity and past for itself.
Such highly organic mediums are suited particularly well to my work. In part, because in their raw
state, there is often an element of
intrinsic repulsion to counter any beauty they possess, but also, because they have a past and meaning
pertinent to everyday life. Everyone
has an experience or memory tethered to them.
Frequent classical references, especially of the Italian Renaissance, influence my treatment of the human form.
While nursery rhymes and
fairy tales bear impact upon some of the mood, ultimately, all of my work relates intimately to the body,
to its frailties and strengths.
Containment is almost always indicated in some form or another, be it the body itself or some element imposed
upon the body. The figure’s
response to boundaries provides impetus to explore the intense vulnerabilities inherent to the flesh, all the
while prompting an awareness
of its resilience.
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