One of the things I love about my husband is how excited he gets about wildflowers. He is the manliest of men, but when spring arrives, he begins the hunt for perfumed beauties. Our camera card gets filled with glorious specimens to remember and identify. We joyfully observe butterflies and bees making their rounds, testing each bud. Artist Jennifer Bain shares our fascination with the beauty that awaits just outside our windows.
Like yesterday’s artist, Charlene Liu, Bain takes the traditional floral still life and reinvents it. Each work may contain a few realistic portrayals of birds or flowers, but it is the juxtaposition of more contemporary, silhouetted elements and textile-like patterns that give these pieces post-modern punch.
The simple linear shapes give the work a fleeting, unfinished quality which creates a beautifully dynamic tension between those and the more detailed elements.
Butterflies and birds flit across each piece, seeming to be drunk on loveliness. Like the butterflies, I too, would love to dance among these beauties.
To see more of Jennifer Bain’s work, please visit her website. Oh and Jennifer is another artist represented by Skidmore Contemporary. I told you they had great taste!
PS– Didn’t realize when scheduling these posts that I featured two floral artists within two days. I’m interested to hear your takes on both!
Featured image is Seekers, mixed media on panel, 48×36. All images are via the Skidmore Contemporary website.
