Jan Jensen’s evocative abstract expressionist painting is a delight. Her restrained use of colour gives a spacious feel to these images, as if a breeze could blow through each layer. Some paintings might suggest distant mountains and valleys, others the wafting of a colourful or diaphanous scarf. Yet Jensen does not plan her paintings in any way; each mark informs the next. She explains:
“I am a process driven artist – each mark or series of marks creates the space for the next. Each work starts in a completely abstract way, but eventually my responses to each layer start to tell a story, which then unfolds as it will.”
Jensen has been using raw canvas and soft pastel in her recent paintings, keeping the same delicate, restrained touch that allows for a roominess in her images. She’s been exploring this space even more with installations.
Her layered work has always been evocative of another dimension, so 3D seems like a natural progression. Movement and flow are recurring themes. Often a painting series will inspire installations, which are, she says, “giant, 3D paintings.” Curiosity guides the best kind of life and art. Jensen says she is intrigued by what happens when layers of images are “teased apart and pulled into three dimensional configurations.” As the viewer walks through, the perspective evolves, and awareness expands.
Jensen invites us to pause and reflect on how both motion and stillness create our journey and experience in life. Journeys can often take twists and circle back; the creative process does too.
“In art school I was more interested in sculpture than painting and only really started painting seriously in my 60s. I see my affinity for 3D in every painting.”
New work will be available at the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl (October) and at upcoming installations at The Hearth Gallery on Bowen Island (November 2024) and GPAG in Gibsons (December 2024).
