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OCTOBER 2007: Reilly Jensen at Daniel Kany Gallery SPEECHLESS Click here for the exhibition page. Balancing the idea of the personal viewpoint against the contiguity of culture has long been at the core of the content in Reilly Jensen’s paintings. Labels and language for her are merely the entry points into the ideas and feelings of individuals. Rather than finding humanity in shared culture, the Seattle painter tells us that it is the uniqueness of our visions and singularity of our perspectives that make each of us human. In her exhibition, Speechless, Jensen presents 13 oil paintings. Several of the smaller works are painted over patterned fabric with resin and spray paint in addition to the oil. Jensen decided to use the spray paint to mimic and reference graffiti. “Graffiti is very stylized, graphic and humorous; its pop culture elements really turn me on. In these paintings, graffiti tends to appear as something that’s been painted over. I use rollers to cover the spray paint—like what tends to happen to graffiti in the real world,” explains Jensen. “Much of this work starts with what we see in our daily life, but the works are built up over time—layer on layer.” All of the work in Speechless is in a square format. While this has been a continued quality of Jensen's painting, in this body of work it serves to underscore the plaid patterns that make up the first layers of each painting. The grids serve multiple functions: at times they read as the topographical view of a town or city and then stand up to act like a brick wall of a structure in that setting. The shifting flat/standing surface dynamic is an introduction to Jensen's thematic strategy of intersecting objects and ideas. This dialectic echoes Jensen's movements from working flat with some materials and painting on the wall with others. The motion also represents the shift from the flat sheet of writing to the upright painted image (verbal to non-verbal). Even the shared titles of the works ("It left me…") speak of an intersection that puts into play a specific moment against the following time of contemplation. By leaving the "It" vague, Jensen maintains the focus of the image on the contemplation of a scenario after the fact. This is a complex target, however, since it implies not only an event and its ensuing effects on a person, but the processes of memory and sensibility as developed by personality and the entirety of an individual’s life experience. How each of us perceives an encounter is nuanced by so many things that language and its generalities could never relate it absolutely. Jensen's insights lie on the ineffable boundaries of consciousness. "These paintings are not metaphors or specific narratives," intimates the artist: "They are inspired mostly by moments after encounters with people—conversations usually—when I find myself realizing how that encounter made me feel. It is so often after a conversation when you are alone with your own thoughts that you can consciously experience those emotions. That's when you can have a little perspective on your own digested feelings. It's like waking up from a dream." Jensen's paintings exude a contemplative depth and a playfully witty vocabulary. They never lose their ability to observe with a keen eye, but they are open to the vision of the individual. They bring memory and emotion together in an almost geological landscape: the layers of paint in the city build up like sentiment and erode in a similar manner; they show us our perspective on any moment has a historical basis in our sensibilities. Jensen shows us that people, just as much as culture, have a complex historical depth. Not only is the artist not troubled by this, but she seems to revel in this quality of people. The effect of this on her work is to authenticate anyone's experience. "It left me frustrated…" might be the product of Jensen's mental and artistic processes, but she makes it clear that anyone else's view of the painting is just as valid as hers. It could be said that the work is almost anti-expressionistic: rather than theatrically externalizing her emotions, Jensen provides us space for contemplation and she does it with wit and honesty. Reilly Jensen was trained in drawing and printmaking at the University of Kansas. After moving to Seattle, she founded and operated her own successful design firm. “Through my studies and professional work,” says Jensen, “I found myself focused on drawing, composition, layering and a sense of finish. I might begin with ideas, but process and composition are extremely important to my works and usually the ultimate strength and success of any given painting is visual.” Jensen has worked with Daniel Kany for some time: Kany curated Jensen’s first solo shows at the Center on Contemporary Art and the Friesen Gallery in Seattle.