Kathleen Jacobs: Clearing
Artist Kathleen Jacobs's partnership with trees and weather is on view at the Hillman-Jackson Gallery.
Clearing, a solo exhibit by New York and Egremont based artist Kathleen Jacobs from October
26 through December 21. On Friday, November 4 from 5 - 7 p.m., Jacobs will be on campus
to give a short Gallery Talk followed by an Artist’s Reception. Located in the Daniel
Arts Center’s Hillman-Jackson Gallery, the exhibit is free and open to the public weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends
2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
In Clearing Jacobs explores the natural landscapes that surround us, honoring the epic battle
between the elements from which it results. In this intimate exhibition Jacobs bring
viewers up close to the canvases that started their life outside, wrapped around the
trunks and limbs of trees, then exposed to the rain, snow, and sun, for three years.
“I make multiple rubbings on canvas using the tree’s wood grain as my plate - I layer
the images to create depth,” says Jacobs.
After several years the artist extracts the canvases and stretches them as horizontally
framed pieces. As the paintings age and weather, the patina becomes an intricate part
of the process. Jacob’s explains that the title of this work is “the act of actually
rescuing (clearing) an old walnut orchard and making the paintings which delineated
it boundaries; both geographically and spiritually.” Responding to the thickly wooded
campus of Simon's Rock outside the art gallery, Jacobs has begun the process again,
wrapping several canvases on pine trees along Alford Road, waiting to see what the
“battle of elements” brings forth.
Jacobs was born in Aspen, Colorado and studied art in Boston, Milan, Hong Kong and
Beijing. Her work has been exhibited extensively in galleries in Aspen, New York,
Vienna and Brussels.