Art Seen - Curator Welcome

mother_daughter_mother
online exhibition

Jenny Arntzen, artist

Art Seen is pleased to be exhibiting the work of artist, Jenny Arntzen. As I enter the process of writing in response to her work the artist statement reminds me that I am “...a complicated, complex, contexted human being making sense of the work.” I am aware that the complexity of my stepmother, stepdaughter, mother, daughter relationships impact my reading of her art. Arntzen is aware of this and encourages a diversity of readings. Reluctant to enter the digital exhibition space without a good amount of time and a clear emotional space to be with it, I appreciated her acknowledgment of the particular contexts that viewers bring to the reading of her art. Once I found the space to enter the digitally created installation, I became intrigued with the rich multi-modal layers embedded within it. I could choose to focus on individual aspects of the piece or take it in as a whole experience.

The poem that rests in the text below the shifting images of blood related women has a mysterious connection to the female images. I found myself entranced by the perpetual flow of the turquoise hued images of mother, daughter, mother, and the undeterred voice of the artist-mother reciting the poem. I mentally envisioned the artist-mother in the midst of a domestic environment. A fussy then gurgling baby’s voice mingling with the sounds of another playing the piano. The perpetual flow of domestic life reverberates and merges with the moving female images and the flow of the river. I am carried on a current of simple yet complex interrelationships that take me to another dimension of understanding relationships and relational moments/movement. I invite you to take the space that you need to enter and be with this complex, yet simply woven, thought provoking art installation.

Barbara Bickel
Sept. 2, 2007