J. M. Jensen Artist Statement

I am interested in two primary themes throughout the body of my work. The best words that I have found that describe the focuses of my work are the numinous and the Weltschmerz.
nu�mi�nous
1 : SUPERNATURAL, MYSTERIOUS
2 : filled with a sense of the presence of divinity : HOLY
3 : appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense : SPIRITUAL

welt�schmerz
1 : mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual
state of the world with an ideal state
2 : the feeling that the world is not what it ought to be

With the majority of my work I am interested in the Numinous, and with a tenth of my work I am interested in the Weltschmerz. These disparate themes are loosely connected in what I think of as a type of visual theology. Each piece is something like a meditation on man and the eternal. Or to phrase it another way, it is a narrative of the Heavens and the Earth.

These two themes seem to coincide in the feeling of Joy, as C. S. Lewis uses the term.

�Joy is distinct not only from pleasure in general but even from aesthetic pleasure. It must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing.� -C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

Weltschmerz is not the opposite of this Joy, or antithetical to it. Rather it is oftentimes most present at the height of joy. The sublime beauty that the romantics searched for was what led to the baptism of the word Weltschmerz. The fact that Lewis� Joy cannot be fulfilled in this world is proof that Weltschmerz points to a fact about the way the world is. Weltschmerz and the Numinous are antipodes of the same world of Sehnsucht (longing).

To describe the motivation for work, I want to say that I am seeking the numinous through what I describe as visual theology. This visual theology is often expressed in my paintings in the power and awe of the landscape. In the tradition of the Hudson River School I see nature as sublime, romantic and allegorical. The sky or heavens and its relationship to earth often become surrealistically closer in my works, referencing the wonder and awe of dreams and also the universality of myth.
�But Heaven is still overhead, even if it is very far overhead. We have all the impression of a simple truth that has receded, until it was remote without ceasing to be true. And this phrase alone would bring us back to the same idea of this very notion of the withdrawal of some higher power, in all those mysterious and very imaginative myths about the seperation of earth and sky� As to what it means, a man will learn far more about it by lying on his back in a field, and merely looking at the sky, than by reading all the libraries even of the most learned and valuable folk-lore.� -G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

EDUCATION
2007 M.F.A Painting Colorado State University (pending)
2002 B. F. A. Illustration Rocky Mountain College of art and Design (Magna Cum Laude)

AWARDS AND HONORS
2007 Fine Print Award, Northern Colorado Artist Association 16th Annual Exhibition, Fort Collins Colorado, Juror Lorenzo Chavez

2006 First place, oil painting, Capture the County, Benson Gallery, Fort Collins, Colorado (Plein air painting competition)

2001 Awarded Colorado State Merit Scholarship

2001 Silver medal, Illustration Department, Figure Painting and Drawing, Student show, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

2000 Awarded C. W. McNamara Memorial Scholarship Award

2000 Gold medal, Foundation department, Figure Drawing, Student show, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

SELECT EXHIBITION RECORD
2007 The Figurative Impulse, Colorado State University, Pueblo, Colorado

Recent works, Bas Bleu Theatre, Fort Collins, Colorado

Heavens and Earth, Directions Gallery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

MFA Thesis Exhibition, Hatton Gallery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

2006 Capture the County, Benson Gallery, Fort Collins Colorado Juror: Russ Tanner, First Place for Oil Painting

Fifth Annual Estes Park Plein Air; Painting the Parks, Estes Park, Colorado

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Northern Colorado Artists Association (NCAA)
College Artists Association (CAA)
Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA)

VISITING ARTIST LECTURES AND DEMONSTRATIONS
2006 Portrait Painting Demonstration for Northern Colorado Artists Association

EXHIBITIONS JURIED
2006
Senior Center Exhibition, Fort Collins, Colorado (with Jonathan Hale) (show Coordinator Steve Dietmann)

INTERESTS AND SKILLS
Avid hiker
Plein Air Painter
Science, (esp. Cosmology and Astronomy)
Enjoy Backpacking and Camping, have explored many of the national parks in the western US.

TRAVEL/FOREIGN LANGUAGES SPOKEN
Traveled through Western Europe for three months
Advanced Intermediate ability in verbal and written French

Website: J. M. Jensen Fine Art
Contact email: jmjensenart@yahoo.com

Opens Saturday, November 17 (7:00pm-10:pm)
Robert Berman Gallery
Bergamot Station - 2525 Michigan Avenue C2
Santa Monica, California 90404

Over 40 artists were invited to participate in the upcoming exhibition ‘GREEN’,curated by publisher/designer Mark Murphy. GREEN will feature original paintings, (24′ x 24′ and 24′ x 36′) that look to explore human interaction with nature. Featuring traveling artists, inspired artworks,and the music of SSI and the Modlins :

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Featuring the inspired talents of :
Jason D Aquino + Jordan Awan + Andrew Brandou + Cathie Bleck+ Marc Burckhardt + William Buzzell + Luke Chueh :David Chung + Amy Crehore +
Kevin Christy + Sas Christian + John Copeland + Bob Dob + andrew foster + Douglas Fraser + P-Jay Fidler + Joseph Daniel Fiedler + AJ Fosik + Robert Hardgrove + Jody Hewgill + Michael Hussar + Tim Hussey + Jordin Isip + Rich Jacobs + Pamela Jaeger + james jean + David Choong Lee + Anthony Lister + Jen Lobo + Mars-1 + Chris Mostyn + Mark Murphy + Scott Musgrove + Joel
Nakamura : Christian Northeast + Martha Rich and Esther Pearl Watson Collaboration + Kathie Olivas + Nathan Ota + Brandt Peters + Jermaine
Rogers + Kim Scott + Keith Shore + Jeff Soto + Damon Soule + Matt Stallings + Gary Taxali + Amanda Wachab + Justin Wood
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Check out www.robertbermangallery.com or www.murphydesign.com for more information and gallery show times : Green will be on display until December 22, 2007
310.315.1937

Website: The Art of Amy Crehore
Contact email: amy@amycrehore.com