Jennifer Chenoweth Solo Show “Sacred Spaces”

“Sacred Spaces” explores the interactive space and movement of the human body through architectural sculpture and gestural mark-making. Historically, the stories of a culture were told through paintings on the surfaces of sacred spaces such as caves, temples and churches. The hand of the artist remains unique to visual art, as does the visceral relationship of the art object to both the maker and viewer of the art. The human body is represented in its indexical evidence in drawings and in geometric markers of ourselves. “Art-making is my primary spiritual action. Creating art allows me to express my unique manifestation as a body and as a conscious being. 'Sacred Spaces' explores the interactive space of the human body through architectural sculpture and gestural mark-making.” “My artwork is relational. The work isn’t complete until there is someone interacting with it. Once I have made these artworks, it is very important to my process to have dialog with community about the art.” Jennifer Chenoweth studied the evolution of historical sacred architecture – from Etruscan to Greek to Roman to Christian – to gain a better understanding of how sacred space is created through geometry and form. The shapes incorporated into these structures evoke gendered symbolism: the curved dome represents a feminine, mother-figure, for example, while the Catholic cruciform shapes represent the masculine, with vertical space representing the Trinity. Reiterating these symbols in her work allows Jennifer to explore both the personal space of one body and the interactive relationships between several bodies at once. Family relationships and group dynamics are important themes of Jennifer Chenoweth's work, but some works of art are simply the practice of making marks in space with her unique hand in a variety of materials. http://www.fisterrastudio.com/jennifer-chenoweth-sacred-space-solo-show-julia-butridge-gallery/