Jennifer Murray

Mirror 1/3
charcoal on paper
8 x 10 in.

My work seeks to engage the viewer by referring to the unknown. I displace people, objects, and ideas to challenge the perceptive patterns to which viewers are accustomed. In each piece, I strive to identify and exploit the tension that comes from placing images in unfamiliar territory. I believe that with this tension comes exploration, and, ultimately, revelation.

My work is primarily about the personal experience- especially the tension between society, individual, and space. To aid in the art-making process I employ a metaphorical language to communicate innate human desires, tensions, and dreams. The central purpose of my work is to recast the common or attributed image anew- as a physical or metaphorical manifestation of human character. My intent with these images is to take the typical and understood out of its context- to displace the image, and therefore, the idea. In this way the image, item or action is removed from its literal, social, or cultural meaning, and enters the symbolic meaning.

© Jennifer Murray