Making A Way | Adaptation
Artists: Andranik Aroutiounian, Pat Brentano, Rachel Burgess, Jennifer Celio, Joe Karlovec, Ken Reker, Shawn Rowe, Amy Schissel
Statement
I’m interested in exploring how the natural world factors into the daily human experience while also provoking conversation about rampant consumption and waste. Through the lens of the aesthetics and culture of 1970s and ‘80s Southern California, my sculptural work intertwines with my personal history to weave stories that are simultaneously personal and universal.
Through assemblage sculptures and sculptural installations, I weave disparate materials and techniques into compositions that incorporate a push and pull between natural and artificial, organic and constructed, nature and human civilization. While they are created from trash, scraps, and personal affects in order to minimize my use of new materials, I’m also intrigued by how the history of these objects influences the meaning of each piece. The constructs of interior design and architecture from my childhood form a figurative landscape just as important as a wilderness tableau.
I utilize the evolution of my own appreciation of the fragility of natural ecosystems as a parallel to the decades of 1970s and ‘80s, in which the growing environmental movement taught humanity at large to acknowledge its worsening impacts upon nature. At this same time, my own home, as was common, brought the outdoors inside via décor seen as more natural and relaxed. The abundance of houseplants, wicker chairs, macramé hangings, an organic palette-I reference these elements in my work as a reflection of seeking understanding of my own role within the larger environment around me. This body of work hopes to question our unbalanced relationship with the natural world.
Bio
Jennifer Celio’s work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles, and Mexico. Her work has been exhibited in group shows throughout the U.S. and internationally, and in museum exhibits across the U.S. Her drawings represented the Southern California region in the 2015 biennial at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. She is a member of the artist and curator collective Durden and Ray, based in Los Angeles. She is the recipient of individual artist grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (2012) and The City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Fellowship (2014). She has received residencies from Yaddo (NY) and Soulangh Cultural Center (Taiwan). She has a B.F.A. from Cal State Fullerton, 1996.
Her interdisciplinary artwork has received critical review in such publications as The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Art Papers, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Art Ltd. Magazine, Artillery Magazine, Juxtapoz Magazine, Fabrik Magazine, Art and Cake Los Angeles, Beautiful/Decay, The Huffington Post, Flavorpill, New American Paintings (2003), The Orange County Register, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
jennifercelio.com
Instagram: @jencelio
