Jennifer Levine

Lives and works in New Paltz, NY, USA

Artist statement

Fifteen years ago, I moved across the country - from San Francisco to Montclair, NJ. I found my way to my first (and only) adult art class with Fern Bass, a wonderful artist and teacher who just that summer had opened her art school. Bass nurtured her students’ ability to see - to observe carefully and render accurately. She was also concerned with inner vision, and intuitive painting became an exciting avenue for me. That year, I began a Transendental meditation practice. Daily meditation, combined with permission to make manifest the stirrings of my heart and soul, is the foundation for my body of work. My work is intuitive, spontaneous and free spirited. I create paintings, dolls, murals and objects with bright, bold color mixing images of human figures with shapes, animals, text and collage elements. Many of my paintings and drawings contain images of women with their arms outstretched, in nature or in a surreal circus. The women find home with magical elephants who escort them on their journeys’ - symbolizing freedom and self-acceptance. Raising a teenage daughter on my own has inspired an exploration of our paths as women - through respectively, menopause and adolescence. The majority of my work explores the play of strength and vulnerability that we share and struggle with. For the past 7 years I have been working with school children through a non-profit I founded called, “The Peace Garden song and Mural project.” Together with a musical collaborator, I facilitate...

Artwork