LIGHTBOX FEATURE: JENNIFER AMENT
This month our spotlight is on local Seattle artist, Jennifer Ament. We are big fans of her work, and a few of her prints live on the walls of our Seattle design studio.
We admire Jennifer for her ability to channel different moods and points of view within her work and across different mediums, including linocut prints and encaustic paintings. She looks for creative solutions and revels in the process of making art.
If you live in Seattle, you may have seen her linocut prints around town as they’ve been featured on the walls of Starbucks, West Elm and the Seattle International Airport. Her love of nature and affinity for underground street culture are evident in the imagery. These prints begin as hand-drawn illustrations and are then transformed through detailed and technical process to create linoleum cut prints.
The word encaustic is derived from the Greek word enkaustikos, which means, “to heat or burn in.” Jennifer creates abstract encaustic paintings by manipulating hot wax with a blowtorch. Yes, she paints with fire, and we think that is hardcore.
What fascinates Jennifer about the encaustic process is how fire and wax are two elements that “seem otherworldly and yet are very connected to the Earth.” She draws her inspiration from nature and her surroundings; and like the earth itself, her pieces are created by forming layers.
“I strive to create paintings that are, themselves, immersive experiences, evoking sensations that are fluid and meditative but edged with intensity. I am often inspired by loose, soft, natural phenomena but like to combine these elements with stronger forces.”
Jennifer finds the process of her work meditative. She relinquishes control to the elements she works with knowing that the hot wax has a mind of its own. When the paint forges its own path across the wood panels, she finds beauty in letting go of the initial ideas she may have had in mind. It’s in this space that a revelation may take place.
*Featured images and detail shots of work by Jennifer Ament. To view her full gallery and artwork for sale, visit www.jenniferament.com.
