"An Allegory of Algorithms and Aesthetics"
JESSICA DRENK
April 12- May 12, 2014
Opening Vernissage April 12 6:30-8:30
Music by The Blackberry Blonde
April 12- May 12, 2014
Opening Vernissage April 12 6:30-8:30
Music by The Blackberry Blonde
about the artist
Jessica Drenk’s work is a response to, and experimentation with, materials. Her inspiration comes from nature; she is constantly amazed by the diversity and beauty of the forms and patterns she sees. We often think of our immediate surroundings as being “man-made”, but man-made materials still behave according to the same principles as the natural world. Because nature is based on patterns and principles of organization, Jessica looks for man-made materials that might be manipulated according to similar patterns and principles. In her response to these materials Jessica becomes connected with the physical properties of the world.
In changing books into fossilized remnants of our culture through the installations “Bibliophylum” and “Cerebral Mapping” Jessica examines how we classify the world and speaks to our collective culture. In the “Erosions” sculptures, she elegantly arranges static PVC pipes to suggest ripple and wave patterns. The PVC pipes reflect and absorb light and are dynamic and ever changing. The Soft Cell Tissue sculptures are playful and surprising. Something functional becomes decorative, a simple material is made complex and the commonplace becomes unique. This is exemplified in her “Implement” series where Jessica takes the ubiquitous #2 pencil and transforms it into sculptures that reference fossils, birds or botanic materials. They are engaging, dynamic and startling.
Jessica’s interests in archaeology, paleontology, biology, botany and geology influence not only the shapes and textures of her sculpture, but also lend a visual framework for creating, collecting and classifying her own specimens of the present.
Jessica Drenk was raised in Montana, where she developed an appreciation for the natural world that remains an important inspiration to her artwork today. Tactile and textural, her sculptures highlight the chaos and beauty that can be found in simple materials. Her work is also influenced by systems of information and the impulse to develop an encyclopedic understanding of the world.
In 2009, Jessica received an Artist Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, funding the installation of Archaeologica at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona. In 2006, Drenk was awarded the International Sculpture Center's Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. Her work has been pictured in Sculpture, Interior Design, Philadelphia Magazine, Juxtapoz, D Magazine and Curve and seen in shows at the International Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, the Albuquerque Museum, the Tucson Museum of Art, PULSE Miami, PULSE New York, and numerous shows and fairs throughout the United States. This is her second show with Adah Rose Gallery.
Jessica received her MFA from the University of Arizona, and her BA from Pomona College
In changing books into fossilized remnants of our culture through the installations “Bibliophylum” and “Cerebral Mapping” Jessica examines how we classify the world and speaks to our collective culture. In the “Erosions” sculptures, she elegantly arranges static PVC pipes to suggest ripple and wave patterns. The PVC pipes reflect and absorb light and are dynamic and ever changing. The Soft Cell Tissue sculptures are playful and surprising. Something functional becomes decorative, a simple material is made complex and the commonplace becomes unique. This is exemplified in her “Implement” series where Jessica takes the ubiquitous #2 pencil and transforms it into sculptures that reference fossils, birds or botanic materials. They are engaging, dynamic and startling.
Jessica’s interests in archaeology, paleontology, biology, botany and geology influence not only the shapes and textures of her sculpture, but also lend a visual framework for creating, collecting and classifying her own specimens of the present.
Jessica Drenk was raised in Montana, where she developed an appreciation for the natural world that remains an important inspiration to her artwork today. Tactile and textural, her sculptures highlight the chaos and beauty that can be found in simple materials. Her work is also influenced by systems of information and the impulse to develop an encyclopedic understanding of the world.
In 2009, Jessica received an Artist Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, funding the installation of Archaeologica at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona. In 2006, Drenk was awarded the International Sculpture Center's Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. Her work has been pictured in Sculpture, Interior Design, Philadelphia Magazine, Juxtapoz, D Magazine and Curve and seen in shows at the International Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, the Albuquerque Museum, the Tucson Museum of Art, PULSE Miami, PULSE New York, and numerous shows and fairs throughout the United States. This is her second show with Adah Rose Gallery.
Jessica received her MFA from the University of Arizona, and her BA from Pomona College
