Jennifer Wintress: Shift

Statement

A lens renews our perception – framing the mundane, the human, with greater introspection and clarity. As forms and color collide within glass, the known and recognizable become abstracted into something altogether unusual and strange. Through dissociation, we can find levels of understanding and healing: we confront aspects of our past that are closeted, trapped, or distorted. With this movement of separation and change we reemerge stretched, shaped, grown. 
 
Recognizing the power we possess to offer a rebirth to ourselves, we can reclaim the forgotten. There is release from shame and growth beyond previous limitations. The series Shift investigates the uncomfortable process of healing as a method of expansion. The breaking point becomes a powerful moment of overcoming.

Biography

Jennifer Wintress received her B.F.A. in Painting from the University of Georgia in 2017 and her M.F.A. in Painting from the University of Iowa in 2020. Her work shifts across disciplines and has been included in both regional and national juried exhibitions. She is passionate about the arts in education for all ages and abilities. Jennifer’s experience includes teaching art at the collegiate level and at the Lyndon House Arts Foundation, as well as holding the position of Art Director at Zoo Atlanta Summer Safari Camp. She was selected for the Chulitna Artist in Residence Program in Alaska for the summer of 2017. She has been invited as a guest juror for an art fair and has presented work at universities and national conferences. In 2019, Jennifer received the Mildred Pelzer Lynch Fellowship, and in 2020 she received the OVPR Research Grant. She lives and works in Eastern Iowa.