Jennifer Davies

"When I paint with liquid pulp I feel I am dancing with a partner whose next move is always a surprise. "

Dedicated to the improvisational approach when making art, Jennifer Davies finds pulp painting the perfect fit. She is always looking for rhythm and motion while creating and the fluidity of pouring pulps encourages a lively dialogue with the emerging image. Though reflecting the traditional concerns of painting, her work has an informality and playfulness characteristic of this special material.

Davies enjoys the physical aspects of paper making. After beating the fibers - linen, cotton, or hemp - she pigments the slurry in buckets as her palette. Her tools are cups and squirt bottles to pour and pat the colored pulp onto a base sheet. The liquid pulp flows freely as she builds the image. Stencils restrain the pulp into linear elements and edges. She then presses and dries the painting.

Davies graduated from RISD, training in painting and drawing. While working in those fields, she added printmaking and papermaking. She has studied both Western and Eastern paper techniques, Joomchi, and indigo dyeing. She maintains an active practice in her studio, and occasionally rents a professional studio for intensive work periods. She often attends Fiber conferences to widen her knowledge.

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Selected Exhibitions & Awards
INTEGRAL STRUCTURES, Bridgeport, Connecticut, University of Bridgeport, 2015
MATERIALITIES, Surface Design Association Juried Exhibit, Gatlinburg, Tennessee , Arrowmont School of Crafts, 2015
FANTASTIC FIBERS, Paducah, Kentucky , Yeiser Art Center, 2015
MULTIPLICITIES: Variations in Handmade Paper, New Canaan, Connecticut , New Canaan Library, 2015
EVOCATIONS AND OVERLAPS, solo show, Hamden, Connecticut , Hamden Hall School, 2014