Hearing about Jen's time at Colstoun from her own words:
Spending six weeks at Colstoun was a transformational experience to say the least. I embarked with the intention of researching metaphysical subjects such as Celtic and Norse mythology, hermeticism, theology and theosophy, and cultural phenomena such as hysteria and witch trials. While ruminating on these matters, I observed and explored the plant life and grounds of Colstoun, noticing and imagining forms, patterns, light, and colour in the landscape. What resulted was dozens of sketches, writings, and over a dozen paintings and watercolours combining all of these elements of thought and observation which ultimately captured a mysterious darkness in light quality and grandiosity of the trees and house itself.
I spent time considering geometric structures and historically significant symbols and sequences–the triquetra and triskelion of Celtic and Greek traditions, for example–to build paintings. I combined and altered what I saw in nature to portray uncanny, suggestive, subliminal compositions, often concentrating on the creek that encircles the property. Elements of ancient myths from various cultures focusing on the role of the woman as seductress, muse, or malevolent sorceress lie within each piece I developed. Returning to Los Angeles, I look forward to incorporating much of the visual information and knowledge gained at Colstoun to my practice, in ways likely yet unknown to me.
Our Experience With Jen:
Jen arrived at Colstoun with a pretty set idea of what her next 12 months was looking like, we would offer her space and the opportunity to experience a world away from her own without the stresses of regular life in LA. Jen has a large solo show beginning in NYC this autumn and came with the intention of creating two large scale works that would be centre pieces for NYC. However things quickly changed as they often do when artists come with clear intentions. Jen started producing numerous watercolour sketches smaller in size (around A4) and a number of smaller paintings that would form the basis of a curated collection of smaller works still meant to be part of the same show.
For the first few weeks Jen shared our studio space with Angelique and the two traded experiences, Jen able to provide Angelique with guidance on the practicalities of being a practicing artist and Angelique on her experiences in the London art scene having just graduated from the RCA. This sort of cross pollination was something we hadn't anticipated for the residency experience at Colstoun, but proved extremely fruitful and something that we will carry into the future.
Every so often you get a person that arrives at Colstoun and fits in seamlessly, perhaps it was coming whilst Joe Grieve's solo show "The Other Side" was on and there were a number of artistic people about but Jen very quickly became part of our family. She understood clearly what Colstoun was an embraced it and what it could provide her. We were sad to see Jen go however we hope that she'll be back to enjoy more time as a retreat in Scotland in the future.
Jen Hitching's artist statement:
Through symbolic imagery and psychedelic colour, my paintings depict the tenuous and historically mythological relationship between humankind and nature. I investigate the psyche, erotic desire, time, and cosmic forces, referencing the visual languages of folk art, Hudson River School painting, and spiritualist archetypes. Using subtle color transitions within a narrow range of hues, versions of cycles from the human and natural experience are rendered: lunar, solar, seasonal, menstrual, reproductive, atmospheric, and plant-life. The compositions convey oppositional, mirrored, or doubled elements, evoking uncanny symmetry, and optical distortion. This combination results in fantastical scenes exuding specific seasons, times of day, temperatures, or moods. I build compositions using strategic proportions, sacred geometries, and numerology.
Color is methodically applied, removed, thinly stained, or thickly painted in contoured waves–all by hand with no tape or tools–resulting in widely varied textures assigned to each element in the visual language I’ve developed. The images include multiple versions of iconographies–celestial bodies, suns and moons, mountain ranges, oddly reflective deserts, and cloned river paths. Stars are often arranged in either Western Zodiac constellation patterns, or as letters or words in various languages. This decision channels my interest in linguistics, the evolution of communication, and the significance of signs and symbols in humankind’s endless desire to make meaning of our surroundings and existence. An admiration of and trust in nature to guide us is rekindled, and a delicate wavering between serenity and sorrow, isolation and unity emerges–two opposing forces meeting within a cycle.
Artist bio:
Jen Hitchings (1988, New Jersey) received her BFA in Painting & Drawing from SUNY Purchase College in 2011 and a certificate in Small Business & Entrepreneurship from CUNY Hunter College in 2018. She has attended residencies at Colstoun (Scotland, UK), Adventure Painting (Yellowstone National Park), DNA (Provincetown, MA), the Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), and Studio Kura (Itoshima, Japan). Solo presentations of her work have taken place at Anat Ebgi (Los Angeles, CA) in 2023, Taymour Grahne (London, UK) in 2023 and online in 2022, One River School (Englewood, NJ) in 2019, and Ideal Glass (New York, NY) in 2017 which was accompanied by a 16 x 30’ outdoor mural. In 2021, she completed two large-scale outdoor murals at The Wassaic Project, on view through 2023. In 2023, she was commissioned by Mailchimp to produce a 9 x 21’ indoor permanent office mural at their new headquarters in Atlanta, GA. Recent group exhibitions have taken place at Richard Heller, Anat Ebgi, Good Mother (Los Angeles), Johansson Projects (Oakland, CA), Kutlesa (Goldau, Switzerland), Artemin, Chen Projects at Louisa Art Center (Taipei, Taiwan), Taymour Grahne (London, UK), Ana Mas Projects (Barcelona, Spain), Gaa Gallery, Cindy Rucker, Pierogi (New York, NY), and The Wassaic Project (Wassaic, NY) among others. She was a recipient of the Queens Council on the Arts’ New Works Grant in 2018. Between 2013–2020, Hitchings co-directed Transmitter and Associated Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, is the founder of artist-focused consulting agency Studio Associate, and was Director of Career Services at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). She lives and works in Burbank, CA and her work is represented by Taymour Grahne in the UK.
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