Jennifer Zurlini - Fine Artist
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The oil and acrylic paintings on exhibit at Escent represent the body of work that I have developed over the last twenty years. My style is constantly evolving, although I repeat and refine techniques that are meaningful and effective for me.
I use vibrant color and texture to evoke strong emotions. Complementary colors are juxtaposed to create movement and vibration. I prefer still lifes which aren't so still, flowers that appear to be growing or blowing in the wind, people who were caught in the moment instead of sitting to pose, animals whose energy stirs around them.
I mostly exaggerate and enlarge my subjects--not only to glorify them, but to find beauty in the ordinary, and to illustrate the subject's inherent power and energy. In my "Larger than Life" series completed several years ago, I painted 3'x4' canvases, each depicting one body part. Most of that series has sold. The giant, moving foot, kicking with reds and olives, oranges and lapis, went to the collection of a Los Angeles podiatrist. The oversized hand now reaches out to visitors in the Spokane Attorney General's office. An electrifying, piercing eye watches over the Bay Area in California. "Lips" is hanging here at Escent.
String has worked its way into my paintings repeatedly through the years. I use it both for texture and to bring the drawing back to the surface of the painting, since the concept so often changes once the rendering is covered with paint. It also symbolizes connections: how each part of the background, foreground, subject and other elements in the artwork are tied together and relate to each other.
I have also explored the work of master Renaissance artists and have painted copies of works by Michelangelo and Raphael. This is the best way to learn and improve my technique, by copying amazing, genius artists and then taking my own humble, stylized stab at a masterpiece.
I attended art school at California State University, Long Beach, graduating with a BA in art and a minor in journalism. I have worked in art, magazine and newspaper journalism, and advertising. I displayed and sold my artwork weekly on the beach art walk in Santa Barbara in the early 1990's, which was a beautiful thing. I also studied Faux Finishing at UC Santa Barbara and started an artistic faux-finishing/painting business in Santa Barbara.
Currently, I live on Spokane's South Hill, work part-time for the Spokesman Review, and paint and exhibit my artwork. I couldn't ask for a better gallery setting than this glimmering, ultra contemporary showroom at Escent. Please enjoy!
