bstract
Aerial
Aerial Landscape
Air
American Indian
Ancient
Animals
Anthropology
Antique
Archeology
Art
Art Department
Art Museum
Atmosphere
Bears
Beauty
Birch
Birds
Board
Books
Book Art
Box
Box Construction
Boxes
Butterflies
Canvas
Cartoon
Cave
Celestial
Chart
Childhood
Children
Cloth
Cloud
Clouds
Cloudy
Collage
College
Collection
Collector
Color
Constellations
Constructions
Contemplation
Cosmos
Craft
Craftsmanship
Criticism
Cubism
Culture
Cultural Anthropology
Curator
Curatorial
Cutout
Darkness
Deco
Decollage
Department of Art
Destiny
Detritus
Diary
Dictionary
Diffusion
Drawing
Dream
Earth
Encyclopedia
Ephemera
Ethnology
Evidence
Exhibition
Expressionism
Fabric
Feedback
Fine Art
Fire
Firmament
Flow
Flowers
Folklore
Form
Frame
Galaxy
Gallery
Garden
Glow in the Dark
Graph
Graphite
Grid
Haze
Hidden
History
Horizon
Indian
Infinity
Ink
Inspiration
Inspire
Invitational
Juried Show
Juror
Land
Landsat
Landscape
Layers
Layering
Light
Line
Linen
Luminescent
Luminous
Magic
Map
Mapping
Meditation
Memory
Metal
Metallic
Mist
Monoprints
Montage
Mosaic
Museum
Museum of Art
Mystical
Myth
Mythology
Native American
Nature
Navigation
Night
Nostalgia
Notebook
Ocean
Overcast
Painter
Painting
Panel
Paper
Pastel
Pattern
Pedestal
Pencil
Phosphorescent
Photograph
Photographer
Photography
Pigment
Plants
Ply
Pond
Pool
Pop
Popular
Power Point Presentation
Prayer
Presentation
Printmaking
Prints
Private Collection
Public Art
Publication
Rain
Reflection
Relief
Religion
Remnant
Remote Sensing
Repetition
Resin
Reveal
Revelation
Reviews
Rhythm
River
Romance
Romantic
Saatchi
Sacred
Satellite
School
Scintilla
Sculpture
Seduce
Seduction
Shadow
Shape
Show
Sign
Signification
Silhouette
Sky
Slide Show
Soil
Solo Show
Spark
Spiritual
Spirituality
Stars
Stencil
Strata
Stream
Sublime
Subterranean
Sunlight
Sunrise
Sunset
Surprise
Surrealism
Thunder Bird
Template
Text
Textile
Thread
Time
Traces
Treasure
Trees
Twins
Universe
University
Vista
Vitrine
Water
Weather
Weave
Weaving
Wood
Words
Woven
Writing
JEAN HESS
Add Text Here...
Enduring Syntax
This site covers 50 years of experimentation and productivity -- 1966 - 2016. I have used a wide variety of media: graphite, charcoal, oils, acrylics, watercolor, pastels, collage, stitchery, monoprints and assemblage. I try to work carefully and so my command of each of these media has had to be somewhat disciplined. That is to say there is a deliberate or crafted quality to much of what I do, even when the actual process has been messy or experimental.
I have always sought what I think of as a "pure" or unself-conscious line. A found line maybe, such as what one finds in graffiti or scribbles, or in nature, or one that results from brief abandonment of directed activity. So the overall effect of much of my work is that of a kind of soothing melange punctuated by bursts of undisciplined lines, scratches, gouges and smears;
I work in series. The whole idea is to experiment with new media and concepts. I like the element of surprise -- I do not ever plan ahead and so the results are often unexpected. And if I follow through with multiples, the first piece -- the surprise piece -- often turns out to be the strongest. After that I play with variations until it is time to move along to the next series.
These are the themes or ideas -- a syntax or vocabulary -- that have carried forward in my work over time:
Backgrounds that suggest atmosphere such as sky, clouds and water;
A hazy surface resulting from multiple layers of resins and paint as well as the hesitant application of paint and resin;
Floating elements that accentuate the atmospheric quality of my surfaces;
The "full" or "overall" arrangement of forms that appear to keep going beyond the picture plane;
Central pools of light glowing through a darker perimeter;
Arrangement of recognizable imagery as tableaux, within small inserts or sectors, in a relatively flat layout, signifying the idea of something rather than depicting any particular thing;
Allowing the graphite sketches beneath the paint to always show, mostly for pedagogical reasons. I am interested in showing others how the work evolved;
A palette of secondary and tertiary colors accentuated by minute passages of brights like red;
A surrealistic or at least unexpected combination of imagery that causes dissonance and surprise. The found imagery one gathers for collage plays a strong role in this;
Certain favorite subjects:
History, folklore, archeology and anthropology;
Animals and plants [rarely people] forming an Edenic tableaux;
The celestial firmament or Heaven, especially night skies;
Earth as firmament including map-like views from above;
Things that are hidden -- under the earth, underneath layers of paint and resin;
Things that are lost and then found or discovered;
Reveals -- scratching through or removing portions of surfaces to show what is hidden underneath;
Translucence -- refraction of light and the suggestion of shadow;
Delicate lines combined with swaths of paint.
I sincerely hope this synopsis helps you to identify the common threads throughout my work.
Jean Hess
Knoxville, Tennessee
Enduring Syntax
This site covers 50 years of experimentation and productivity -- 1966 - 2016. I have used a wide variety of media: graphite, charcoal, oils, acrylics, watercolor, pastels, collage, stitchery, monoprints and assemblage. I try to work carefully and so my command of each of these media has had to be somewhat disciplined. That is to say there is a deliberate or crafted quality to much of what I do, even when the actual process has been messy or experimental.
I have always sought what I think of as a "pure" or unself-conscious line. A found line maybe, such as what one finds in graffiti or scribbles, or in nature, or one that results from brief abandonment of directed activity. So the overall effect of much of my work is that of a kind of soothing melange punctuated by bursts of undisciplined lines, scratches, gouges and smears;
I work in series. The whole idea is to experiment with new media and concepts. I like the element of surprise -- I do not ever plan ahead and so the results are often unexpected. And if I follow through with multiples, the first piece -- the surprise piece -- often turns out to be the strongest. After that I play with variations until it is time to move along to the next series.
These are the themes or ideas -- a syntax or vocabulary -- that have carried forward in my work over time:
Backgrounds that suggest atmosphere such as sky, clouds and water;
A hazy surface resulting from multiple layers of resins and paint as well as the hesitant application of paint and resin;
Floating elements that accentuate the atmospheric quality of my surfaces;
The "full" or "overall" arrangement of forms that appear to keep going beyond the picture plane;
Central pools of light glowing through a darker perimeter;
Arrangement of recognizable imagery as tableaux, within small inserts or sectors, in a relatively flat layout, signifying something rather than depicting it;
Allowing the graphite sketches beneath the paint to always show, mostly for pedagogical reasons. I am interested in showing others how the work evolved;
A palette of secondary and tertiary colors accentuated by minute passages of brights like red;
A surrealistic or at least unexpected combination of imagery that causes dissonance and surprise. The found imagery one gathers for collage plays a strong role in this;
Certain favorite subjects:
History, folklore, archeology and anthropology;
Animals and plants [rarely people] forming an Edenic tableaux;
The celestial firmament or Heaven, especially night skies;
Earth as firmament including map-like views from above;
Things that are hidden -- under the earth, underneath layers of paint and resin;
Things that are lost and then found or discovered;
Reveals -- scratching through or removing portions of surfaces to show what is hidden underneath;
Translucence -- refraction of light and the suggestion of shadow;
Delicate lines combined with swaths of paint.
Jean Hess Knoxville, Tennessee
Enduring Syntax
This site covers 50 years of experimentation and productivity -- 1966 - 2016. I have used a wide variety of media: graphite, charcoal, oils, acrylics, watercolor, pastels, collage, stitchery, monoprints and assemblage. I try to work carefully and so my command of each of these media has had to be somewhat disciplined. That is to say there is a deliberate or crafted quality to much of what I do, even when the actual process has been messy or experimental.
I have always sought what I think of as a "pure" or unself-conscious line. A found line maybe, such as what one finds in graffiti or scribbles, or in nature, or one that results from brief abandonment of directed activity. So the overall effect of much of my work is that of a kind of soothing melange punctuated by bursts of undisciplined lines, scratches, gouges and smears;
I work in series. The whole idea is to experiment with new media and concepts. I like the element of surprise -- I do not ever plan ahead and so the results are often unexpected. And if I follow through with multiples, the first piece -- the surprise piece -- often turns out to be the strongest. After that I play with variations until it is time to move along to the next series.
These are the themes or ideas -- a syntax or vocabulary -- that have carried forward in my work over time:
Backgrounds that suggest atmosphere such as sky, clouds and water;
A hazy surface resulting from multiple layers of resins and paint as well as the hesitant application of paint and resin;
Floating elements that accentuate the atmospheric quality of my surfaces;
The "full" or "overall" arrangement of forms that appear to keep going beyond the picture plane;
Central pools of light glowing through a darker perimeter;
Arrangement of recognizable imagery as tableaux, within small inserts or sectors, in a relatively flat layout, signifying the idea of something rather than depicting any particular thing;
Allowing the graphite sketches beneath the paint to always show, mostly for pedagogical reasons. I am interested in showing others how the work evolved;
A palette of secondary and tertiary colors accentuated by minute passages of brights like red;
A surrealistic or at least unexpected combination of imagery that causes dissonance and surprise. The found imagery one gathers for collage plays a strong role in this;
Certain favorite subjects:
History, folklore, archeology and anthropology;
Animals and plants [rarely people] forming an Edenic tableaux;
The celestial firmament or Heaven, especially night skies;
Earth as firmament including map-like views from above;
Things that are hidden -- under the earth, underneath layers of paint and resin;
Things that are lost and then found or discovered;
Reveals -- scratching through or removing portions of surfaces to show what is hidden underneath;
Translucence -- refraction of light and the suggestion of shadow;
Delicate lines combined with swaths of paint.
I sincerely hope this synopsis helps you to identify the common threads throughout my work.
Jean Hess
Knoxville, Tennessee
