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