EMPTY LANDSCAPE SIMPLE, 11″ x 14″ mixed media on paper, Fall 2010

 

 

Exhibitions

2010
11 x 51: 2011 Artist Fellowship Program, Visual Arts Exhibition at The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery at Smith Farm Center, Washington, DC
Open House Art Show, Fourth Floor Gallery, Washington DC

2009
Emerging Artists, Design Studio Art Gallery, Hyattsville, MD

2008
20″ x 20″ x 20″ Compact Competition, Louisiana State University Student Center, Baton Rouge, LA

2007
BFA Exhibition, University of Delaware Studio Arts Building, Newark, DE

 

Work and About

Exploring new dimensions in painting, artist Jenna Buckingham of Northwest Washington, DC is reaching out to other artists in her community to expand the meaning of her work and add to the local creative conversation!

Currently, I am involved with Glade Dance Collective to combine talents for an interdisciplinary performance. Together we invite artists and other members of the community to participate in an interactive performance. The collaboration is part of a public program called “Dance Is the Answer,” a campaign by Dance/MetroDC, a service organization for local artists. This year, the theme for Dance is the Answer is “Art That Moves.” Our partnership will culminate in a two-part visual dance performance on the Georgetown Waterfront Labyrinth, a public space that was made possible by the TKF Foundation’s “Open Spaces, Sacred Places”. We hope to bring movement, visual art, and music into harmony to explore human relationships to labyrinths.

We feel intrigued by this physical structure and its connection to the human spirit through history, religion, mythology and psychology. The visual aspects of the performance, other than the labyrinth itself and the lines created by the dancer’s movements, takes the form of masks designed to express feelings and associations the labyrinth suggests. Some dancers will be masked as loosely-interpreted versions of the mythical “Minotaur” and will use their movements, bright coloring and eccentric forms to disrupt the paths of our “pedestrians” on the labyrinth. These quieter characters invoke the more psychological and practical idea of the life journey. They follow a set path, not desiring to change their minds when the Minotaur upsets their plans.

            During the second part of the performance, we invite other dancers, artists, and audience members to participate in by donning their own mask which they will be able to create at on site, and entering the labyrinth to take their own journey. I know I have learned a great deal even in the beginning stages of this project about the excitement of expanding my visual work in the form of physical movement and human interaction. Along with Glade Dance Collective, I hope that the performance and interactive program will encourage participants to think more broadly about their assumptions about human connections with the structures we create (and with each other), through this visual and physical experience.

I will continue to seek collaborative projects after this, to create work bigger and deeper than I can make on my own. By combining disciplines, I gain new dimension in the understanding of my work. I feel so energized by the idea of working with other artists to create, and to involve my community in what we are doing. I am mainly a painter and spend a lot of time alone in my studio. It is refreshing and stimulating to be with others. I am only half way into the Entwine project and already I feel a sense of growth. My work comes out of me to the dancers and they give it layers of meaning. The involvement of the community gives the work purpose and creates conversation. This could not happen with one person doing their work on their own. I hope to use my talent to communicate with others. We can all reap the benefits of new awareness and understanding, inspiring open, flexible dialogue.