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Studio Online is pleased to present Jennifer Andrews, a New York City based painter.  Ms. Andrews was born in Buffalo, NY and studied painting at Hartford Art School.  Working in thin layers of oil paint and beeswax, her semi-narrative paintings investigate the structure of memory, myth and our connection to the natural world.  Dividing studio time between her native US and abroad (previous work on location includes series from Viet Nam, Costa Rica and the Netherlands) provides Andrews a distance and perspective on her own culture and identity, as well as an opportunity to interact with a new culture and learn its individual and collective stories.

Andrews also works as part of the collaborative team Andrews LeFevre Studios (www.andrewslefevre.com) which creates site-specific commissions across the US.  In their public work, the team seeks to unearth the untold or forgotten histories of an area - including the native species, peoples and myths that disappear as concrete and pavement take over a landscape.  Working in collaboration with communities across the US, their bronze relief sculptures layer these stories with contemporary life.

Regarding her work Ms. Andrews writes:

Recent paintings explore my experience of nature as the fusion of mythology, science, and direct observation.  While the natural world is a system in which I am fundamentally planted, I often feel separated from it.  My work investigates how these connections and disconnections are formed and passed on within different communities.

What is a human’s relationship to nature in contemporary society?  The answer to this question will shape the history of our species - and all species by extension - within my lifetime.  Are we here to conquer nature, either through religion’s promise of an eternal life elsewhere or technology’s promise of an easier and longer life here?  Are we only able to connect with the animals we domesticate, identifying narrowly with the characteristics that we relate to as human? Can we ever truly feel part of this delicate, complicated system in a way that will allow us to live sustainably?  What is the source of our deep feeling of disconnection?

While seeking to answer these questions, I am repeatedly drawn to scraps of construction orange buried beneath a tangle of fresh green - searching for remnants of human activity in reclaimed, natural environments.  I often investigate the concept of “origin” and its familial, cultural and biological importance.  Image making is a manifestation of my own urge to control nature - creating a version of reality with defined boundaries is an attempt to select a manageable slice of nature’s chaotic constitution.  It also parallels the selective activity of memory.  I paint to gain a closer understanding of these processes.

For more information and to see additional works please visit www.andrewsjennifer.com