LANDSCAPE
Light moves dramatically through a landscape in early dawn or late afternoon. I remember being told by a photography teacher never to take vacation shots at noon. The sun will bleach everything out and no one will want to look at your pictures. The persistent subject in all of my work is the rhythm of light which creates nuanced and dramatic shifts in color and temperature.
The forest maintains a predominant focus. I seek to transform sky, trees, and earth into line, color, and form. I paint in various states of mind moving from meditative calm to excited frenzy which inevitably creates aspects of both abstraction and illusion.
“In this her second solo exhibition at Alpha Gallery, Jean Sbarra Jones continues her exploration of the transformative qualities of light. In her paintings of wooded landscapes and city street scenes light takes on a life of its own. Capturing her subjects at dawn or dusk, Jones seeks conditions of light that are rich and nuanced. (She recalls a photography teacher once telling her to “never take vacation shots at noon. The sun will bleach everything out and no one will want to look at your pictures.”) Seeking out times when the light is shifting allows Jones to create a dialogue between the abstract qualities of color and form and the representation of place - between moments of mystery and revelation.
The light of daybreak became of particular interest to Jones during the pandemic. Living in downtown Salem, yet craving outdoor activity, she and her husband developed a strategy of going for walks at sunrise, before the city streets became crowded with tourists. Out of this practice arose an interest in portraying areas in her historic neighborhood. These paintings reflect the quietude of dawn and the refuge that Jones found there. Continuing her explorations of light in this new manner, Jones discovered something else: as she puts it “light became much needed hope and restoration.”
Joanna Fink, owner/director of
DRESS IN WATER
I have been painting the dress for over a decade. Several years ago, while on a boat with my husband, I placed it in the ocean. The shape and texture of the fabric, the quality of light and the differences between wet and dry surfaces was visually compelling and inspired my most recent work.
Upon reflection, the dress revealed itself as a metaphor. Due to an unexpected spiritual experience in my life, the worn and well-traveled dress represents renewal by light and water.
“Exquisitely represented, your serene and evocative paintings remind me in palette and style of the Aesthetic Pre-Raphaelitism in painting. Here, I would note recognition of Ruskin’s tenant for artist as prophet. Several of your paintings carry this theme forward, hauntingly.”
“Your dress images, especially those in water, are not merely mysterious and fragile but wonderful metaphors for the conditions and circumstances of women. ”
“ ... I am awed by your articulation and precision in painting light for description in full disclosure.”
“The idea of the dress standing in for the woman at the same time being separate physically (obviously) and culturally intrigues me. What is a dress without its (woman) wearer is quite a different issue from what is a woman without her dress.”
“Your dresses provoke so many ideas — freedom, resistance, the passage of time — and loss. They look so organic in their settings — there is an element of surprise, but it is also like the water welcomes them in. ”