jennyarntzen.art

  Graphite, acrylic ink on paper - 9" x 6" (in progress) I am thinking about structure and flow. The structure of Celtic key patterns, step patterns and knot designs. The flow of ink and water. Systems of organization, properties of absorption. Humanity is in a state of catastrophic, rolling system collapse.  Climate change is part of the story. Changes in weather patterns, rainfall, wind force and temperature fluctuations have created climate emergencies around the world. We are needing to adapt to flooding, extreme drought and heat domes, wildfires, extraordinary strong hurricanes, unpredictable freezing temperatures and unprecedented high temperatures.  Humanity is the other part of the story. Since our adoption of agriculture, we have been unable to create peaceful, self-sustaining, egalitarian social systems. We have had high population growth and technological advancement without commensurate development and evolution of caring, equitable and just social systems. Po...

  I learned a new word last night at Drawing Together - horror vacui, or kenophobia - refers to a phenomenon in which the entire surface of a space or artwork is filled with detail and content, leaving no empty space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_vacui_(art) . The underlying philosophical principle is based on the idea that 'nature abors a vacuum'. Thus, empty space in a drawing or a manuscript goes against nature.  Alison was reminded of horror vacui when I showed the drawing I had been working on - an early exploration in using a circular frame for working up a step pattern.  There were four of us last evening drawing at the dining table. We each had our own sources of inspiration for our drawing projects: medieval art, pet bunnies, scenes from a movie, and celtic design.  We listened to a powerful recording of Alexandra Olasavsky's song, 'What Happens When a Woman' has power. I had heard a rendition the night before at Vancouver Folk Song Society evening c...

  Pen and ink, ink wash on paper - 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" The last time I worked with Celtic knots I was extricating myself from an abusive domestic situation. I was ending an eighteen year marriage to an emotionally abusive husband. I have been triggered by the current situation in the US and global geopolitics, especially Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s fight for sovereignty. Puzzling out the Celtic knot and step patterns helps me transcend a state of traumatic brain injury and shift my creative problem solving back into recovering the agency, autonomy and empowerment I possess. The step pattern provides structure and infinite variation in expression. The basic structure of the step pattern is a grid subdivided by a pre-determined number. In the case of this drawing, I was experimenting with the grid subdivided into increments of five. This resulted in the step pattern based on five shapes. In this drawing the grid has been laid out by hand. There is an organic variance...

  Graphite, acrylic ink on paper - 5" x 5" (in progress) Last night three of us gathered at the dining table to work on our art projects and talk about whatever came to mind.  We allowed our creative impulses to let us know what was the next right thing to do.  We started the evening, coming in from each our separate lives. Each our separate histories, experiences, and family configurations. We brought our distress with the unfolding tyranny and kleptocracy, the risk our American families and friends are facing as they scramble to weather the storm of dis-regulated government destruction.  We shared moments of pride, happiness, and also, fear, sadness and shame.  We drank herb tea. Through the process, the lived experience of creating and sharing, our feelings of separation, isolation, and hopelessness transformed into connectedness, belonging and hope.  At the end of the evening we each had our artworks in progress in hand: a new ankle bracelet, an illustr...

  Graphite, pen, ink on notebook paper - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" The celtic knot has captured my imagination in this time of partriarchal extinction burst and climate change. The two cannot be unrelated.  When we look at the larger timeline of human existence, our human experiments with agriculture, government, warfare and patriarchy is a small percentage of overall time. Let’s say, 450,000 years of human existence, 440,000 years of hunter / gatherer societies, 10,000 years of agriculture, government, warfare, patriarchy. It means our human existence in the social organization that we know today is only .02 % of the overall timeline of human existence. For 440,000 years, humanity managed to evolve and grow and co-exist.  It is possible the extinction burst we are enduring at this time is bigger than the downfall of patriarchy. It is possible that we are also experiencing an extinction burst of warfare, government and even agriculture. It is possible that we are in a state of coll...

  836 am Drawing together at the dining table on Thursday evening I tried a new experiment. I decided to see what would happen if I combined a topographical map with a celtic knot. For weeks this winter a discarded book of maps sat outside in our neighbours yard getting soaked, frozen and covered in snow. I walked past it almost everyday, thinking it would get picked up and thrown in the trash.  During this period, over these same weeks, the Trump/Musk regime came to power in the USA. I had been depressed and disheartened by the outcome of the US election in November. I was overwhelmed with a grief losing my Mom in early October, and then losing hope for humanity after the election.  At the same time, I carried on with my creative work, digging in deeper to the magic of sharing music, writing and art making with my friends and neighbours. I started hosting Thursday evenings at my dining table to sit and draw together and talk. I wasn’t used to socializing while I was draw...