Jen lives and works on the land of the Wurundjeri in Melbourne/Naarm and pays her respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
She was born in a bushland suburb in Melbourne and has spent periods of time living regionally, but mostly close to the heart of the city.
Jen’s artwork springs directly from the environments she inhabits; from her own emotional landscapes and the changing colours and textures of nature and people around her. She has developed her practice through tertiary studies and personal exploration and has been making art for over three decades. Usually, she likes to work with a range of materials and techniques – though printmaking and drawing have been her primary habitat. In recent years she’s become focused with producing finely-toned, intricate drawings in graphite and pencil. Densely wrought mark-making imbue shapes with intimate, sometime humorous and animated, feelings. Her drawings feel both precious and surprising. Their organic forms and shifting colour palettes function as metaphors for themes that continually draw her in - human trauma, inter-connection and growth.
She also works part-time as a qualified psychotherapist. As such, her art-making sits in parallel in with a curiosity towards the motivations behind human behaviour and transformation. The compositions often grow from seeds buried in her own, and others, felt and observed experience. The drawings often take weeks to complete – perhaps in defiance of life’s accelerated pace to reflect and integrate what matters most . Each image evolves gradually - extending, focusing, pausing and persisting – taking its own time to reach resolution. Often experiences evoked by her psychotherapeutic work turn up on paper. Titles can be playful, though the physical sensations and memories they represent are often serious and private.
Ultimately, her work expresses affection towards humanity. As she seeks to clarify her own sensations and thoughts, her hand moves rhythmically to create a visual language – a shared emotional ecosystem or pattern of survival.
Education
Latrobe University, Bachelor of Visual Art (Printmaking/Painting/Drawing), 2009
University of Melbourne, Bachelor of Arts (Psychology/Criminology), 1987
Cairnmillar Institute, Master of Counselling & Psychotherapy, 2020
Exhibitions and Projects
Finalist, JADA Drawing prize, 2024
Pollyanna Films, Animator, 2018-2023
Youth Projects Hosier Lane, Arts projects facilitator, 2015-2020
Arts Centre Melbourne/Youth Projects, Play me I’m Yours, Project Facilitator, 2018
Finalist, Rick Amor Drawing prize, 2014
Shepparton Art Gallery, Embodied Landscapes, duo exhibition, 2010
Mural Seymour Hospital/Regional Arts Victoria, Project Facilitator, 2009
Linden Gallery Postcard Show, 2013
Linden Gallery Postcard Show, 2012
Franny & Zooey Design Studio, Founder and Illustrator, 2012-2015
Education Department, Art teacher, 2009-2012
Finalist, Silk Cut Award, Lead Artist/Project Facilitator, 2012
Benalla Art Gallery, Murrundindi Collection, Group exhibition, 2009
Wall Gallery, Printed, duo exhibition, 2009
Phyllis Palmer Gallery, Spaces, Group exhibition, 2009
Mitchelton Winery, Us, Group exhibition, 2009
Goulburn Ovens TAFE, Printmaking workshop facilitator, 2008
Shepparton Art Museum (SAM), Printmaking workshop facilitator, 2009
Collections
Murrundindi Shire, Yea
Private collections in Australia and USA
Media
Article feature, The Sydney Morning Herald, Jen Davies and Cath Murphy, 2022