●・○ Switching Dimension: Living Room by Jordan Grace Owens

Figure.

Shapes with intention.

An interpretation of bodies full of life.

Fried Fruit’s latest visiting artist is the wonderfully talented and versatile Jordan Grace Owens. Activating the most space our modest container gallery has ever seen, Owens made expert use of every square inch to showcase her lively works.

Drawing on her notable decade-long freelance background in figurative illustration, she’s got a trained eye that supports the design of her artwork. Her freelance career often involved using fairly recognizable figures, so the transition to full-on abstraction in her personal career presented a sea of new possibilities. Owens admits there was a time in the beginning when she tried to work with easily identified imagery in paintings, but couldn’t find a way to incorporate them to fit her proper vision. Instead of trying to force it, she teeters the line of familiarity, opting to suggest bodies in abstract shapes that viewers can subtly pick up on their own.

Inspired by the human body, how it exists and interacts with the world around it, Owens creates paintings that abstractly demonstrate these concepts. Themes of bodily fragmentation and the relationships between bodies are featured throughout her large collection of work.

Owens’ interest in the body was heightened after she became a mother. She grappled with the idea that one’s body doesn’t entirely belong to them, and, for a series of months, will be shared with someone else. How one body can create an entirely new one from scratch; the togetherness of pregnancy and the separation of birth; these truths are just as vivid as the freshness and exuberant joy of creating new life.

She describes these concepts as surreal, comparing them to something straight out of a science fiction film. These strange relationships were exactly what fascinated Owens and begged her to experiment with different expressions.

When coming to Fried Fruit, Owens’ goal was to bring familiar shapes from her paintings to life as giant sculptures; a living room, if you will. All shapes were taken directly from her canvases, then reworked at a life-size scale in papier-mache on custom wooden bases. Owens reports that the shapes, already so familiar, made the working process feel more like play than work, with clear inspirations existing in her head.

Engaging with the papier-mache gives the sculptures a bumpy, rough texture, similar to tree bark. Not quite jagged enough to hurt, the pieces elicit a strong urge to reach out and drag your hand across their surface. Alongside her sculptures, Owens brought paintings that included round papier-mache growths. Blooming from the canvases were large “lumps”, built up with layers of aqua-resin and seamlessly blended.

Owens says the tactile nature of her work is one of the most exciting parts of creating! Capturing viewers’ attention and getting them to consider how she created her forms and texture is a rewarding experience that makes all the mess worth it.

Despite the curious essence of her inspirations, Owens’ work remains quite colorful and lively! Within the small gallery, a handful of bright paintings lived up on the wall while the show-stopping sculptures took control of the rest of the room. Fuschia, mossy green, and neon orange immediately catch the eye and draw you inside.

Size played an important role in setting up this exhibition. The majority of the sculptures exceed five feet in height, reaching past the heads of most visitors. For Owens, who is already so intrigued by the body, creating a space that was intentionally filled and tricky to explore was all part of the plan. She wanted viewers to be present and aware of the way they contorted their bodies whilst moving around the gallery; how people moved and interacted with the large art was part of the experience.

Watching different ages connect with the art was a fascinating experience for Owens. She noted that adults moved around carefully, observing from a deliberate distance. Their awareness of societal expectations regarding art exhibits and the universal “do-not-touch” rule guided their movements to be agile, barely shifting the air they existed in.

Younger children, on the other hand, saw the space as a challenge. The question of, Where can I fit? bounced around their brains, and the sculptures transformed into a makeshift jungle gym. With parental supervision, they weaved and bobbed through the pieces, occasionally knocking into or brushing against them. The childlike navigation became something of a collaborative performance piece itself. Owens figures it is simply a part of the experience, and however their bodies might rearrange the exhibit is nothing more than a reaction to the coexistence of form.

As with all art, different interpretations exist. Each experience of the exhibit was completely unique and offered everyone a chance to connect in their own way. Though Owens has some pretty specific goals with her work, she welcomes different analyses and loves that people can take such divergent personal routes with the same material!

Living Room will remain on view through August 14th, 24/7 through the glass of the gallery. An interior tour can be requested! We highly encourage you to check out Owens’ work and experience it for yourself.

We at Fried Fruit are so lucky to have had the incredible and captivating Jordan Grace Owens in our gallery this summer and are so excited to see what she does next! She spills that her next installation will be interactive for a public space in Durham, North Carolina.

In the meantime, keep up with Jordan on her Instagram and Website to see sneak peeks of future projects and installations!

° 。° 。°

Jordan Grace Owens’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordangraceowens

Jordan Grace Owens’ Website: https://jordangraceowens.com/