Jennifer Morrow’s haunting paintings seamlessly capture the emotional clarity of the subconscious mind. Working in predominantly mixed media, watercolor, ink, and acrylic on paper, the artist marries bold, immediate lines with translucent washes of color controlled by the application of alcohol to compose unnamed, sepulchral faces that gaze portentously at the viewer. Morrow often places each face upon crystalline layers of pale color that comprises the background of her works.
In Unnamed No67 (2018), an anonymous bust stares wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the audience upon a background of cream and dusty lavender. Morrow outlines the figure with forceful, erratic strokes of charcoal, smearing the medium in places that identify cavernous shadows below the cheekbones and deep divots in the figure’s collar. Burnt washes of orange and black compose the figure’s hollowed eye sockets that are contrasted with bold swaths of blue on the forehead and bright magenta around the lips. The anonymity and nearly sunken appearance of Morrow’s subject invites her audience to explore their own curiosities. The artist explains: “Through this process I can capture my vision, thoughts and feelings on people and challenge the viewer to question what they are seeing.”
