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From Somerville artist Jenn Wood’s website: “Her work has been selected by distinguished jurors and curators from museums and galleries in New England, New York, and California. Jenn was awarded a summer residency at the C-Scape Dune Shack in Provincetown and also at the Plumbing Museum residency in MA. Recently, her work was included in a collage biennial exhibition with Denise Bibro Fine Art, Chelsea NYC, and #ICPConcerned Exhibition at the ICP Photography Museum in NYC. Jenn is a juried member of the Painting Center Art File Gallery in Chelsea, and shows work at the Kentler Flatfiles at Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn. Additional artworks for exhibitions in the Boston and NYC areas, and CT were selected by Paul Ha, Marcela Guerrero, Howard Yezerski, Camilo Alvarez, Jane Szabo, Lisa Hayes Williams, Al Miner, Adam Peck, Lexi Lee Sullivan, Beth Kantrowitz, and Joseph Carroll.”

Doug Holder: How long have you been in Somerville, and how has it been for your artistic life?

Jenn Wood: The first week of March 2020 I started moving into my new to me studio at Vernon St. Very unfortunately my activities were abruptly cut short by the arrival of Covid-19. During the pandemic I worked on a sizable painting at the studio on and off when I felt it was safe to be there. I also worked at home primarily on collage work and photography. Since I started working at Vernon St. more often, I’m happy with the space and the building in general. It’s very disappointing that 2020 + 2021 Open Studios were not held in person. I look forward to SOS in May!

As far as how Somerville has been for my artistic life, I wanted to move to a Somerville studio for several years and am happy to have the shared space. The city is inspiring for me and for other creatives of all disciplines and ages. I’ve been attending SOS and Somerville community cultural events for many years.

DH: It seems that many artists I have interviewed have been “mixed-media” artists. You define yourself as one. Is this more prominent now than it has been in the past?

JW: It may be more prominent now, but some of the most influential artists for me have produced mixed media work. People like Robert Rauschenberg, Nancy Spero, Wangechi Mutu, and Kurt Schwitters are a few favorites.

DH: Can you talk about the materials you use in your art? Or what are the different genres of art you use in your work?

JW: I utilize materials that are traditional and non-traditional which include varied types of paints, drawing tools, and substrates. Art materials may include varied acrylics and gouache paints, oil pastel, drawing and colored pencils, Caran d’Ache, crayons, and assorted acrylic mediums. For my collage work I produce hand painted materials, and have combined them with printed text or handwriting, photographic images, and textured papers; as well as bark, rubber, plastic, and other items that are non-traditional art materials. For substrates I work on paper, canvas, translucent yupo, and acid free board.

Most of my work is abstract or non-objective and has evolved over many years of practice. However, I greatly value my foundation education in drawing, painting, printmaking, and art history – learning more traditional disciplines.

DH: You say your work displays vivid evocations of nature. Nature is rapidly being destroyed by climate change, etc. Do you view your work as a history of what may be extinct in years to come? Do you consider your work political?

JW: It is a frightening thought but yes, my work may become obsolete, along with so much of our natural world. I don’t obsess about probabilities of extinction since they would paralyze me with sadness. To be an artist and persevere against many odds I believe you must be an optimist. But optimism can, and in my opinion should, include realistic expectations and views.

Nature has been my personal sanctuary since childhood. I’ve been fortunate to experience the wonders of oceans, mountains, forests, deserts and more, in varied habitats. And also simple joy of planting seeds in the earth and tending to their growth. Through my artwork I try to convey some of nature’s wonder and beauty, but also the horror of her destruction. The destruction I focus on is manmade. In this sense my art can be considered political, and in recent years it has become more so.

DH: You say you bring out emotional layers in your work. How does this conception take physical form?

JW: Sometimes it is implied through line, color and/or texture in my paintings and photographs. These elements can suggest calm or frantic moods, warm or cool feelings, rough or smooth situations, to convey emotional content in the work.

Some works are abstractions of maelstroms, whirlpools, or twirling that pull your view into a vortex of swirling motion. The titles may relate to weather or earth disruptions, while some are more playful and reminiscent of twirling around dancing or in happy energized abandon. I’d like the viewer to experience emotions when viewing my work and possibly when remembering it as well.

More literally in some of my earlier collages, I layered painted or printed papers of varied translucency, to build up images that relate to a story. The narrative is further suggested by visual elements of handwritten or printed text.

DH: Any teacher and mentors that were big influences in your work?

JW: Marc St. Pierre, Laurie Kaplowitz and Elena Peteva in Grad School at UMass Dartmouth, CVPA. Calvin Burnett, Dan Dailey, Lila Chalpin, Gus Kayafas, and Doc Legg as an undergrad at MassArt. I didn’t study art in high school so have no one to mention from that time.

DH: If someone wants to buy some of your creations what is the best way to go about that?

JW: The best way to reach me is by email, second best is by direct message at Instagram. Email is: jaeart1@gmail.com which can also be found at my website: www.jennwoodstudio.com. My Instagram is www.instagram.com/jennwoodart. We can view work together online and/or at my studio.

DH: Any future projects?

JW: I continue to work on two to three different ongoing series in painting/mm and photography. Also, a sustained effort to eradicate glass or plexiglas between the viewer and my work, and I’ll be experimenting with an innovative new substrate for some of my photographs and mixed media work. For the holidays I’ll be showing a painting with The Painting Center, NYC in their annual fundraiser exhibit. In Feb/Mar a photograph will be shown in Panopticon Gallery’s online exhibition A Second Glance: First Look 2022. Last but not least I’m looking forward to participating in SOS Somerville Open Studios 2022!