Kristen Jensen

Performance: Some Grace ll

Thursday  July 20th  6-8pm

On the occasion of the final weeks of her solo exhibition at MILLER, Kristen Jensen will stage a partially scripted, partially improvised movement conceived specifically for the space of the gallery. Seeking to expand on the performative aspect of the exhibition, Jensen will enter and then leave the gallery at an intentionally slow pace while awkwardly handling her sculpture, Weighty Ornament llI, treating it as both an inanimate vessel and another living body. While some movements will be predetermined, others will unfold spontaneously as a result of the growing discomfort of this absurd exercise in duration. Lighter, Later is on view at MILLER through Sunday, July 30th.

Kristen Jensen / "Lighter, Later" 

June 4 – July 30, 2017

“If light is scarce then light is scarce; we will immerse ourselves in the darkness and there discover its own particular beauty.”  ― Jun'ichirō  Tanizaki, “In Praise of Shadows”

Been keeping my hands busy, occupied: it helps to dull my thoughts. I’ve never owned a rug, rather preferring to feel the uneven floorboards beneath my calloused feet.

I usually fall asleep in the clothing I’ve worn all day then change in the morning. It’s not because I’m too fatigued but because I feel more comfortable shrouded than naked. I prefer a well worn pillow with a freshly laundered case.

"Lighter, Later", a black hole, hand braided rug with embedded ceramic objects. These nuggets bound by material from used clothing, a collection of disparate use and histories. A personal meditation on compromised comfort, both physical and mental. Viewers are invited to walk on it, resulting in this transference of experience both emotional and physical.

Observing this activity from the window vantage point is another sculpture: a ceramic vessel with questionable functionality barely supported by a soft totem. Both spectator and participant in this production, it struggles to remain upright.

Kristen Jensen is an artist living and working in New York City. She received her BFA in printmaking from Syracuse University and her MFA from Hunter College in Combined Media. Jensen's practice is interdisciplinary, often taking quotidian experiences and domestic objects and reinterpreting them in diverse mediums. The artist’s desire for control and perfection is often challenged by both the unpredictability of the materials she chooses and the traces of the artist’s hand. This tension is reflected in the flaws, cracks, and subtle finishes that transform everyday objects into things both pathetic and poetic. She has exhibited domestically and internationally at Simone Subal, Wallspace, Nicelle Beauchene, Norte Maar and Bortolami Gallery among others.

Image detail: Kristen Jensen, "Weighty Ornament lll", 2017, (detail). Courtesy of MILLER and the artist.