NAME: Jane Kenoyer
BIRTH PLACE:
BIRTH DATE: 9.27.77
BIOGRAPHY
Artist Statement
Jane Kenoyer is currently in the Bachelors of Fine Arts program at UNR and is studying painting with Mike Sarich. Her imaginative portraits and still lifes capture and reflect esoteric moments in the artist's individual perception and experience.
Upon first glance Kenoyer’s work is an up close and personal examination of her collective memories of life events. The mysterious figures in her work have a soft quality and are surrounded by minimally depicted oceans. Her paintings are a place where technology does not exist and where her inspirations come from a place of childhood ideals. Viewers are initially drawn in by the nostalgic familiarity of Kenoyer’s sea references. The sea is a unique setting that evokes special meaning for Kenoyer because many of her fondest personal memories were formed near the ocean. The figures in her paintings occur in isolating circumstance, and for Kenoyer they symbolize the impermanence of the moment, and the more ambiguous aspects life. Kenoyer sidesteps conventional strategies by consciously choosing subject matter loaded with decadent detailing, narrative quality, and mysterious characteristics.
Kenoyer’s paintings are infused with her personal family references. Her work is inspired by both past and recent family history as she tries to capture the elusive essence of her great grandmother named Pearl. Pearl Rogers was a performer, traveler, long distance swimmer, stunt diver, and at times performed as a mermaid. She could hold her breath for 3 minutes and practiced breathing exercises each night for an hour. Kenoyer grew up listening to grand stories about this amazing woman who led an incredible and adventurous life. Unfortunately, all documents, newspaper articles, and most photographs of Pearl were destroyed by her stepmother, who came across her trunk of images, stated that a woman in a bathing suit was risqué and she didn’t want any of those “dirty” pictures in her house. Pearl had a glass eye and six tattoos. For a woman living in the 1920s, having tattoos and wearing swim ware was a daring combination. Pearl died very young and Kenoyer never met her. However, Pearl’s life has greatly impacted her, Kenoyer has grow to understand how Pearl has influenced her life and her choices. Kenoyer’s ongoing search for Pearl’s essence has been an underlying inspiration in her paintings for many years.
Among Kenoyer’s influences are painters such as Edward Hopper, Mark Rothko, Wayne Thiebaud, Henri Matisse, and French Impressionists. Another art form that she loves are Chinese and Japanese prints.
