Jen Stark: “To the Power Of” at Martha Otero Gallery
by Shana Nys Dambrot
Jan 2013

Jen Stark is a woman who knows how to make an unforgettable entrance: literally. Not only has she managed a smashing debut as an official LA-based artist, moving here from her native Miami a matter of weeks before the opening of “To the Power Of;” but the most dazzling of all the hypnotic works in that show are a pair of sculptural objects carving out geodesic portals that shimmer like rainbow rifts in the fabric of space. Both the freestanding Cosmic Distortion, 2012 (standing 36 1/2 inches) and the wall-embedded recess Whole, 2012 (with a radius approximately 42 inches) are impressive feats of patience, precision, and advanced fractal mathematics that beckon viewers forward, daring them to lean further, to reach inside when no one is looking, to go in. These negative spaces contain within their receding dimensions crisply defined, twisting stacks of cut paper, orchestrated to replicate geological, cosmological, and striated optics. Engineered through a process of algorithmic measurement and chromatic zestiness, her results speak to both the mysteries of sacred geometry and funhouse psychedelia.

By way of contrast, the wall-hanging Cascade (69 inches long) is made with the same classroom-simple set of materials, but references looser kinds of fractal math, such as that which might formulate the patterns of a waterfall, or a peacockÕs feathery spread. The level of dense, tiny detail in all the work seems to defy the limited powers of the hand and eye, rendering with a microscopic precision and macroscopic perspective at the same time, laying claim to the universal fundamentals of material structure, and to the joy of pure delight. Other acrylic paint-based works reference the striated fields, or alternatively set them to dissolving in waves of layered, organic, expressive abstraction. Those paint and felt-tip on paper works are vibrant and organic and quite beautiful, like ramshackle English-style gardens infused with a jazzy palette; but it’s the construction-paper constructions that possess the alluring oomph of the magical. They don’t depict so much as they evoke, or reenact, the sacred geometry of crop circles and star maps–but with a whiff of light-hearted Burning Man-style paganism, a nod to schoolroom craft time, and a wallop of post-Op Art abstraction.

The Miami Project Art Fair
Booth 719 / Cooper Cole Gallery
2951 NE 1st Ave.
Miami, FL 33137

 DETAIL “Holographic Square” / 17″ x 17″ x 36″ / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012

“Holographic Square” / 17″ x 17″ x 36″ / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012

“Holographic Circle” / 20″ x 20″ x 35.5″ / acid-free foam board, holographic paper, glue, wood & paint / 2012

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CoolHunting.com

Please RSVP at: gallery@marthaotero.com

Martha Otero Gallery
820 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
#(323) 951-1068

“40 UNDER 40″ group exhibition book
Written by: Nicholas R. Bell

The politics of craft, often so close to the surface, are largely absent from the paper sculptures of Jen Stark. Rather than tackle the deficiencies of contemporary culture, these unexpected objects serve as psychic way stations–colorful oases for individuals to de-stress through the contemplation of joyful things. In this sense they take up anew the mantle of Fancy–boisterous and bright aesthetic movement of the early nineteenth century that reframed American decorative arts through a whimsical lens. The exploitation of vivid color and pattern was paramount then, and returns as the foundation of Stark’s oeuvre.

The artist first turned to paper as a student seeking an affordable medium, and from a materials standpoint even her most complex works remain deceptively simple in their construction. Start stacks sheets of drawing paper in the order she wishes them to appear, then cuts into them one leaf at a time, finding rhythm in their expanding geometries. She cites fractals as an influence on her work, and it is easy to see the attention paid to such natural phenomena. The tight margins between layers of color mimic evolutionary progress–the smallest shifts altering the final makeup the whole.

Power of Being is indicative of Stark’s eye-popping style. A six-pointed star leaps off the wall, lending the paper a dynamic topography, then trickles down in ragged layers to a distant root. Alternating color pairings are both playful and suggestive of the star’s meaty past, while its lingering tail invokes the underbelly of an iceberg. It is only one trick up Stark’s sleeve to convey depth through the slimmest of things. Piece of an Infinite Whole demonstrates the artist’s ability to transform space through the stacking of paper. In this case she has broken through a wall, removing the piece from the actual gallery, as if the right combination of colors might open up a wormhole in otherwise staid white cube. This rupturing of the standard plane is a recurring theme in Stark’s work, and marks a current of provocation running beneath the simple pleasure of viewing it.

Stark underscores the labor inherent to her medium in How to Become a Millionaire in 100 Days. Toying with this culture’s get-rich-quick mentality, and the notion of wealth as the accumulation of currency (i.e., paper), she has individually cut one million pieces of paper and left them in a glorious pile of bespoke confetti. A quick calculation based on the title uncovers a working rate of ten thousand scraps cut per day, a pace that would make anyone blanch, and one that serves to highlight her physical as well as mental determination.

Ultimately, Stark’s palette and her deft use of the knife enchant not only through their brilliance, but also through her transformation of the most common of materials into something unique. Functionally, these strange forms serve little purpose, but to lose them would also be to miss them as one misses the most practical of things. Such is the importance of our ability to escape down the nearest, brightest rabbit hole.

Visual Arts Thinkers Series Kicks-off with Jen Stark
Wednesday October 17, 2012 at 7 p.m. in Moulton Center 213

Chapman University
One University Drive
Orange, CA 92866

More information HERE

(Installation view) photo by Brandon Shigeta

“Cosmic Distortion” / 22.5 x 22.5 x 36.5 in / Hand-cut acid-free paper, glue, wood, foam board / 2012
photo by Brandon Shigeta

“Prismatic Radiation” / 47 x 47 x 1 in / Wood, acrylic paint / 2012
photo by Brandon Shigeta

(Installation view) photo by Brandon Shigeta

“Whole” / 3 x 3 x 3.5 ft / Installation of hand-cut acid-free paper, foam board, glue / 2012

Martha Otero Gallery
820 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
#(323)951-1068

Opening Reception is September 28th from 6-9pm. Show runs through December 10th.

Jen Stark’s work is instantly recognizable for its breathtaking color spectrums rendered in mind-bending forms cut from paper, wood and other organic materials.

Stark’s sculptures seemingly reconstruct elements of time, nature and the cosmos on an exponential scale. She draws inspiration for her works from the rhythmic visual qualities of mandalas and other such sacred objects, while they simultaneously behave like the imagery of topographic maps, geometric repetitions and three-dimensional prisms. This aligns directly with her interest in mathematics: ‘to the power of…’ being a statement of exponential growth also infers the definition of ‘power’ as both the possession of physical or mental control and the fortitude to act decisively. Her unique experience working with fibers is displayed in her delicately constructed patterns, which resemble the flowing movements of fabric versus the perceived rigidity her actual core materials. Stark’s unflinching attention to physical detail and a commitment to shaping the object into something far beyond its origins result in a body of work which borders on the unbelievable.

With each successive individual project, Stark becomes bolder in her efforts to lure viewers into her kaleidoscopic environments. The work stands alone as a signature piece of superior craftsmanship and imaginative prowess, but Stark remains conscious of how the work is inextricably bound to real space and time. In this vein, Stark pushes the envelope of visual art production, recalling both the psychedelic experience of Op Art and the endearment of handmade totems and mystic charms.

Jen Stark was born in Miami in 1983. She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005, with a concentration in fibers and a minor in animation. Stark was the 2008 recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium’s Visual and Media Artist Fellowship and, in the same year, won first prize at MOCA North Miami’s 10th annual Optic Nerve Film Festival. Stark’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Chicago, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, London and Miami. Stark has been the subject of televised interviews for PBS Arts, WLRN South Florida and the Wet Heat Project. Stark’s work is held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, the West Collection in Oaks, Pennsylvania, and the Cricket and Martin Taplin Collection at the Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach. Stark lives and works in Los Angeles.

For more information and artwork inquiries, please contact: gallery@marthaotero.com

820 NORTH FAIRFAX AVENUE
LOS ANGELES, CA 90046
t. 323 951 1068

The show will run at the Renwick through February 2013, after which it will tour nationally at locations to be announced. You can find more information about the show and all of its artists on the show’s webpage here.  Check out a slideshow of all 40 artists here. The museum also intends to acquire my sculpture, pictured below. For more information, go to the exhibition page: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/renwick40/#40artists

“Power of Being” / 64″ x 25″ x 5″ / acid-free colored paper on wood / 2011

The Smithsonian American Art Museum: Renwick Gallery