About
Jenny Blake Artist
J E N N Y B L A K E artist
Biography
Jenny Blake (1960) NSW, Australia.
Growing up in the Southern Highlands, my six siblings and I were encouraged to play, explore, and investigate nearby ponds, paddocks, and bushland. We had a free-range upbringing; many hours were spent in nature. My imagination flourished, instigating a lifetime of appreciating nature and people.
My aim is to tell stories, of the fragility and strength of people and nature. I use a diverse range of materials and mediums, making abstract landscapes, portraits, mixed media, assemblage work and installations.
When painting landscapes I prefer to work with non-traditional tools, creating layers, peeling back and adding further layers, working the surfaces to mimic nature.
My art practice is forever changing and evolving. I continue to learn, and explore, finding joy in playing with new materials. I am open to new challenges and continue to learn, and experiment with all art forms.
Curriculum vitae
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
2017 - Diploma of Visual Art Student, CIT Canberra Institute of Technology
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Tipping point - Strathnairn Arts Holt ACT
2019 Block by Block - Strathnairn Arts Holt ACT
2019 Sea Series - Splatter Gallery, Belconnen ACT
2018 Sea Series - Niugini Arabica Duffy, Canberra ACT
2018 Block by Block – M16 Art Space, Canberra ACT
2015 Beyond our Hot Horizon - Strathnairn Gallery Canberra ACT
2008 Skylines - All Bar Nun Gallery Space, Canberra ACT
2006 Earth -Yarralumla Woolshed, Canberra ACT
REVIEWS
Canberra times review 22 February 2021
Exhibition OutsideIn | InsideOut Belconnen Arts March 2021
Blake’s inventive collage in her Rocky Times series employs wallpaper that has been cut out into bolder shapes and then stacked together, respecting the gravitational qualities of real rocks supporting one another in space. On occasions, her rock pile starts to hint at humanoid shapes and that gives her unlikely constructions a somewhat different connotation.
ANU’s Emeritus Professor Sasha Grishin AM FAHA art historian, art critic and curator.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 GX Art Trail Strathnairn Canberra
2021 OutsideIn | InsideOut Belconnen Arts Centre
2018 Craft ACT -2018 Emerging Contemporaries
2017 CIT Diploma of Visual Arts Graduation Exhibition
2016 Illumi NOIR - Design Studio, CIT REID Campus Canberra ACT
2015 Balance - The National Botanic Gardens Gallery, Canberra ACT
2010 COM.PULSIVE - The Q Gallery, Queanbeyan NSW
2008 Secrets - Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Canberra ACT
2007 Autumn Spectrum - Old Milk Factory Gallery, Bowral NSW
2006 Milk Factory Gallery Bowral Annual Artists show
ART PRIZE SUBMISSIONS
2021 Lethbridge Landscape Prize, After the Fires Announced in the - Salon des Refuses
2019 Archibald prize entry. Coralie, portrait of Coralie Wood
2018 Archibald prize entry. Front Page, portrait of Bree Winchester
2018 Winner graduation prize, to exhibit work in the 2018 Craft ACT Emerging Contemporaries
2016 Canberra Contemporary Art Space members show
2014 Tuggeranong Art Centres Environmentally Art Prize
2013 Strathnairn Gallery Squares Show
2006 Radford Art Prize
ART TEACHING
Spatter Gallery – Portrait painting for beginners
Belconnen arts Centre – Portrait Painting
Mocca Preschool - Art play
Forrest primary school holiday program - Art play
Messengers program -high school youth - Art therapy
RELEVANT ART EMPOYMENT
Blake and Chalkley Communications - Principal
ABC Local Radio NSW - Marketing Manager
Canberra Theatre Centre - Marketing and Communications Manager
National Gallery of Australia - Director of Communications
Tuggeranong Arts Centre - Manager Messengers Youth Program