In The Name Of Reality: Jen Weber

Mind warping images surround you as soon as you walk into Jen Weber’s world of art. Heavily influenced by her educational background in psychology and philosophy, she derives her ideas from what surrounds her: a fleeting image, a wink of light, stimulation of the senses, the urban environment, and perception of reflections. The urban landscape is her playground where she finds most of her subjects. She takes pictures of what catches her artistic eye and carefully tucks it away for later perusal. 

As unique as the artist’s eye is, Jen believes each person’s perception of the environment is even more unique.

“What I find so interesting is that everyone perceives surroundings slightly differently based on past experience and personal interest. Reflections are just part of the environment and rarely do most people consciously observe the strange forms present within them.”  

Cardigan Street Pedestrian, 2013

Indeed, a single glance at her painting would not do it justice. As if sporting invisible hooks, it latches onto the logical part of the brain. Forcing you to retrace your steps or do a double take to give it a closer look. Your mind will mull it over and over trying to find the reality behind the surreality that confronts it. Caught in it’s own attempts at straightening out a reality, your mind absorbs the art work and gives it a whole new meaning. Only when it finally feels it has conquered the contorted image presented and has assembled some form of order will it move on.

For Jen, that achieves wonders, her work magnetizes the viewer so that there is indulgence of senses. Sometimes there is a melding of senses to achieve some form of semblance.

“My goal is to create an image that is removed from the original environmental cues so that all the viewer is left to consider is that which they normally overlook. I strive to create an image that forces the viewer to look a little bit longer than normal.” 

Macdonell and Wilson, 2012

Jen excels in creating art in print making, sculpture, and welding. But she has always been most fascinated by the medium of painting and illustration. Even though her work is solitary, she finds the idea of collaborating with musicians, authors, and directors very exciting. Her artistic acumen is proficient at creating images for people as they see them in their mind’s eye. Authors looking for cover illustrators, or musicians looking for someone to make an eye-catching poster, or directors wishing to have their work artistically enchanted will be charmed by the ceaselessly brilliant art by Jen. 

Woolwich and Yarmouth, 2013

One more feather in Jen’s art-cap is the Art Distribution Centre project. It was inspired by the tradition of mail art and institutional critique. Using her skills as a welder she has put together a public kiosk (in the shape of a newspaper box) to help artists display their work. It’s free to drop work in, and it’s free to drop by and fancy your artistic drive with.

College and University, 2013

The Doppelgänger Effect: Evan Penny

From the dent on the chin, the moles on the skin; the hair all over the body; the veins on the neck to the furrow on the brow; the small smirk hiding laugh lines; the pinch in the nose and even the twinkle in the eye, it seems as real as any human being standing in front of you. 

That is what you will find in Evan Penny's work. True to the name given to his exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2012, the silicone sculptures on display force one to re figure the reality of the human body. Born in South Africa but raised the rest of his life in Canada, Evan Penny is one of the best-known Canadian artists whose works have been displayed all over the world. 

Imitation of Life

He has worked with beeswax, resin, aluminum, and bronze, but it is silicone sculptures that stand out among all. Although silicone is not the only material Evan has used over his 25-year long career, it is undoubtedly one he has done marvels with. He believes that silicone is one of the most flexible materials that can be used to create art; it allows you to improvise and create a flow. 

"Silicone," Penny says, "is a slice of life, an illusion capable material." 

Although what he is trying to create using the material is not an illusion but simply a representation of the human body as he would see it. 

During the 400-hour long process of creating a single sculpture, he creates and re creates, sometimes using photoshop to manipulate the image, to render a brilliant new version of the sculpture that holds us all involuntarily captive. His motivation in creating such striking life-like sculptures is to capture two of the of the most simple human tasks usually taken for granted: observation and perception. What may be taken as a turning point in his career is his advent into the film industry. He admits that Hollywood forced him to open up to new possibilities. 

A Projection of His Young Self

His collection contains magnified busts of human faces; a couple of them are also full-human figures. He sometimes uses his friends as models, but his true fascination with creation is demonstrated in his "No One In Particular" series. The faces and their expressions are so remarkably life-like that you feel you will inevitably run into them on the street, and they will leave a fleeting impression on your mind: as if déjà vu. They carry an expression of wonderment, feeling lucky that they have been created.

Most exhibits contain media rooms which allow one to feel the silicone used to prepare the sculptures. The uncanny authenticity of the material leaves one with goose bumps. The hair used on the sculptures are taken from a variety of sources like, humans, horses, and yaks, and it takes a hundred hours to make them a part of the sculpture. His assistants painstakingly put in each hair, trim each strand, then put in more and repeat the process until it has been perfected. They even brush the hair in place before putting the sculpture on display.

Evan Penny Ten Year From Now

Also a part of the collection are sculptures of Penny's own self; a representation of what he remembers himself at sixteen years of age (not copied from an old photograph) and another where he projects what he might look like in another ten years. A sculpture of his self, Self Stretch, has been created in mind-boggling 3-D, and it will twist your mind with the amount of detail it carries. 

His creations with Michael Awad, like all others, carry a sense of fleshy existence. They have a human-like sheen on the lips, as if the person took a pause while talking and licked them wet. As you are engulfed in the brilliance of the sculptures, you stand there prepared with an apology if the sculpture opens its mouth and tells you off for being in its face. 

It is truly a warping of one's reality and perception to the extent that one is forced to let go of the controlled notions and perceptions.