Theatre, music, and other peoples’ art and work have always inspired me. These paintings are portraits of some of the incredible performers and artists I’ve had the pleasure to know in Philadelphia. I celebrate gender and identity as explored by these performers and artists who move me, inspire me, shake me, and sometimes frighten me just a little bit.
Oil on Canvas, 72" x 60", 2024
Oil on canvas, 28” x 19”, 2020
Portrait of Zula Wildheart, Philadelphia and Trenton based Musician
Oil on canvas, 46” x 36”, 2020
Portrait of Empress Mars, Philadelphia Musician
Oil on canvas, 42” x 42”, 2019
Portrait of Candra Kennedy and Jeremy Prouty: West Philadelphia artists, performers, and musicians.
Oil on canvas, 54” x 48, 2014
Portrait of formerly Philadelphia-based artist and performer Leslie Rogers.
Oil on canvas, 67” x 40”, 2016
Portrait of formerly Philadelphia based artist and performer Iris McCloughan.
Oil on canvas, 72’’ x 36’’, 2012
Mourners Quilt, 2012-14
(top left to right): Margaret Sanger, Leelee Sobieski, Mother Theresa, Rachel Carson,Monica Lewinsky, Hellen Keller, Sonora Webster from that movie about diving horses, and Lorena Bobbitt,
Oil on paper, scroll-saw cut cardboard with acrylic and glitter, 16" x 12", 2014.
Still lives and interiors are classic subjects, and often serve as exercises, between larger or more durational projects. Studies help me to pair down to the essentials and dive into the act of painting. Celebrating and criticizing the domestic and still lives as womens’ work, reclaiming and recontextualizing the narratives we embrace as we carry the past with us into the future.
Truth or Consequences Apartment Chairs, 9” x 12”, Oil on panel, 2019
Oil on paper, 15.5” x 18.5”, 2019
Oil on paper, 14” x 10” 2019
Oil on paper, 2019
Oil on paper, 7" x 10.5", 2016
Oil on paper, 29” x 18.5”, 2018
Oil on paper, 8” x 8.5”, 2015
Oil on paper, 9” x 12”, 2014
Oil on paper, 12” x 9, 2015
Oil on canvas, 24” x 20, 2010 (f. 2018)
Oil on paper, 5.5” x 4.5”, 2015
Oil on paper rabbitskin-glued to masonite, 8.5” x 7.5”, 2010
Oil on paper, 7” x 5.5”, 2014
Oil on paper, 8” x 7”, 2010
Oil on rabbit-skin-glued-paper on masonite, 10” x 9”, 2009
Oil on masonite, 5” x 3.5”, 2008
Oil on masonite, 5” x 3.5”, 2008
Oil on masonite, 5” x 4”, 2008
Oil on masonite, 5” x 3.5”, 2008
Oil on masonite, 5” x 3.5”, 2008
Fairytales, folklore, and mythology have always had a strong presence in my work, and in my mind. I am fascinated by the stories we have passed down for centuries, and how they overlap and differ with stories in other cultures, other continents. I enjoy connecting and collapsing those dots.
My senior thesis at MICA, in 2009, featured 6 paintings, portraits of friends as characters inspired by fables, folklore, and fairy tales, as I had reimagined them, twisted them, to insert my own life or my own understanding of these tales.
Medusa is a character who often appears in my work, and in my mind: she represents a caricature of a strong older woman who is vilified for her monstrosity, and for her beauty; she turns men to stone when they look at her.
Oil on panel, 11” x 14, 2009
Oil on panel, 16” x 12”, 2009
Oil on panel, 14” x 11”, 2009
Oil on panel, "15” x 12”, 2009
Oil on panel, 13” x 11”, 2009
Oil on panel, 12” x 15”, 2009
Oil on canvas, 40” x 60”, 2007
Sculpy, human hair, ribbon, fabric, paint, glue, 14” x 6” x 2”, 2014
Papier mache, plaster, gesso, yarn, ribbon, dress, 6’ x 5’, 2009
Papier mache, acrylic paint, tulle, mirror, faux flowers, glue, 46” x 24”, 2009
Acrylic on panel, 10” x 6”, 2009
(8) oil on masonite panels, 16” x 12”, 2010
(destroyed) Oil on canvas, 46” x 24”, 2010
Linoleum block print, 12” x 16”, 2007
Linoleum block print, 12” x 16”, 2007
Linoleum block print, 12” x 16”, 2007
Linoleum block print, 12” x 16”, 2007
Linoleum block print, 12” x 16”, 2007
Linoleum block print, 12” x 16”, 2007
I experience a deep love and a deep sadness at the wonder of being alive on this incredible planet, while watching in real time the damage that humans are doing to our planet, and to each other. Our actions and inactions are both powerful and meaningless: how do we navigate this contradiction?
Oil on Paper, 23” x 17”, 2022
Oil on Paper, 29” x 18” , 2022
Oil on paper, 28” x 18.5”, 2020
Graphite on paper, 22” x 18”, 2018
Oil on paper, 7.5” x 10.5”, 2019
digital photograph, 2019
Oil on paper, 6.5” x 10.5”, 2019
digital photograph, 2019
Oil on paper, 7.5” x 11”, 2019
digital photograph, 2019
digital photograph, 2019
digital photograph, 2019
digital photograph, 2019
Found objects, blue acrylic paint and ink, 32” x 29” x 7”, 2018
Gypsum sheetrock, joint compound, primer, acrylic paint, 1.5” x 5” x 4”, 2018
Oil on paper, 28” x 18”, 2017
Oil on paper, 24” x 14”, 2017
Oil on paper, 18” x 29”, 2017
Wire, found fabric, papier mache, 5.5” x 2.5” x 2.5”, 2018
Oil on paper, 28” x 24”, 2017
Oil on canvas, 28” x 24”, 2016
found objects, 1” x 4” x 5”, 2018
Oil on masonite, 24” x 14”, 2017
Found object// stitches and piece of skin from my tubal ligation in 2017, 25” x 1” x .25”, 2017
Oil on paper, 10” x 7.75”, 2016
Poplar, hot glue, spray paint, thread, 4” x 1.5” x 1.5”, 2015
exhibited at the Woodmere Annual 2015
Hand-spun and -dyed yarn, nails, board, and acrylic paint, 10” x 10”, 2014
Exhibited at Bridget Mayer Gallery Ballet X fundraiser 2015
Newspaper partially eaten by eisenia fetida (composting worms), and found wooden box, 3.5” x 3” x 2.5”, 2015
Rusted Roofers Nails, 4.5” x 2” x 2, 2015
Found Fabrics, stiffened with flour, cornstarch and water; latex and acrylic paint, and masonite, 12” x 8”, 2014
Digital photograph, 2015
Digital photograph, 2015
Digital photograph, 2015
Digital photograph, 2015
Digital photograph, 2015
Housepaint and found object on canvas, 12.5” x 10”, 2014
Hand-spun yarn, EL wire, galvanized wire, T-Pins, appx 8” x 60”, 2012
Hand-spun yarn, EL wire, galvanized wire, T-Pins, appx 8” x 60”, 2015
Digital photograph, 2013
Digital photograph, 2013
Digital photograph, 2013
B&W print, 16” x 14”, 2008
B&W Photograph, 8” x 10”, 2006
B&W Photograph, 8” x 10, 2006
B&W Photograph, 8” x 10”, 2006
B&W Photograph, 8” x 10”, 2006
Working in fibers has increasingly become more of my practice. It feels different than other mediums. It is more process oriented, more meditative, somehow. More tactile, definitely. More than anything else in my life, it helps me connect and feel rooted in the history of my ancestors, and in holistic cultures being lost to contemporary society. There is something healing, vulnerable, and soft, in working with fiber, and for which I am exceedingly grateful.
Faces Vase,
Yarn Weaving, 24” x 19”, 2022
Hand-dyed cotton fabric; foraged materials: yarrow, sitka spruce, lichen, dandelion, sheep sorrel, black beans, moss, rosehips, pine needles, yellow onion skins, avocado, 2022
Hand-dyed cotton fabric; foraged materials: yarrow, sitka spruce, lichen, dandelion, sheep sorrel, black beans, moss, rosehips, pine needles, yellow onion skins, avocado, 2022
Hand-dyed cotton fabric; foraged materials: yarrow, sitka spruce, lichen, dandelion, sheep sorrel, black beans, moss, rosehips, pine needles, yellow onion skins, avocado, 2022
Blönduós Dye Quilt
Hand-dyed cotton fabric; foraged materials: yarrow, sitka spruce, lichen, dandelion, sheep sorrel, black beans, moss, rosehips, pine needles, yellow onion skins, avocado
38” x 43”, 2022
Hand-dyed cotton fabric; foraged materials: yarrow, sitka spruce, lichen, dandelion, sheep sorrel, black beans, moss, rosehips, pine needles, yellow onion skins, avocado, 2022
Machine felted wool and machine embroidered thread,
24” x 38”, 2022
Machine felted wool and machine embroidered thread,
21” x 32”, 2022
Machine felted wool, found threads and yarns, 2022
Machine felted wool, found threads and yarns, 2022
Neighborhood (Kensington) Dye Quilt
Hand-dyed cotton fabric; foraged materials: black beans, sunflowers, peach leaves w iron vinegar, mugwort, goldenrod, pokeberries w salt vinegar, nettles w pennies, sweet gum balls, sassafrass, dandelion w iron vinegar, mulberries, acorns, housemates' avocadoes w tin mordant, rose mallow w tin mordant, pinecones, marigold & cosmos, honey locust pods, ginkgo leaves, sumac w rust vinegar
84” x 56”, 2020-21
Mourn What You Love,
Handspun and knit yarn, galvanized wire, EL wire, AA batteries, natural dyes: sumac, rust vinegar, onion skins,
4’ x 16’, 2021
Our built environment actively battles the earth in our desperation for shelter, for art, for control amidst the chaos. The earth only longs to recycle, to decay, to give life again. This battle is simultaneously incredible and beautiful. Nothing lasts forever, and the only thing constant is change.
Oil on panel, 9”x12”, 2022
Oil on panel, 9” x 12”, 2019
Oil on paper, 11” x 13”, 2019
Oil on masonite, 18” x 14”, 2018
digital photograph, 2019
Digital photograph, 2019
digital photograph, 2019
Oil on paper, 16” x 18”, 2019
digital photograph, 2019
For Profit//Sold: Hancock and Oxford (2016), Front and Dauphin (2019), Frankford and Coral (2013), Fletcher and Sepviva (2014), Emerald and Hagert (2010), Shackamaxon and Girard (2015), Frankford and Montgomery (2016), Front and Master (2014)
Digital photographs
In 2009 I moved to Fishtown, to Kensington. I’ve been drawn to the fierce and reckless abandon of the vacant lots, to their potential, and in their own right. In the last 10 years, all of these vacant lots have been subsumed by Developers, who built shoddy buildings with cheap materials, and sold them for insanely high prices, driving up rent in the neighborhood and pushing out long-time residents and artists like myself, who arguably helped identify this neighborhood as a hot commodity. There are lawsuits popping up as the people who purchased these properties, guided by realtors, are realizing the ineptitude of the construction, and the expense or impossibility of correcting these structural unintegrities.
Digital photograph, 2019
Digital photograph, 2019
Oil on panel, 12” x 14”, 2019
Digital Photograph, 2014
Oil on paper, 8.5” x 12”, 2014
Digital Photograph, 2015
Digital Photograph, 2013
Medium format b&w photograph, 16” x 14”, 2014
Digital Photograph, 2010
Digital Photograph, 2010
Digital Photograph, 2015
Digital Photograph, 2014
Digital Photograph, 2014
Digital Photograph, 2014
Found roots, hand-spun yarn, 6’ x 12’ x 10’ (appx), 2013 (destroyed).
I worked on this piece for several years, in two different studios, before installing it in a vacant lot on Frankford Ave. Here, they were within view of where the roots had been collected from, before the massive row of condos was built on Trenton Ave: the first full block to be tetrissed with them. The lot where the roots were installed is now another new construction. The act of spinning yarn, wrapping it, bandaging, mummifying the roots, was in many ways a durational performance piece. At the time there seemed to be an overwhelming amount of construction without consideration for the long-time residents, and without regard for public space or green space, vacant lot or otherwise: almost a decade later, my neighborhood has been transformed. Developers, realtors, and investors made a lot of money deciding what an entire neighborhood would become.
Digital Photograph, 2013
Digital Photograph, 2012
digital photograph, 2010
Digital Photograph, 2010
Digital Photograph, 2010
digital photograph, 2015
Digital Photograph, 2013
digital photograph, 2015?
C-Print, 8” x 10”, 2007
Fenced, Entretien, Unleashed, Light en ing, Shapes/Shadows/Scale, Six (6)
Medium Format b&w photography, 16” x 12” 2008
Found // Alley Trash
C-Prints, 8” x 10” individually, 2007
Jen Brown is a multidisciplinary artist who seeks to ask and answer questions through their holistic practice of making and moving through the world. Jen depicts the beauty in sadness, and vice versa, that they connect with in the world. Their work absorbs and contains moments as a personal placemarker. The act of documentation feels at once futile and vital; the act of creating is narcissistic, luxurious, wasteful; empowering, joyful. Creativity, critical thinking and collaboration both challenge and reward. Integrating community, domesticity, and paid work into social practice, Jen appreciates the balance of all things within perpetuity.
Jen Brown is an artist, gardener and community organizer. They have lived in Fishtown/Kensington//Philadelphia since 2009. They have worked in museums, galleries, bakeries, gardens, construction, and have assisted in countless projects. Jen is passionate about composting, curating, community, and absorbing the incredible fine art, music, theatre, and food in Philadelphia. Jen takes great joy in connecting people with resources.
photo by Beth Pieper at Storm King Arts Center, Fall 2017.
Oil on paper, 16” x 12”, 2022
Oil on found canvas, 48” x 24”, 2020
12” x 7.75” each (diptych), Oil on panel, 2020
Self Portrait in Rainbow Sweater, appx 24” x 18”, Oil on paper, 2016 (lost)
Self Portrait in Green Sweater, 12.5” x 11”, Oil on paper, 2013
Self Portrait in Blue, 14” x 11”, Oil on canvas, 2014
Self Portrait in Tank, 14” x 10”, Oil on paper, 2013
Oil on Panel, 12” x 9.5”, 2015
