"Creekside" by Jenny Shircliff, 24x36in, oil on canvas (2017), $1500 | BUY NOW — *"Creekside" by Jenny Shircliff, 24x36in, oil on canvas (2017), $1500 | BUY NOW*

Artists turn that introspective gaze towards themselves; it’s not at all unusual - most art reveals something of the person who creates it. Jenny Shircliff makes herself the subject as a way of investigating age and, by implication, mortality.

"Cavea" by Jenny Shircliff, 18x15in, pastels on paper (2016), $650 | BUY NOW — *"Cavea" by Jenny Shircliff, 18x15in, pastels on paper (2016), $650 |* *BUY NOW*

Her earlier paintings were naturalistic renderings of the figure, but her new work is a departure, in which she dramatically abstracts human form nearly beyond recognition, and equates it with landscape forms.

“Our culture's idea of figurative beauty is predicated on youth, smooth skin, and rosy complexions,” observes Shircliff, “I am inverting that tenet and looking at my own aging flesh as a recording of my life, much in the same way that time is visually marked on the landscape. Thus, I have turned to viewing various parts of my own body as elements of land formations and use them as a derivation for abstract landscape. And I draw my color from nature itself. In a way, this new body of work could be described as ‘flesh-scapes’.”

What results from this focus are images of startling graphic impact. They appear to be abstract but are, in reality, intense, close-up views of the human form that embrace and reveal their humanity. The discovery of organic pattern and shape is so universal that we mistake them for images of other animals or natural rock formations. Through this highly candid, nearly forensic self-portrait series, Shircliff reminds us that we are a part of a larger natural world.

"Outcrop" by Jenny Shircliff, 20x24in, pastels on paper (2016), $950 | BUY NOW — *"Outcrop" by Jenny Shircliff, 20x24in, pastels on paper (2016), $950 | BUY NOW*

Shircliff has returned to painting after a long period devoting herself to the studying and teaching art history. “One of the most important things I learned from that experience is that assumptions should be challenged, inverted, and viewed in a different light.”

Shircliff has taught previously at Kentucky College of Art + Design at Spalding University, KSAH, Bellarmine University, University of Louisville, IUS, JCTC, and Midway College.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 62
Education: PhD in Art History, May 2014 University of Louisville, Louisville, KY; MA in Painting, 1994 University of Louisville, Louisville, KY; BFA in Drawing, 1976 Murray State University, Murray, K

"Cavern" by Jenny Shircliff, 31x36in, oil on canvas (2016), $3000 | BUY NOW — *"Cavern" by Jenny Shircliff, 31x36in, oil on canvas (2016), $3000 | BUY NOW*

"Gorge" by Jenny Shircliff, 48x48in, oil on canvas (2016), $1500 | BUY NOW — *"Gorge" by Jenny Shircliff, 48x48in, oil on canvas (2016), $1500 | BUY NOW*

"Cliffside" by Jenny Shircliff, 24x36in, oil on canvas (2016), $750| BUY NOW — *"Cliffside" by Jenny Shircliff, 24x36in, oil on canvas (2016), $750| BUY NOW*

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Vignette: James Bixler

Josh Jenkins · January 13, 2017

"15 More Minutes" by James Bixler, 14x11in, relief print (2015), $100 | BUY NOW — *"15 More Minutes" by James Bixler, 14x11in, relief print (2015), $100 | BUY NOW*

“My affinity for the color black started when I started growing into myself,” states James Bixler. “I realized recently that my attraction to the color noir was because it is a grounding, calming color. It should come to no one’s surprise that I utilize black in most of my artwork.”

"Self Portrait" by James Bixler, 12x9in, digital media print (2015), $100 | BUY NOW — *"Self Portrait" by James Bixler, 12x9in, digital media print (2015), $100 | BUY NOW*

Included here is a self-portrait that shows Bixler emerging from liquid black; inky, impenetrable, and leaving a film on his skin, the image recalls at least one famous portrait of an African American immersed in milk, - a negative reversal of sorts. It somewhat obfuscates racial identity, blurring the lines of pigmentation by removing color and forcing the viewer to rely on the supple tones and textures of the black, white, and gray tones of the photographic medium.

The play of the viscous black liquid on Bixler’s skin also reminds us that he is a Tattoo Artist at Uncle Bob's Tattoo Studio and Body Piercing in Clarksville, Indiana. It should not be surprising that a working tattoo artist would study fine art, since the medium, once considered, at best, subversive, or, at worst, cheap and trashy, has become more and more accepted in the mainstream culture, with 1 in 5 Americans sporting one or more examples of skin art, and tattoo parlors now as likely as not including a gallery space.

The dense black also dominates Bixler’s upside down Ouija board print, which, alongside his drawing of a gracefully ‘unraveling’ human skull, is suggestive of the occult, and a preoccupation with the ephemeral spirit that once resided in the latter, and may communicate with us through the former; themes of identity and mortality that never feel exhausted because there is never a definitive answer.

Age: 26
Hometown: Scottsburg, Kentucky
Education: BFA candidate, Painting and Drawing, Kentucky College of Art and Design (KyCAD), Spalding University, Louisville, Kentucky

"Untitled" by James Bixler, 19x15in, dypoint print (2015), $100 | BUY NOW — *"Untitled" by James Bixler, 19x15in, dypoint print (2015), $100 | BUY NOW*

skin

Vignette: Jenny Shircliff

Vignette: James Bixler