“Honeycomb Bee” by Jesi Evans, Mixed media embroidery, 8x8in, 2018, $500
Jesi Evans Murphy is a fiber artist who uses, “… what is traditionally viewed as craft media to create conceptual fine art.” Her work is a compelling match up of contemporary artistic sensibility with craft tradition.
“A very important part of my process is hand making each piece. I come from a background where I often participated in craft projects with my mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Creating art within the medium of craft allows me to fulfill my desire for creative expression while also bringing up my most cherished childhood memories. My art is an extension of my personal experience as well as concepts and opinions about the world outside my immediate scope. My fear, anxiety, joy, and hope are channeled into each piece.”
“Green Bee Revisited” by Jesi Evans, Mixed media embroidery, 8x8in, 2018, $500
“My conceptual work draws heavily from issues I find relevant to my life as well as the emotions I experience while dealing with those issues. Current projects include a body of work based on environmental concerns and a body of work based on chronic illness. Both bodies of work call forth my anxiety as well as my hope. The craft medium is warm, inviting, and accessible to the viewer. This accessibility draws the viewer in and invites them to experience the emotions the conceptual work brings forth.”
When Murphy speaks of working on creative projects with previous generations of women in her family, she touches upon the fact that American textile art has lived mostly as a matriarchal, generational, connection surreptitiously building a feminist thread into the culture.
Murphy will be showing her body of work APIS this December at Delinquent Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana.
Recent exhibits:
2018
Be Kind, Rewind a Cult Film Group Show, Delinquent Gallery, Bloomington, IN
1-Up: Extra Life a Video Game Group Show, Delinquent Gallery, Bloomington, IN
KaiJuly a Kaiju/Giant Monster Group Show, Delinquent Gallery, Bloomington, IN
2015
Open Studio Weekend – Hot Garbage Collective, LVA Building, Louisville, KY
Open Studio Weekend Exhibition, Cressman Center, Louisville, KY
Fantastic Fibers 2015, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
Art[Squared], PUBLIC, Louisville, KY
Hometown: Bardstown, Kentucky
Education: Certificate, Front End Web Design, CodeLouisville, Louisville, KY, 2015;
BA, Studio Art (Fiber Emphasis), Berea College, Berea, KY, 2007
Website: https://cargocollective.com/jesievansart
Instagram: @jesievans
Tumbler: jesievans
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“Heart with Three Bees” by Jesi Evans, Mixed media embroidery, 8x8in, 2016, $500
“Missing Bee” by Jesi Evans, Mixed media embroidery, 8x8in, 2018, $1000
“Skull with Nine Bees” by Jesi Evans, Mixed media embroidery, 8x8in, 2015, $500
Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.
