Fine Art
JESSICA BAKER
New York-Based Mixed Media Visual Artist
New York-Based Mixed Media Visual Artist
Seasonal Fall
Site-specific window installation: Leaves w/ & w/out prints, branches, seeds, mobiles, & standing sculptures ~ Inches, 108 (H) x 108 (W) x 84 (D) © Jessica Baker |
Jessica describes her work and its evolution...
Ten years ago, while walking to my Brooklyn studio, I picked up a newly fallen leaf off the sidewalk and wondered if I could print on it like a piece of paper. The answer: Yes! In 2009, my first installation, Seasonal Fall, developed for a storefront window gallery in Brooklyn. This featured hundreds of leaves with prints along with other objects from nature that I collected from the streets and parks of Brooklyn. As my collection grew, so did my installation work (Natural Objects and Winter Look). This work culminated in 2015 with a solo exhibit at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Natural Remains This site-specific installation included a survey of artworks created by using materials from nature. 
Natural Remains Exhibit (2015)
Solo exhibit w/ site-specific installation: Prints on paper, prints on leaves, & mixed media works w/ natural materials © Jessica Baker |
Natural Objects
Site-specific installation & gallery exhibit: Prints on paper & on leaves, branches, seeds & mobiles ~ 15 x 15 foot gallery © Jessica Baker |
Winter Look
Site-specific window installation: Branches, leaves, seeds, mobiles, pine brush & pine cones ~ Inches, 96 (H) x 144 (W) x 30 (D) © Jessica Baker |
My next series, Change, grew out of an idea to use coins from a huge jar of change to create monoprints. Eventually, the coins themselves became the featured material for several mixed-media artworks. After relocating from Brooklyn to Woodstock, logs from a recently felled Pine Tree in my backyard provided the inspiration for a sculptural installation in 2016 titled Circle of Change.
Woodstock inspired a return to drawing. Over the next few years, my experiments with drawing upon and then cutting into white and black paper window shades led to a new series that culminated in my 2018 installation, Temporary Shade.
Woodstock inspired a return to drawing. Over the next few years, my experiments with drawing upon and then cutting into white and black paper window shades led to a new series that culminated in my 2018 installation, Temporary Shade.
Circle of Change
Sculptural installation: Coins, 21 Pine Tree Logs ~ Inches, 20 (H) x 120 (diameter) © Jessica Baker |
Temporary Shade
Site-specific window installation: Pen & Ink on white paper window shade/cut black paper window shades ~ Inches, 80 (H) x 96 (W) x 72 (D) © Jessica Baker |
I started using the remaining smaller pieces of the paper window shades to create tiny artist books. The shades had the perfect accordion-like folded book structure built right in. So this freed me to play around with form and text-based content. I began writing out text from my personal meditation practice, eventually creating large-scale, text-based work directly on the shades as well as an exhibit installation of 80 prints – all of which became part of my current series, Personal Meditations.
In 2019, I completed my first interactive, site-specific installation, Meditations on Love, at the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum’s Habitat for Artists studio residency. I provided different sized circles and materials to participants and asked them to contemplate love while creating artworks for display on the Habitat alongside my Personal Meditations artwork.
This year marked a return to text-based works like the unique artist’s book Everything You Love. And, as galleries slowly began to open over the summer, Artport Kingston invited me to develop an installation for Airstream, an ongoing, outdoor installation project. A recent drawing became the basis for the development of my first digital artwork, "us," a banner reimagining the American Flag which is currently on display in Kingston and New Paltz, NY.
In 2019, I completed my first interactive, site-specific installation, Meditations on Love, at the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum’s Habitat for Artists studio residency. I provided different sized circles and materials to participants and asked them to contemplate love while creating artworks for display on the Habitat alongside my Personal Meditations artwork.
This year marked a return to text-based works like the unique artist’s book Everything You Love. And, as galleries slowly began to open over the summer, Artport Kingston invited me to develop an installation for Airstream, an ongoing, outdoor installation project. A recent drawing became the basis for the development of my first digital artwork, "us," a banner reimagining the American Flag which is currently on display in Kingston and New Paltz, NY.
Personal Meditations Installation
Site-specific evolving installation: Prints on paper, unique artist books, pen & ink on paper window shades, cut white & black paper window shades, site-specific evolving installation ~ dimensions variable © Jessica Baker 
Everything You Love (Sides 1 & 2)
Unique, accordion fold, double-sided artist’s book: Handwritten text in gold & black ink on white paper, rice & decorative papers, black museum board covers. Display size: 5.25 x 24 x 5 inches © Jessica Baker |
Meditations on Love
Site-specific, interactive installation: Black & white paper window shades, pen & ink, paper, cardboard, wood, paint, markers & additional artworks. Created by over 30 participants ~ Inches, 108 (H) x 72 (W) x 72 (D) © Jessica Baker |
us
Digital artwork printed as an outdoor banner: Installed in two locations: #1 (shown in image) at Artport Kingston’s Artstream & #2 in the town of New Paltz, NY ~ Banner size: 72 x 48 inches © Jessica Baker |
What typically inspires you? Any recurring message throughout your work?
My installation work is inspired by the traditional mediums of drawing and printmaking. I wasn’t sure if I could print on that first leaf, much less if I could print a small, copper plate etching on it. The intuitive leap came from printmaking work already in progress in the studio. While I create individual artworks that are available for exhibit and sale, my installation work is temporary and, when de-installed, ceases to exist. Creating ephemeral, site-specific installations that only last a limited time inspires a greater appreciation for the work given its inherent impermanence. Is there a particular artist/artists who have influenced your work? So many: William Kentridge, Georgia O’Keefe, Matisse, Edvard Munch, and Egon Schiele. The following land and sculptural installation artists: Andy Goldsworthy, Maya Lin, Martin Puryear and Robert Smithson. After moving to Woodstock, I discovered Opus 40, the place where artist Harvey Fite spent 37 years working to convert a quarry into a sculpture, dying in the process - a story I find emblematic of the artistic impulse to create and share one’s work. |
Jessica Baker is a mixed-media visual artist based in Woodstock, NY. She creates thematic series of individual artworks and installations that explore the ephemeral nature of art. Her current series, Personal Meditations, is inspired by texts derived from Buddhist and related spiritual and philosophical teachings, along with humorous pearls of wisdom taught to her by a beloved T’ai Chi master.
Jessica’s artwork has been featured in an interview for National Public Radio. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally and is included in both private and institutional collections. Jessica’s work has been praised by critics, most notably, in The New York Times. She has been awarded a printmaking fellowship at Women’s Studio Workshop and several artistic residencies.
Since New York State’s lockdown in March 2020, Personal Meditations has become decidedly more personal with artworks that reflect the loss of loved ones due to the pandemic and the divisive social and political atmosphere.
Jessica’s artwork has been featured in an interview for National Public Radio. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally and is included in both private and institutional collections. Jessica’s work has been praised by critics, most notably, in The New York Times. She has been awarded a printmaking fellowship at Women’s Studio Workshop and several artistic residencies.
Since New York State’s lockdown in March 2020, Personal Meditations has become decidedly more personal with artworks that reflect the loss of loved ones due to the pandemic and the divisive social and political atmosphere.
Jessica Posing with "us"
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CURRENT & UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
“us” (Outdoor Banner Artwork) Artport Kingston’s Artstream (outdoor installations and exhibits along the Rondout Creek Walkway in Kingston, NY) Ongoing 2020 “us” (Outdoor Banner Artwork) New Paltz’s “Community of Peace” Exhibit October - November 2020 Annual Holiday Members’ Holiday Show Woodstock Artists Association & Museum (WAAM) December 4, 2020 - January 15, 2021 Follow Jessica on... |
