About the artist...

Watch a video of Jen Garrido's April 2024 solo show 'Shapes That Listen' here.

Listen to Jen speak about her 2022 show in this exhibition video.

Listen to Jen speak about her 2020 show in this exhibition video.

Take a virtual tour of the 2017 show here.

My painting practice is guided by a delicate balance of choice and process. I begin each piece with an inner dialogue made up of gestures, marks, color relationships, and compositional tendencies I return to. From there, the work evolves through layering, editing, covering, and revision. Each painting becomes a space for negotiation between clarity and disruption, structure and spontaneity.

A vital part of my current practice is the ongoing exchange between my fine art identity and my alter ego, Jenny Pennywood. Jenny began in 2008 as a practical solution, but quickly became a container for rhythm, pattern, color, and experimentation. She allowed me to step sideways from the discomfort I once felt in the fine art space. Jen is grounded and analytical; Jenny is expansive and intuitive. Their dialogue continues to shape the work.

As my life and practice have evolved, I’ve become more aware of how much my earlier painting was shaped by constraint. I had limited time in the studio, the pace of my business was demanding, and I felt constant pressure to keep producing. The work was often quick and direct because it had to be. Now, with more time and space, the work is shifting. There’s more complexity, more intention, and more reflection.

Recently, this shift has taken on a new form through the introduction of cut paper collage—shaped, painted pieces that extend beyond the edges of the canvas. These works break apart the picture plane and explore painting as object, pattern, rhythm, and spatial play. They have become a crucial part of the conversation, deepening the language of the work and offering a new kind of freedom and immediacy.

For years, my process helped me organize and contain my experiences and, in some ways, to hide within them. However, this new body of work is about integration and a coming-togetherness.

Each painting becomes a container, holding both repetition and change, intention and openness. That’s the space I want to inhabit now: where the work reflects the process, and the process reflects the life.

Visit artist's website - www.jengarrido.com