Jen Blazina
Jen Blazina is a print artist living and working in Philadelphia, PA. Her work incorporates a variety of media and methods. Brief interview with Blazina after the jump.
How did you come to making prints or print-related work?
I started to work in printmaking when I took a non-silver collotype course in undergrad at SUNY Purchase College. My photo teacher, Jim Frank, said you are a printmaker and I said a what. So I started to take screen-print and litho at the end of my senior year and then went on to grad school in it.
Where do you find inspiration for the work you do?
A lot of different places but I have to say mostly my grandparents and the history of my families stories. I also am an avid reader and love history.
Can you say a few words about your studio practice?
While searching for discarded objects from thrift stores, on the street, and ones passed down to me from my family, these become personal keepsakes, icons of the past which otherwise would be overlooked or regarded as something useless. Based on this experience, collections represent a sense of holding onto a place in time. By re-creating these objects through casting and re-fabrication, I have used the history of the objects in my own current tense.
My installations examine commonplace objects and subtle images, which evoke a haunting and ephemeral sense of a familiarity with the past. The photographs and selected objects become iconic themselves and allude to the tangible evidence of the invisible portal to a moment and the temperamental narratives, evoked by both the image, and memory.
What is the most exciting trend in contemporary print?
Mixed media.
What would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?
Nothing. I can’t imagine that.
What’s the last book you’ve read and would you recommend it?
Unaccustomed Earth By Jhumpa Lahiri . It was amazing but I am a big fan of her writing.
Any news or upcoming projects to share?
Yes, Definitely.
In June I have work at American University opening May 31st called
In June I have a show in Santa Fe at Judy Youens Gallery. I am lecturing about my work on July 23rd. For more info: www.judyouensgallery.com.
From July 1 to the 27 I have a residency at fransmasereelcentrum in Belgium. For more info: www.fransmasereelcentrum.be
From August 18 to Sept 29, I have a residency at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY through an NEA fellowship.
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