ARTIST STATMENT

The ship as vessel, as arbiter of life.

(C) 2007 Jennifer Torres

I have always seen the boat as a form of escape. A way out or perhaps a way in. In many cultures boats are still used for hunting and fishing and as a way to move goods in and out of communities. They become a life force, a necessity in the most basic of ways. These are some of the ideas I am exploring in my work.

I have always been fascinated with water and ships. Growing up in New York City and its environs I spent a lot of time as a kid near the Hudson River, on the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean and all the areas in between. I learned to canoe at a young age and today build my own small wooden kayaks and boats that carry me along the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes and swamps of Louisiana and Mississippi .

Most of my work has come in the form of installation. I firmly believe that art must have a true and firm presence. The audience needs to interact, to move around the work, to be affected and impacted by the work. Work should not be placed in a gallery to the convenience of the viewer. Rather it should be inconvenient. The viewer should be troubled by the work. They should have to make an effort to move around, under, or over. In some recent works, I have been experimenting with individual wall hung and pedestal pieces in order to focus the viewers on more individualized thoughts. My work is in many different mediums, but I prefer cast iron, steel, wood, and clay. I will basically use any material that I come across.