About
Jacqueline Bryan was born in Lexington, KY. She studied ceramics and glass at Centre College and received a Bachelor of Arts in 2012. Further pursuing an education in art, she studied art history at the University of Louisville and received a Bachelor of Arts in 2013.
Jacqueline’s art focuses on the beauty of nature with an uplifting and overwhelming presence. In the past year her work has turned to her dreams as a source for her inspiration. By looking into the meanings of her dreams she feels she can connect to people in a meaningful but whimsical way.
Artist Statement
The most important thing I consider when creating a work is the feeling it gives to the viewer. I focus on flowers and nature because throughout my life my emotions have been strongly influenced by it. The beauty and grand scale of nature, which is able to envelop a person and comfort them with its strong lastingness, is the feeling I like to recreate with my art. My work is to be uplifting and beautiful like a sunny summer day, a colorful fall afternoon, white winter, or the new beginning of spring. With each season I am inspired by the joy each one holds.
The flowers I create are representing the beauty I see in late spring and summer. The scale even though unrealistic becomes consuming to the viewer. By giving each petal a smooth texture it invites the viewer closer to examine the graceful folds of each petal. The glaze requires many firings to provide a beautiful, glossy, opalescent finish. The first step is applying a white/ colored under-glaze then bisque firing. After that is complete I coat it with a clear gloss glaze and fire again. For the final firing I carefully coat each petal with a pearl luster. This last firing gives the flower a brilliant lustrous sheen that only enhances its beauty.
Working with such large exaggerated forms has been a continual technical struggle. Dealing with the weight of each piece and being able to mount it and hang it on a wall is the biggest challenge. From working with epoxies to wires and bolts, I have found a way that is secure and strong and provides a lasting way to assemble the pieces. The method of assembling them I use has been successful in allowing me to hang my work and have it viewed in the way I have envisioned. Another problem has been making such a large object seem seamless and through different measures of assembling I have been successful in achieving a unified look.
Recently I have been inspired by my dreams. I believe in dreams we are faced with the simplest truths of our lives. I want to portray images directly as I see them in my dreams which I can identify as being related to specific feelings or concerns. Though this body of work will be related to common concerns it will approach the subjects in an uplifting and whimsical manner.
Dreams in art can be related to surrealist works where the subconscious is liberated and rational thinking is disregarded. Everyone can relate to dreams and the stresses of conscious life that they depict figuratively. The iconic symbols in a dream offer a wide range of interpretation which would only be specifically true to the person who dreamed them. However, many books explore related imagery which our culture naturally assigns to certain meanings. In this way the images of my dreams could be valid to many other viewers.
By creating images from my dreams I would be forced to explore their meaning to me and also confront my subconscious. In this way I would be making myself vulnerable to viewers of the work by revealing my deepest worries and concerns to the public. This openness is something I have yet to explore or attempt with my art often focusing on making the viewer feel a specific way rather than exploring my internal connection to the work. I feel that exploring this internal connection would lead my work to be more meaningful not only to me but to the viewers.