Bank Street Gallery
Jenny Smith was born in Dumfries. Leaving school, she travelled north from Dumfries and Galloway to study art at Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee. She graduated BDes(Hons) in textile design only a few months ago.
Perhaps because of her rural childhood, nature has played a significant role in influencing her development. Fascinated by form, she finds life in the turn of the seasons, from decaying leaves and rotten remains to the rejuvenation of a snowdrop, the strength of an emerging crocus. She is captured by what she describes as “the persistence of nature to survive any interference”. Colour, too, plays a significant role and is both observed and manipulated in her work.
Bank Street Gallery is lucky enough to have caught Jenny just as she focuses her creativity anew on the flora of her immediate surroundings. This intense investigation which constitutes her one woman show at the Gallery is the precursor to the next evolution of her textile productions. Scale and colour are used to create a vibrant spontaneity. Technique and forensic observation produce unexpected form and a fabulous vitality.
At the outset of her career, we see in Jenny’s work an optimism and enthusiasm for life, her drive for success reflected in her productivity balanced with a recognition – if somewhat reluctantly – that both she and her art require fiscal sustenance in the process. Recently undertaking a new career as a waitress, that hard labour has not in any way diminished her output. And lucky are the diners who come across the good cheer in the person which springs so readily from her canvasses.
The show runs from Friday 18th March, 2011 to Friday 29th April, 2011. The Gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday 10am-4pm and Sunday 1pm-4pm