Jenson Nelson
Goddess of Tantrums - 30" x 24" x 2"
Goddess of Tantrums - 30" x 24" x 2"
I ventured outside my comfort zone with this mixed-media piece, covering it in vivid colors and heaps of anomalous textures. The eye is naturally drawn to the legs—duh—which are tricked out in stockings that give off major "Wicked Witch of the West" vibes. An assortment of butterflies and mushrooms prance around the canvas, aiming to attract fairies, potheads, and people who make their own soap. These elements, motifs, symbols—or whatever you want to call them—are not typically my style. However, it was fun to channel the work of someone with a different brand of whimsicality than mine. Dominated by a palette of reds and pinks, this piece showcases effervescent circles of various sizes (yes, I just used "effervescent" without referencing champagne). Some of the more Jensonesque circles are filled with old poetry and pages from twelve-step books, while others are adorned with freehand acrylic imperfections. The handmade torn paper, which I had a blast experimenting with (huge shoutout to SCRAP PDX), adds depth and dynamism—or at least that's what my friend Ryan, who has a better vocabulary than I do, said. Dy•na•mism. I’m still working on it: ˈdīnəˌmizəm. Back to the piece: the entire composition is a pretty dope juxtaposition of chaos and delicacy, which isn’t unusual for my art—or my life.
While creating it, I felt somewhat out of my element but easily fell into a state of flow. Except when I had to cut out the mushrooms and butterflies; I handled those at the nail salon during a pedicure—seriously, I used my sharp, too-large-to-carry-around-in-public scissors and freed the butterflies, one by one.
Chaos, nostalgia, poetry, recovery, human-made elements, nature, legs!, printed digital art, and haphazardly mixed paints—it's all there, people. It’s all there.
If you're local and can pick 'er up, you get a $100 discount.