CURRENT SHOW

Born on a Ripple

A solo-exhibition from Jennifer Bastian

Statement from the artist

My art practice is a complex support system for my disabilities and neurodivergence - focusing on grief, love, self discovery, and ritual. I explore these themes through quilt and fibers work, meditative photographs, and an obsession with candle-lighting and melted wax. 

Since the death of my second mother in 2022, I have had revelations around trauma from my childhood and connected it to challenging patterns in my adult life, as well as the world around me. This has allowed me to find words to express the intentions of my practice more directly. It’s also made it impossible for me to ignore pain inside of myself and its connection to the global atrocities I see daily.

Through all of my processes of making, I create objects and experiences that resonate with the human yearning for safety, connection and acceptance. I want to break cycles of harm within my family and community by introducing imagery and statements reminding us that the world can be different. 

We are very excited to be showing a body of all new work from Madison-based artist Jennifer Bastian. The show consists of photographs, fiber works, and mixed media objects that tell intimate stories from the heart of Bastian’s experiences with the labor of parenting, grieving, and making community. 

Bastian received her BFA in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MA and MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was a finalist for the Women’s Forward Fund Forward Art Prize in 2022. Her 2021 work "I have missed you (Community Care is the Intimacy I Need)" was included in the 2022 Wisconsin Biennial at the Museum of Wisconsin Art and given an Award of Merit from Wisconsin Visual Artists. Bastian is the Thurber Park Artist in Residence for the City of Madison for 2024-2026.

Join us for an opening reception Saturday, September 13th 6-9pm at Tooth + Nail Gallery 2018 S 1st Street suite 308, Milwaukee.