Biography - Jean Gerster
Jean is a mixed-media artist currently living in Victoria, B.C. She completed a Certificate in Fine Art Techniques at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, B.C. in 2016 and has completed twelve of fifteen courses required for the completion of an Advanced Certificate in Painting, also at Emily Carr.
She has participated in a number of juried group shows in Canada, the U.S., and France, and her work has been purchased by individuals in Canada, the U.S., England, and Germany. An article in the Fall 2010 SAQA Journal described a group project that Jean coordinated, in which 20 participants from across Ontario and Quebec used art quilting to explore the work of contemporary Quebec painter Anne Savage.
Over the years, Jean has participated in workshops led by well-known Canadian and U.S. textile artists including Sue Benner, Judy Blaydon, Laura Cater-Woods, Rayna Gillman, and Elaine Quehl.
StatementI explore textile-based practices in my work; small batch hand-dyeing for the vivid colours and interesting textures that are produced, and textile based surface design techniques, such as drawing and painting directly onto fabric. My work is concerned with pattern, texture, and colour, and often employs minimalist or abstract motifs with an aim to explore depth, contrast, movement or light.
In making this series I was able to push my own artistic boundaries, and create work that I hope provokes the viewer to explore her imagination, or access an internal, private world. Ideally a piece might allow for the momentary suspension of time, or provide a welcome grounding in the moment. Textiles are a wonderfully tactile, familiar and flexible medium for this purpose
