Cornish College of the Arts is honored to present VOYAGER, a powerful series of paintings, wall carvings and funeral boats created by renowned artist and Cornish alumnus Steve Jensen. Thanks to the artist’s generosity, selected works will be available for purchase with all proceeds benefiting the Cornish Scholarship Fund. Steve Jensen’s VOYAGER runs November 1-27 with an opening reception on November 1st in the Cornish Main Gallery.
“Like the celebratory funerals performed by the Vikings, Jensen’s work confronts the idea of death, asking the viewer to do the same. By including real objects such as the ashes of his dog (in Pablo), the bullets from the gun that killed his father (Norman), and the cast of his mother’s face (Pat), he brings the viewer uncomfortably close to the subject but in a way that somehow remains gentle. The result is an intimate portrait of an artist’s life through those he loved.”
- Excerpted from Contemporary Warriors and Viking Ships, by Cornish Exhibitions Curator Jess Van Nostrand
Jensen’s work reminds the viewer of a time when artists were asked to act as both craftsman and mortician. On this subject, the artist offers this comment: “My education at Cornish never prepared me to work with human or animal ashes but I feel honored to have this opportunity… Death is the one final thing we all have in common and the universal image of the boat in many cultures symbolizes a passage or voyage, perhaps to the other side.”
Images:
Steve Jensen, Red Böt, 16"x 20”, oil on wood, photo by Londe Young
Steve Jensen, Voyage to the Other Side, 50"x42”, carved recycled wood, photo by Londe Young
