Artist Statement:

"My work focuses on how individuals process information in order to form identity. As technological innovations continually make our world seem faster, smaller and more infinite, we are barraged by information and images that are a part of the twenty-first century experience. Like never before, individual lives been stretched to include details previously unconsidered with immediate access to global events and interests. The images that accompany this information are delivered in a myriad of new ways, such as the Internet and satellite television. How do these images help form our identity and effect our perceptions?

My recent work explores these ideas by examining how we process this information and its source. My paintings often use materials from news sources that I then alter and paint to create familiar images placed out of context. By using media related images, my work also explores how contemporary technologies and concerns can be interpreted in paint. What I hope to find is a place where the subject and paint resonates unveiling new ways to express timeless truths. "

MORE OF JESSICA BENJAMIN'S WORK CAN BE SEEN AT:
www.jessicabenjaminstudio.com

SEE LINK BELOW

Benjamin's influences include Eduard Manet, Francisco Goya, and Diego Velazques. She also finds inspiration in Joan Mitchell, William DeKooning and Larry Rivers. She is known for her drawing ability as well as her use of color and expressive brushwork. Like many of her favorite artists, she is interested in how a painting is capable of creating an instaneous mood and feeling as pronounced as the reality of the subject.