Artist Statement

My paintings are layered abstract compositions that explore the ever-changing natural and people-made environments where I work and live. I play with shape, line, color, and texture. I use ink, acrylic, and oil paint on wood panels. Pallet knives, paint scrapers, and sanders are important tools in my work. In one session I put paint on, and in the next I might scrape it away or sand it off. Sometimes I continue working on a painting for months, believing it will not be changed. Then one day I go into the studio and realize the texture and colors are unfinished, so it gets scraped. I ruin it to make it better. I go through this process of making and unmaking until there is nothing left to change. I have learned to trust the process. I don’t get scared anymore when I think I’ve ruined a painting because it means the piece is close to being finished. Despite the changes I make, there is always evidence of each phase of the painting in the final piece, giving it a sense of richness and history.

Artist Bio

Jennifer Zoss is a painter, living and working in Northeast Minneapolis. Her pieces combine drawing and painting into layered abstract compositions. Zoss has a BFA from The College of Visual Arts (2001), and an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Hamline University (2015). Zoss has been teaching English as a second language for the past 17 years and painting as a hobby. She now works as a full-time artist and shows in her studio space in the Northrup King Building.