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Jenny Hillenbrand
Eroding Memory diptych
2021
Digital Prints
Eroding Memory diptych
2021
Digital Prints
Statement: Eroding Memory diptych is a set of digital drawings created from a photograph evoking memories of gathering with the cast iron art community. The image is of a pile of sand mold waste rendered two ways. Sand mold waste is the byproduct of casting using single-use resin-bonded sand. The source photograph was taken in 2011 at Sloss Furnaces, a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham Alabama, during my first time at the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices. I loved everything about the experience--the people, place, production, freedom of expression, and exchange of ideas. It revealed to me the strength and impact individual people have on making a collective experience worth remembering. Most significant for me, was identifying a shared value in doing things yourself and self-learning. My studio practice at the time was selecting sand mold waste, altering it, and assembling it to cast sand mold remnants. I wanted to preserve the sands impression of the original cast work before it eroded. I did this partly because I didn’t want to produce new sand mold waste, and if I did, I wanted to try to reclaim it as you would with other multi-use casting methods or as you would with clay in ceramics. The pile at Sloss was especially huge and though the idea of trying to cast parts of it intrigued me--I didn’t want to. It was layers of material deposited by artists who had come through--like a big group installation. I chose to render the photo in two ways to finally make art inspired by the pile. The image on the left is simplified into shapes, close to the original image but distorted to symbolize memory. The image on the right is simplified into outlines that form pathways referencing the way I approach mold making. As I assemble a mold I visualize the path and flow of metal running through the pieces.
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Artist Bio:
Jenny Hillenbrand is the Director of Programs at Salem Art Works (SAW) in Salem NY. Jenny works with hundreds of youth and adults every year, facilitating artist programs including workshops, demonstrations, residencies, events, and exhibitions. Jenny’s solo work is multi-disciplinary and performative, and inspired by material, process, and improvisation. Jenny earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts with a minor in Arts Education from Alfred University in 2011. Jenny also works collaboratively. Collaborative projects includes Lifetime Guarantee with Kristen Tordella-Williams (2010-present), Six and Four Articulations with eight artists (2011), en plein air with Laura Smith (2011), Boot Dance with Jonas Lindberg (2011), and FE garden with Chelsea Bouffard (2010).
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