by Staff Reports
Shasta College will present Your Heart is Free, an exhibition of paintings by Jennifer Pochinski through Sept. 27 at the Shasta College Art Gallery.
There will be an artist’s lecture 11 a.m. to noon Thursday, Sept. 6 in room 400 with a reception to follow until 1 p.m. in building 300. This event is free and open to the public.
The collection of recent work toys with figuration and text. They are, on the surface, roguish posters.
The pieces are characterized by gestural brushstrokes and bold use of color and text, derived from Greek pop songs in the Cyrillic alphabet. Picture freedom. Oil paint brushed on without inhibition and liberated colors, textures, and patterns that both describe the figure and have an abstract life all their own.
Pochinski draws inspiration from sources as diverse as German Neo-Expressionists, Bay Area figurative painters, Larry Rivers, RB Kitaj, her years living in Greece and Instagram. The artist references paintings from the past and combs through social media looking for images to transform into paintings. Diverse imagery results.
One painting features what appears to be an aged Greek god lumbering about on the beach and another shows a ho hum dinner table scene. What connects these images is the artist’s free play and vision and a heartfelt love of painting.
Jennifer Pochinski is an accomplished and award-winning artist. Select solo exhibitions include Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and at b.sakata garo in Sacramento, California, and Bonicos Gallery in Athens, Greece. She received her BFA in Painting 1991 from the University of Hawaii. Pochinski lives and works in Northern California. She is represented in San Francisco by Dolby Chadwick Gallery.
The gallery is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon Friday.