American Art Collector | Jennifer Pochinski: Big Islands
June 2021
by American Art Collector Staff
The gestural artwork of Jennifer Pochinski is guided by instinct-rugged brushstrokes and vivid colors that come together to create an experience of pure human emotion. “My work is driven by the sensuousness of paint,” she says. “I feel that the unfolding process should remain visible as if to bear witness to the emotionality of the artist during the whole course of making the painting. Somehow I’d like the paintings to provide access to an experience of life on a visceral level.” The human form, says Pochinski, is always prominent in her mind when she paints. “I love watching life take shape by the movement of the brush. And I like narratives that form when two figures are put together on a canvas.”
Jennifer Pochinski | Lightly, 2021 | Oil on canvas | 48 x 42 inches
The artist will exhibit new works during an upcoming exhibition, titled Big Islands, at Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco. The show, happening late spring into early summer, will focus on a new body of work that the artist says is rooted in her early life growing up in Hawaii. “My family moved there when I was 11 and are still there,” she says, adding that these paintings are a direct expression of her desire to return to Hawaii.
Jennifer Pochinski | The Young Fisherman, 2021 | Oil on canvas | 48 x 60 inches
“Much of the art world is centered in New York and certainly the East Coast in general. As a painting student at the University of Hawaii I was deeply aware of this fact. It felt futile to try to run with that pack so I had my own personal goals in painting from then on,” says the artist. “I have shown in New York and have tires to the East Coast communities but feel a sense of loyalty to my own experience.”
Jennifer Pochinski | Sandbar, 2020 | Oil on canvas | 60 x 72 inches
Evocative of island life, Pochinski’s new oil paintings feature bright, tropical greenery and shades of ocean blue. “During the isolation of the pandemic, my feelings literally came to the surface as images were forming on my canvases,” she says. “The context in which the figure was set always seems to be a specific place on Oahu. The Ko’olau mountain seemed to be the default backdrop for my figures. After a trip there in October I embraced this idea and subsequently made a few paintings that had direct ties to Hawaii.”
Jennifer Pochinski | NorthShore, 2020 | Oil on canvas | 60 x 48 inches
The exhibition runs from June 3 to 26.
DOLBY CHADWICK GALLERY
210 Post Street, Suite 205
San Francisco, CA 94108
