Reston Art Gallery
[email protected]

Jennifer Duncan

ARTIST STATEMENT
Using predominantly water-based media, I mix abstraction into representational paintings that reflect my
observations of the world around me. Specific moments capture my imagination. Beginning my ideas with a
sketch or photo that focus on the up-close, tiny details in nature or the larger landscape, I return to my studio
to combine my memory of the place and the recorded reference. I am drawn to repetitive patterns and visual
texture that are part of the chaotic rhythms found in nature.
I approach each painting with spontaneity and the conscious objective of opening myself up to the unexpected.
The painting grows naturally through a process of mark-making and painting, layering bright swaths of color
and gestural drawing - adding and eliminating. My goal is to utilize the back-and-forth nature of my process to
construct an interesting and complex painting for the mind to wander through.
.
BIO
Jennifer Duncan is a visual artist based in Northern Virginia. Her interest in the arts began early, when as a
young child she created a set of brightly colored illustrated books on local birds, insects and other things with
wings. As a teenager, she painted sets and posters for her mother- a theater arts teacher and was hired to
calligraphy the award certificates for the Arlington Masons. Living near Washington, DC, early art education
included visits to the National Galleries and a Commercial Art degree from the Arlington Career Center. After
graduating with a degree in Clinical Social Work, Duncan utilized her Studio Art minor as she worked with
children at Children’s National Medical Center.
Duncan returned to painting soon after her children were born, co-managing a small business that provided
specialized wall finishes, painted furniture and floor cloths for 10 years. Over the past 13 years she has taught
painting and collage at the Great Falls School of Art and in her home studio. Duncan’s paintings have appeared
in various juried and solo exhibits and are in private and corporate collections in the U.S., Paris, Peru and Chili.
She is a member of Great Falls Studios (www.GreatFallsStudios.com), Reston Art Gallery and Studios, McGuffey
Art Center in Charlottesville, VA (https://www.mcguffeyartcenter.com/) and Studio Gallery DC
(www.StudioGalleryDC.com).
.
.
See more of Jennifer Duncan's work at: www.JenniferDuncanArt.com
Instagram: jenniferduncanart
Facebook: @jduncart

View archived works