LewAllen Galleries (Downtown)

Home includes new work by emerging mixed-media artist Jesse Blanchard. Depictions of dwellings and landscapes share space with more abstracted forms and geometric grids, superimposed over lushly colored backgrounds.

JESSE BLANCHARD

For mixed media artist Jesse Blanchard, the slow cadence of island living is pictorially transformed into contemplative compositions that utilize a variety of collage techniques. Employing a palette of mellow pastels and deeper, more vivid cerulean blues or melon oranges, Blanchard evokes the easy tranquility of a beach vacation.

Blanchard, who now makes his home in Santa Fe, notes an interest in imbuing imagined landscapes with a specific sense of place. Most often, this drive is culled from his own experiences growing up in New England and spending many years in the Caribbean. When one considers the spectacular colors that both of these locales are known for, it becomes clear where Blanchard derives inspiration for these light drenched tableaux. Using a variety of artistic techniques including sewn and encaustic elements as well as impastoed paper and cloth, Blanchard achieves what he calls “a compilation of ideas and textures.”

An established artist whose work has been extensively exhibited nationwide, Jesse Blanchard masterfully evokes a sense of time and place with his interpretive, often dream-like compositions. His work has found permanent incorporation in a variety of private and public collections.