Featured Artist Jennifer Gleason

Photographer Jennifer Gleason presents a portfolio of surrealistic imagery created as a healing force. See more and read her story by visiting her website.

 

 

Art is my security blanket. Whenever life gets me down or has me backed into a corner, I have always been able to lean to art as a trusted companion to help get me through.

 

 

Art has been my mentor, my teacher, my life coach, my protector, my healer, my most trusted friend. When life threw me the ultimate curveball, tipped my world upside down and stripped me of all I knew and loved, it was art that led me on to greater endeavors and in pursuit of a Bachelor’s in Fine Art degree at the age of thirty-eight.

 

 

It was at this point that I fully realized how much I relied on art for its healing nature—how in creating my artwork, I was not only healing myself, but helping to heal others as well.

 

 

Creating out of cathartic necessity, I developed a passion for storytelling. I am dedicated to the healing power of art and to raising awareness about how art enhances the well-being of individuals, society and the environment.

 

 

Although my degree is in digital photography, I do not consider myself a “straight shooter” in photography circles. I rarely fit inside any box or category, like a rare bird who refuses to be caged.

 

 

Words written on personal journal pages leap off the page and transform into surrealistic imagery. They bear a deeply metaphorical message pertaining to the journey of the Self through growth and change, as well as the examination of the psyche.

 

 

Through the inspiration of nature and spirituality, I create intuitively from “messages” received in dreams, meditation and walks in the forest. Each image is comprised of multiple photographs including self-portraits that are composited together with a myriad of digital effects and artfully blended with textures. These give my artwork a painterly aesthetic.

 

 

At times, I call upon my innate talents in fabrication as needed to create various headpieces and props, such as islands made of wooden matchsticks and armored chiropractic spines to facilitate a sense of whimsy to otherwise heavy subject matter.

 

 

Currently, my primary focus on matters greater than the Self. I have adopted the cause of addiction awareness and am creating an ongoing series–a visual opera with the key players being The Addict, The Loved Ones of the Addict and The Addiction itself.

 

 

As this topic has personal meaning, I have found it to be rather dark and weighty. I draw upon the inspiration the darkness holds in these moments so as I may help guide those who find themselves traveling similar paths and lead them to a path of Self Love, Light and Clarity.

 

Artist Jennifer Gleason invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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