HEIDI JUNG
HEIDI JUNG
August 2nd – September 14th, 2024
Bryant Street Gallery is pleased to share a new collection of paintings by Heidi Jung. Noted for originating a specialized method of painting with Sumi ink on Mylar, Jung creates large-scale botanical imagery strikingly rendered in stark black and white, with selective touches of gentle color. The exhibit is on display from August 2nd to September 14th, 2024. The gallery and artist welcome the public to an opening reception on Saturday, August 3rd, from 3-5 p.m.
“Life is frittered away by detail; simplify, simplify.” Jung lives by these words from naturalist Henry David Thoreau. While at a distance, her work appears realistic–almost photographic–an up-close examination reveals not precious, intricate detail, but abstraction and heavy evidence of the artist’s hand. She pulls away from tight renderings, instead laying down watery lines of ink and letting them dry with little interference. The ink gathers around the edges of the brushstrokes, creating natural textures. She comes in later and rubs, smears, and layers the surface to add depth. Drips and blots are left intentionally in each work, becoming as integral to the piece as marks that arise in darkroom-processed photography.
Before receiving her degree in Drawing, Jung had a background in photography, which is upheld in the seemingly effortless realism she balances with an instinctual fluidity in her mark-making. While the ethereal effects she achieves with inks, charcoal, erasure, and grattage bring to mind photographic techniques like cyanotypes and darkroom photography, her method of intuitively laying down brushstrokes imitates the stochasticity of plant growth. In this way, the spontaneity of her linework unexpectedly adds to the image’s realism.
Jung’s fascination with flora and fauna extends back to her youth, where she grew up frolicking in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. As a child, she was unafraid of the darker parts of nature, often picking up insects and snakes to examine them. Now, well into her career as an artist, this interest carries on in plants in their twilight hours, and she spends her time frequenting botanical gardens and cultivating her own plants at her house. A Denver native, she attended Metro State University and still lives in the area today. Her arresting images of stark specimen forms have been shown in galleries and collections nationwide, including the Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities and the Denver Botanic Gardens.
Heidi Jung’s new exhibition is on view at 532 Bryant Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 from August 2nd to September 14th. For more images and information please visit the website at www.bryantstreet.com or email us at bryantst@mac.com
Bio:
Heidi Jung (b.1974) is a contemporary American painter known for her large-scale painted depictions of botanical imagery. Jung has been noted with originating a new and challenging method of painting with Sumi ink and charcoal on Mylar on panel.
In her latest series, her subjects come from plants, trees and flowers grown at her studio and garden in Denver, Colorado. Jung attended Metro State University in Denver and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in drawing in 1997. Notable exhibitions include a solo show at the Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities in 2013, as well as an invitation and solo show at the Denver Botanic Gardens in 2016. Influences include Robert Motherwell, Franz Klein, and Jim Dine. Her arresting and recognizable images of stark, black and white, specimen forms have been shown in galleries and collections nationwide.
Artist Statement:
Brought up in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Heidi Jung as an artist has naturally been drawn to a subject matter most timeless and familiar to her.
Through draughtsmanship and technique acquired over the years in both college and career, she has brought an extraordinary and authentic approach to drawing.
The ethereal effects she achieves with inks, charcoal, erasure and grattage might remind the viewer of the spontaneity of darkroom photography; indeed, photography was originally the emphasis of her arts degree before committing to drawing.
These hand-rendered effects are achieved by way of similarly unpredictable processes, and this 'darkroom-aesthetic' is readily seen throughout the textures and markings of her compositions.
Brother Sumi ink, charcoal, and pastel on Mylar on panel 60” x 40”
Purple Heart
Sumi ink, charcoal, and pastel on Mylar on panel 40” x 120”
Palm Frond II
Sumi ink and charcoal on Mylar on panel
60” x 40”
Aloe and Pup
Sumi ink and charcoal on Mylar on panel
60” x 40”
Jasmine
Sumi ink, charcoal, and pastel on Mylar on panel
60” x 40”
Madonna
Sumi ink and charcoal on Mylar on panel 60” x 40”
Ginger Rogers
Sumi ink, charcoal, and pastel on Mylar on panel
60” x 40”
Dick Tracey
Sumi ink, charcoal, and pastel on Mylar on panel
60” x 40”
Ponderosa II
Sumi ink, acrylic, pastel, and charcoal on Mylar on panel 59” x 102”
