Artist Spotlight: Jennifer Cronin
Jennifer Cronin makes the mundane magical. The Chicago-based painter — one of 13 artists exhibiting with Vertical Gallery at this year’s Aqua Art Miami — captures the intrinsic otherness of everyday life, foregrounding the phenomena we so often take for granted.
Jennifer made her Vertical debut as part of our 2022 group show ‘Atomic Number 13 Part 2,’ and we’re excited to present her newest collection to the Miami audience. The latest installment of our web-exclusive Artist Spotlight series reveals all.
Vertical Gallery: Tell us about the work you’re exhibiting at Aqua Art Miami.
Jennifer Cronin: It’s in line with the work that I've been making for the past several years: everyday landscapes infused with magic and mystery, reminding viewers there is beauty all around us. The pieces I’m showing in Miami bring in more experimentation and abstraction. I’m letting the paint be paint — letting a brushstroke just be a brushstroke, and not necessarily representing or trying to capture something else.
There's a section in one painting that’s, like, this green scribble. I didn't know exactly what that was going to be, but after working on the painting and spending a lot of time with it, I knew I wanted it to be there. I don't think about it too much, because it's kind of automatic, but introducing these elements that are a little bit less predictable and a little bit stylistically different has been really, really fun for me.
An eerie green light recurs throughout your earlier work. Is the green scribble an extension of that motif?
I definitely find myself returning to themes and colors, and yes, there are certain things that have shown up in my figurative work that are now showing up in these landscapes. I enjoy ambiguity, so [green light] is not necessarily something very specific. It’s more a symbol for something unexplained or something mysterious.
Where does this emphasis on landscapes come from?
I did a show in 2019 called ‘Seen and Unseen’ that was inspired by my research into climate refugees — Alaska Native villages forced to move because the land literally can't support them anymore, and their houses are being swallowed by the sea. That work was really heavy, and it led to some art burnout. I spent about nine months not making anything.
When the pandemic came around, I got the itch to start working again. I did a couple of small drawings, and then I rethought my practice. I wanted to focus on creating work that came from a place of joy — work that was hopeful. So I brought together all of the aspects of my practice that I enjoy most, like landscapes and playing around with paint.
I think a lot of people can relate to landscapes, because they’re kind of general. A landscape can represent a lot of different places. It's not something too specific.
What do you hope the Miami audience takes away from experiencing your work?
I just hope they're drawn to it. I love the connections that people bring when they're looking at a painting: it's always fun to hear stories about how it makes them think of when they were young, a place that they know, or something like that. I always like seeing people spend time with my work, and getting lost a little. I like that a lot.
Vertical Gallery will feature four new paintings from Jennifer Cronin (@jennifercroninart) at Aqua Art Miami, running December 3-7. Email sales@verticalgallery.com for the collector preview.