Jen Dunlop has seen dark days, but has always found light in her art. She wants her viewers to find the light within themselves when observing her pieces.
“My purpose as an artist is to transmute darkness into light and bring light into dark places,” she said.
The Madison-based artist has been renting one of Carnelian Art Gallery’s private studio spaces since the beginning of October, and is slated to feature her works in a 2025 exhibition.
Dunlop, a resident of Madison for 20 years, has found a home in creating organic forms on a canvas using glue and tissue paper. She then paints over the forms, many of which resemble trees or arteries, with iridescent metallic acrylics to give her pieces a whimsical, ethereal and even haunting quality. An artist since elementary school, Dunlop learned this technique while at Madison Area Technical College in 2011, where she ultimately studied for two semesters. She completed a summer course at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles in 2000, too. The rest of her art background comes from taking high school art classes. Dunlop also has experience drawing vibrant fairies and angels, some of which are displayed in her studio space.
“I come from a family of artists and was always encouraged to pursue art from a young age,” Dunlop said. “Over the years (that art) has evolved.”
In high school, Dunlop said her art took on a much gloomier tone, with late Swiss artist H.R. Giger as one of her influences at the time. Giger is known for his nightmarish images that blend the human physique and machines, and he’s famous for creating the xenomorph design for the Alien movie franchise. Now, Dunlop draws her inspiration from nature and love. Her creation process is meditative for her, and “a time to commune with God.”
One large piece in Dunlop’s apartment is one that she has been working on since 2019. The paintings lower left corner is reminiscent of a forest, albeit being pink and metallic. On the painting’s right is a form that bears a resemblance to a heart. Both forms sit beneath an abstract blue, pink and yellowish sky.
“It’s taken on a lot of different colors and forms,” Dunlop said while painting the aforementioned piece. “My personal philosophy is to paint just to paint. I try not to judge myself. I might like this blue sky. I might change my mind. I have worked on this painting for a long time. The sky has been gold. The sky has been blue. Some different variations in between.
“Art can never be completely finished.”
Another painting in Dunlop’s gallery studio is a lone image of a heart. At first glance, the heart has dreamy reds, oranges and yellows contrasting a calming blue background. But if you study the piece further, it almost mirrors an actual human heart. The tissue paper’s texture may remind the viewer of the organ’s atriums and ventricles, and maybe even blood. One more piece in Dunlop’s studio resembles an eccentric and colorful forest that surrounds a dark void.
Dunlop said she wants this year to be the one that she “comes out of the closet” with her art. She’s been in a few local art shows, and her pieces have been displayed inside a smattering of businesses, including Journey Mental Health Center in Madison. This winter, she’ll be in a fair at the Goodman Community Center. Next summer, Dunlop plans to do live painting sessions at the Capitol Square.
To check out more of Dunlop’s works, you can visit her TikTok account @Jen Sky Art, as well as her website: jenskyart.com.
