Jennifer Dorner

Sky Vessels

March 7 to April 18 2008

Sky Vessels is an exhibition of paintings, an artificial sky built panel by panel with miniscule elements that highlight the bizarre attributes of leisure activities emblematic of western culture. Jennifer Dorner's work is influenced by a variety of mediums, social spaces, and everyday life. Key concepts include artifice and display and how these can create atmospheric space within painting. As a juncture, the small and detailed representation of leisure activity combined with transport vehicles acts as the catalyst for disrupting the painting field. The use of humour - the uncanny - within the pictorial narrative introduces a subtle, but complex compositional language.

Jennifer Dorner was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1974. Since then, she has lived in Ontario where she received her BFA from the University of Ottawa, and MFA from the University of Western Ontario. She moved to Nova Scotia in 2003 to run the eyelevelgallery, an artist-run centre in downtown Halifax. Now based in Montreal, Quebec, Jennifer is pursuing her multi-disciplinary artistic career and in her spare time manages the Independent Media Arts Alliance, in the role of National Director. Jennifer is the recipient of several grants and awards including a grant for emerging artists through the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the arts. In 2004, her work was short-listed for the Atlantic region for the RBC National Painting competition. Her work has been exhibited in group shows across Canada including the "Jennifer Show" curated by Jenifer Paparo for the Oakville Galleries and "So Far So Good" at YYZ artists' outlet. She has taught at the University of Western Ontario, Dundas Valley School of Art and has a strong passion for advocating for the arts with an emphasis on artist-run culture.