Kathleen Jacobs
It’s fair to say that my paintings contain layered meaning. Minimally, my paintings are a reaction to the Western culture of my time—my rejection of our society’s penchant for excess and indifference that threatens our planet’s ecosystems. I do not paint pictures of polluted rivers or littered fields. My work represents my own attempts in these chaotic times to reconnect and decipher the natural world, and to come to grips with the exigencies of today’s stark environmental situation. Violence and destruction exist in nature, yet when I paint, I choose to ignore these traits. In nature’s predictable rhythmic patterns, I see the sublime. To me, nature represents the ultimate example of gracious acceptance of change, even death; winter’s repose inevitably yields to spring’s rebirth. For these reasons, my paintings at least, are simplified, idealized attempts that speak to nature’s persistence, vulnerability and beauty, which I paint if for no other reason than this: within the natural world exists the promise of rejuvenation.
Kathleen Jacobs received a BFA in painting and art history from the University of Massachusetts and her MFA in Visual Arts/Painting from the Art Institute of Boston/Lesley University.
Full scholarship from the University of MA to attend and an Art Fund Scholarship to study in France. Her work is included in private and corporate collections throughout the United States and abroad.