JENNIFER YORKE'S PORTFOLIO

SELECTED RECENT COLLAGES

 

RECENT INSTALLATIONS

ET IN ARCADIA EGO

The omnipresence of our garbage in the environment is my subject in et in Arcadia ego ("even in Arcadia am I"), an installation I produced at Allegheny College using wall drawing and found materials.  The presence of death even in an idyllic land was a well-known subject for neoclassical painting, most famously Poussin’s two allegories titled et in Arcadia ego; here the phrase refers to the trash we carelessly leave behind.

WE MAKE OUR OWN MONSTERS

In this graphite wall drawing installation at the Lexington Art League I address the relationship between plastic waste and recent changes in ocean life.  At the base of the stairs, floating jellyfish are accompanied by a hand-lettered text: "As debris accumulates in the ocean, plastics are broken into particles which can be ingested by aquatic life and case starvation. Plastic bags kill animals that mistake them for jellyfish and eat them.  Overfishing of other species has allowed jellyfish populations to grow dramatically.  Warming ocean temperatures also favor them.  The seas may soon be crowded with jellyfish like the branches of city trees are crowded with plastic bags.  We make our own monsters."  On the landing, a plastic bag at the moment it transforms into a jellyfish appears alongside this text: "Christina's mother-in-law Georgetta, a lifelong Athenian, believed that when plastic bags drifted into the sea they became jellyfish."  At the top of the stairs, I reflect upon my role in the problem: "Christina told me this as we looked at the lake and drank tea out of paper cups covered by plastic lids with little flaps that lock into the hole one drinks through to prevent spills.  They never stay put, though, and create only an illusion of containment.  We make our own monsters."

BOMBSHELL

Curling blonde hair is an icon of feminine allure and a symbol of conformity.  I surround the viewer with enlarged blonde hair in Bombshell, a large installation of inkjet prints on translucent silk.  Bombshell both seduces and suffocates, much like the idealized femininity it depicts.


A STRING OF PEARLS

A pearl forms around a tiny irritant trapped within an oyster's shell. In order to isolate the irritant, the oyster coats it with many layers of nacre.  We create explanations for irritatingly incongruous events in a similar way.  A String of Pearls is a group of large, four-color screen prints rendered with a very large halftone dot.  From afar, the pearls appear smooth and luminous, but break down into dots when approached.  The object of desire is always just out of reach.

 

COLLABORATIVE ARTISTS' BOOKS

I have collaborated with the brilliant Lynne Huffer on several artists' books.  Images and descriptions of our works-in-progress appear on this page; we welcome your inquiries and suggestions about possible artists' residencies, book production grants, and publishers.

WADING POOL
Available Now!

In Wading Pool, an idyllic moment between two young sisters is threatened by the world outside their backyard wading pool and by the difference between their imagined worlds.  This remembrance of Huffer's childhood is rendered in colorful geometric forms and inventive typography that enliven a two-sided accordion book.  This archival inkjet book is printed with an Epson Photo R3000 on Somerset Enhanced paper.

Wading Pool is included in the collections of The Center for Book Arts in New York, Emory University and Indiana University.

To purchase one of the 50 copies in the edition for $225, visit Vamp and Tramp or contact jennifer at jenniferyorkeartist.com.

Please note that Vamp and Tramp's site is a hypertext transfer protocol (http) site, rather than a hypertext transfer protocol secure (https) site, and may not load on some browsers.  Vamp and Tramp may be reached by:

• Phone: 205-824-2300
• Fax: 204-824-2303
• E-mail: mail at vampandtramp.com

 

SLEEPING SICKNESS

In this artists' book based on a passage from Huffer's memoir, pop-ups, movable elements and line drawings render transformations, multiple narratives and the passage of time.

For more information about the purchase or exhibition of the work shown here, or to see images of additional work, please contact me at jennifer at jenniferyorkeartist dot com.