1/17/11

Trinity Rep


Jennifer French

Animal Alphabet

2010
Acrylic & Collage on Canvas Boards

About the Work

After a year of being a stay-at-home mother, feeling compelled to begin making art again, I decided to create my own entry into the long tradition of alphabet books for children. Always inspired by the paper detritus of our culture, I drew imagery from materials accumulated over many years: old magazines, text books, coloring books, catalogs and junk mail, and combined them into loosely narrative collages. Patterns and details were painted into the collages, resulting in an amalgam of alphabet book, surreal landscape, and medieval icon. I find strange beauty in the darker corners of history, inspiration which found its way into this series as a slightly sinister sense of narrative, reminiscent of folk tales.

About the Artist

Jennifer Eli French was born in Denver, Colorado, and spent her childhood moving frequently. She attended high school in England and earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Jennifer lives in Providence with her husband, Rob, and twin sons Hank & Dexter.


Prints of the entire Animal Alphabet are available in her Etsy shop:


www.etsy.com/shop/jenniferfrench


To see more of Jennifer's work:


www.jenniferelifrench.com

Contact Jennifer at jen.eli.french@gmail.com for more information.