Jennifer Zwick
The Idea & The Thing Itself
Jennifer Zwick gently subverts ordinary moments and objects in her constructed photographs and installations. Focused on the themes of duality, reinterpretation and artifice, she invites us to reimagine our surroundings and our place within them.
- July 6 - August 7, 2017
- Opening: Thursday, July 6
Closing Reception: Thursday, August 3rd, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Tiny Talk: Friday, July 21st, 1:00 – 2:00 pm
A special event for children and their caregivers!
A natural storyteller, Zwick’s meticulous but uneasy worlds populate Gallery4Culture in two and three dimensions.
Despite their unreal elements, her photographs are created entirely in-camera. In building props and full-scale sets, Zwick makes unexpected discoveries and generates new ideas, which only emerge when she is physically in those spaces: when a 39-week-pregnant woman steps into a contoured doorway; when a mother and daughter pause with hands just inches apart; when a 10-foot house of cards is skillfully stacked; when the 150th flower is added to a pile. And because the scenes are captured with such exactness, viewers have a chance work backward from the pivotal moment, unraveling the choices and methods that led there.
“It’s funny how photography comes so close to representing reality—and then how far it falls from truly doing so,” says Zwick.
She also plays with ideas of continuity and object permanence in her split-view installations, sculptural reinterpretations of hospital waiting rooms that have been cut in half and mirrored or inverted. Each detail, perspective, and pairing is precisely scripted and fabricated to prompt investigation.
About the Artist
Trained in photography, Jennifer Zwick works in a variety of media, including large-scale installation, wearable sculpture, painting, interactive video installation, printmaking and photographic processes. She is particularly interested in symmetry, humor, one-point perspective and anxiety. In addition to her inclusion in the King County Public Art Collection, she has received numerous grants and awards, including two Artist Trust GAP Grants, two 4Culture Arts Special Projects Grants, a CityArts Projects Grant, and an Artist Trust Fellowship. Zwick’s artwork has been featured on the cover of The Stranger and she has appeared on Art Zone with Nancy Guppy and PRI’s Studio 360.