Jennifer Bain

Artist Statement:

I utilize invented and appropriated source material to test ideas of image acceptability. Guided shifts in emotional content arise from image juxtaposition, while stories and commentaries exist within the works.
I suspend value judgments, recognizing that reality itself would be incomplete if limited to an accepted ideal.

I was born and raised in New York City and priveleged to attend The Rudolph Steiner School. This school emphasized education through the arts  and the creative process. This in combination with my parents being artists served as my foundation in the arts.

After high school in pursuit of a job I earned an A.A. degree in Fashion Design and worked in that field in my early twenties. After a devastating illness in which I nearly lost my life, I realized I should follow my heart and consequently went back to art school which had been my original plan even though it demonstrated many impracticalities. 

I received a B.F. A. degree from The California College of the Arts in 1981 and a M.F.A. in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1985. I have been a full time studio artist since 1993.

My work is represented in contemporary galleries throughout the U.S. including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, OR and Nashville TN. My work is in Private and corporate collections nationally and globally. I have been honored to represent American Art in the U.S. Department of State's Art in Embassies program  2005 and 2009 in Camaroon and Myanmar respectfully. 

I am married to an artist and have lived in Oakland since 1979.