The visual language of Jessica Krause Smith is rooted in abstraction; several ideas link her paintings including the notion that the universe produces things both opposite (light and dark, vertical and horizontal, harmony and chaos) and related (cycles, patterns, movements, responses). Like in cosmic mysteries, the unintentional or accidental action on the canvas is celebrated as much as the intentional. Through the experimentation and articulation in her process, epiphanies and metaphors are intertwined with the final work. Also, as a long time resident of New York City, Krause Smith draws inspiration from the city’s complexity, its cultural zeitgeist and its ongoing daily visual stimulation which she is constantly observing, interacting with, and obsessively photographing.
In her paintings, Krause Smith unveils her admiration for the medium of paint and expressive gestural mark-making. She executes her work with an intuitive blend of acrylic paint, latex house paint and mixed media on canvas. She also creates digital paintings with the same aesthetic. The creation history of Krause Smith’s physical pieces are transparently displayed to us - showcasing each stroke akin to a geological cross-section or the history of an internet browser.
By focusing purely on aesthetic elements such as color, form, line, texture and composition, she allows herself to tap into the non-verbal and non-rational aspects of her consciousness, which can evoke powerful emotional and transcendent experiences for her and the viewer alike. Krause Smith belongs to the lineages of artists that see their work as a way of exploring deeper truths about both the macro and microcosm, as well her personal and our universal human experience.
