Artist Talk with Jennifer Thompson: The Process of an Installation

In this artist’s talk, local multimedia artist Jennifer Thompson shares the process behind her previous exhibition Lines and Connections.

About the exhibition, Thompson writes:
“As an Installation Artist I install work in a space, for that space, responding to the space, the environment and the community. I’m making work from the land. For example; in this installation at the farm, Written in Stone, I’m incorporating rust, aluminum, iron, wire, fenders, moss bark, fleece from the sheep farm nearby in Ronan, pine needles from the Grandmother tree by the big farmhouse, a glove for Casey from Barry’s used glove pile, a piece of bark laden and decomposing with moss from Lake Mary Ronan.
I’m also pulling from my old work and old boxes, test photos from Earth’s Invitation project in the 90’s, boxes of scraps of fabric, fabric with clay slip and fabric buried in the ground for a year to take up Earth’s imprint. From my remnants, the farm’s remnants, sheep sheering and forest decomposition, I strive to make something with meaning from the discarded. I’m cognizant of what is going on in our society as well, what phenomena is pressing on me as world events affect me internally.
I’m responding to the shop environment at Written In Stone farm; to the morning light coming in the windows, the red steel beam, the dust and tools, to the hatch of Tortoiseshell Butterflies. I’m responding to the lack of news from my family in Minneapolis during these early months of 2026. I’m responding to time and outside of time. I’m listening to the Earth People and reaching out to friends on traditional Salish lands and to friends who are responding with their art to these times, the year of the Fire Horse. I’m responding to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address that all “men” are created equal.
Usually in my art installations I am not placing objects in a space that can be transported to another place. The placement as well as the creating from the environment is for that place. As a Commemorative Installation Artist, I create to honor the farm, shop and landscape. My work aims to commemorate and highlight being here at Written in Stone Farm, February-March 2026.”

This event is FREE and open to the public. No RSVP or registration is required.