Mullingar, IE JENNIFER BALKAN The Beast Within
In one painting, a woman clad in green faces a figure identical to her own, but with the head of a ram. In another, a woman stands back to back with a figure resembling herself, but not entirely, with twisting horns and the ears of a beast. These and other works by artist Jennifer Balkan speak of the dichotomy of the human condition, of a dual rational—a thinking side and an instinctual, animalistic side. An upcoming show, held at Chimera Gallery in Mullingar, Ireland, highlights a body of work the artist started in early 2018. Balkan explains that throughout the process, she’d continuously go back to paintings she’d started before, altering them based on other paintings she created later, ultimately weaving them together in a way that made sense as a whole body of work.
“I’ve always had an interest in the psychological,” says Balkan, who studied behavioral neuroscience. “I’ve been painting this psychological narrative of the inside of ourselves versus our exterior. This [show] is sort of taking it a little bit further. Specifically, I want to explore the idea that we have these suppressed impulses. Our animal instincts, suppressed monsters. [I’m] using animal imagery to convey a dichotomy in us.”
“Some of the images are gendered flipped,” she continues, describing several works with historic Greek symbolism traditionally assigned to males like the Minotaur or the god Pan.
Balkan adds, however, that she always hopes viewers draw their own ideas from her work.
“Jennifer Balkan paints from life, taking from nature, then adding her own whimsical, magical touch, creating unique, complex works of art,” says John Dente, a collector of her work. “I am connected to her vision. Jennifer continues to explore, take risks and redefine her artistic journey.”
In I see myself in you, a fully clothed woman stands in a forest clearing opposite a nude woman with the head of a goat. This is one of two large-scale paintings in the exhibition, along with But I am what you are, each measuring at 60 by 60 inches. Balkan says that while these paintings aren’t necessarily stronger than any of the other works in the show, they are, in a sense, the center pieces. “Just being able to work on such a large scale really energized me,” she says.
The Human Condition begins with an opening reception on July 6 and runs through August 6.