Gallery East opens with one-woman show

Artist Jennifer Suflita opens the College of Eastern Utah’s 2008-’09 Gallery East season with her one-person show exhibited from October 3-31 in the gallery located on the northwest end of the old SAC Building. The opening reception is October 3 at 7 p.m. and is open to the public free of charge.
While earning her BFA at Utah State University, Suflita examined personal relationships and sought to understand people and their complex emotions using art as her vehicle. The art created from this pursuit has earned numerous acknowledgments, including scholarships from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Utah State University and BYU where she has also spoken as a guest lecturer.
Her professional experience includes teaching art to USU students and in Essen, Germany. Suflita’s work has received numerous awards and is owned by several private collectors and public institutions including the Springville Art Museum’s permanent collection.
She says, “My approach to art, like my life, is spontaneous and chaotic more than it is systematic. Individuals and their relationships intrigue me. While I can think things through intellectually, I tend to act on the emotionally satisfying decisions. Not only does this happen in my interactions with people, this theme also surfaces in the way I create art. For me, the process of making art is where decision-making and intuition, turmoil and harmony, action and contemplation, all come together.
“By experimenting with size, from small and intimate to huge and imposing, I explore the interaction among subjects, for which I have an incessant curiosity. I have also come to understand what a powerful effect that color, mark-making, or composition can play in the overall influence of a piece. I am interested in the expression of the figure, but also the meaning expressed by a beautiful line or brush mark.”
Newly named Gallery East director, Noel Carmack, adds, “I have known Jen for about five years now. She worked for me as a student assistant in the preservation lab at USU. At that time, she was an undergraduate painting student and not only was I impressed with the caliber of her work, but I thought she had a sweet, friendly personality.
“It’s hard not to like Jen. She is genuine and is easy to get to know. I can tell that she is very perceptive of people. This keen perceptive quality shows in her work.
“Her portraits are striking. As you will see in the show, she does very close-up and intimate images of her subjects’ faces. Her etchings and paintings vary in scale from very small to extremely large.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen anything quite like them. Her approach is on the scale of Chuck Close’s portraits, but not so clinical or devoid of feeling. The images convey a personal connection with the subjects, as if we are having a very intimate, private conversation with them.”