A Closer Look: Time, No Longer Emptied of Presence by Jennifer D Printz
/Time, No Longer Emptied of Presence is a solo exhibition by Jennifer D Printz which uses textiles as a means of reflecting on the invisible architecture of life and the ever-changing universe. Within the gallery hangs a series of sculptural fabric pieces, printed with photographic images of the sky, draped on, through, and around wood frames. From one work to the next, Printz invites us to witness the sky’s variable shades of blue, orange, and black as cloud fragments puff, peek around and fold into themselves.
Jennifer Printz’s exploration with the sky was born out of a series of moves across the country. “The works for this exhibition are grounded in moments of awe. The process of documenting the sky above my head grew out of a desire to record the beauty that I was suddenly surrounded by when I moved from Los Angeles to Southwest Virginia. I was overwhelmed with the quality of the sky and the cloud formations over my head. I wanted to keep each moment, afraid it would not return. This continued with my 2019 move to Miami where the skies seem even bigger and replete with billowy masses of cumulus and stratocumulus clouds.”
Unveiling her process, Printz shares that “This work began with the simple recording of a moment with my camera - A moment that is built upon and added to others through the physical creation of the work. The photographs are printed onto paper-backed cotton fabric using my large format inkjet printer. This backing paper is then removed, allowing me to handle the fabric like I would any other.”
For several years Printz has been incorporating these photographs into her drawings and prints on paper. While her approach to materials with this body of work is in constant flux, her gaze towards the sky is fixed. “We tend to think of the sky as a flat and smooth surface – the grid of Cartesian geometry. In these pieces, it wrinkles, pleats, and moves in multiple directions in space and it changes based on our viewpoint as represented in the dynamic nature of Einstein’s spacetime.”
Within her practice, she searches for connection with the universe, using the sky as a ready metaphor. “The ten-mile swath of gases above our head is what allows for life here on earth as it both insulates and protects us. Scientists have yet to discover a similar atmosphere in this universe. It is no wonder then that the sky has been part of human mythology since we as a species could share stories. There is a basic commonality in knowing this; we are all here on this sphere because of the blue sky overhead.” This work makes a powerful statement as we imagine Printz in her studio, holding the sky within her hands and bending it to her will.
TIME’s pounding & beyond the point
That said, it should be no surprise that gravity and time are key components in this work. “In Time’s Pounding and Beyond the Point, the sky wraps around and tucks under and over the underlying support to represent how spacetime can be curved by a massive body. The wooden panels that I have used to frame and structure many of the pieces suggest our expectations and the limitation of our vision. We see this in On Becoming Aware as the fabric from one the lower piece pulls up and towards the other. The sky breaks free from its boundaries – spilling over and out or dynamically twisting and turning – showing us it cannot be limited and just how much we have left to discover.”
on becoming aware
on becoming aware, detail
While Printz's exploration with the sky began several years ago, she finds the shift to working with fabric and sewing has been defining for the work. She explains, “Time is innate to the fabric as it was created through the process of weaving multiple threads, woven over and under each other together to create form. This process is a perfect metaphor for interconnectedness and the systems that exist on earth. Fabric is a pliant material giving me new ways to exploit space and form.”
Untitled
“[These connections] represent how our lives are made up of a collection of moments, hours, and days. It is up to us to reflect on how they are connected together [in order to] create meaning.”
- Jennifer D Printz
Printz stitches time together as gracefully as the fabric itself. “[These connections] represent how our lives are made up of a collection of moments, hours, and days. It is up to us to reflect on how they are connected together [in order to] create meaning.” This act is explored most prominently through the piece, Untitled, as it was made by instinctively stitching together the cut-offs from the fabric used to make the largest work in the show, a triptych, Awed and Perfect Obedience. “These long triangles of differing blues and purples, some with and many without clouds, fit together perfectly to create a billowing shape that breaks free of the frame [as it] arches down towards the floor.”
While Printz’s personal and teaching practice has been positioned in drawing and printmaking for some time, this shift into textiles feels like a homecoming for the artist. “It reminds me of the hours I spent at my grandmother’s antique Singer sewing machine. She was a quilter who never wasted any material, often making quilts from old clothing and assorted scraps. I learned to sew at a very young age and went on to sew my prom gown and my sister’s wedding dress. [However,] this is the first time I have used those skills in my studio practice.”
It may come as no surprise that this work was generated during the pandemic. Printz explains, “In this past year, I have found that paying heed to the sky brings me both focus and ease. It has reminded me again and again of the bigger picture of time and space and to let go of my worries over little things […] The title of the exhibition Time, No Longer Emptied of Presence pulls all of these ideas together. Time becomes of value when we are mindful and fully present to what we are doing and who we are with. This is the attitude I want to have with all of my life and my work. It was what led me to stop and photograph a beautiful cluster of clouds for the first time in Virginia and what helps me see the potential in something that might be discarded.”
In making these works, Printz is often reminded of a line from one of her favorite poems, and words that she’s scribbled again and again in personal sketchbooks:
“And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
As this exhibition comes to a close over the next couple of weeks, please reach out to schedule a viewing or stop by the gallery during this month’s FATVillage Artwalk on Saturday, April 24th, 7-10pm. We will leave the gallery lights on 24 hours so that our local audience can safely access the exhibition through our large storefront windows. We also invite you to view the works more closely through our Virtual Gallery Tour.
For pricing and additional information on the works in the show, please visit our Gallery Shop and feel free to reach out via email with any inquiries at sammi@isprojectsfl.com
For more information on Jennifer Printz and her work, visit her website.