Tag: Jessica Tefft

Posted on

June, 2023

Kopf and Tefft artwork

Karen Kopf, “D.C al Fine”
and
Jessica Tefft, “Peaceable Kingdom”

Exhibit Dates: May 28 – July 1, 2023

Gallery Hop: Friday, June 2, 7-9 pm

Art Crush and Artists’ Reception: Friday, June 16, 7-9 pm

Karen Kopf is inspired by jazz, classical, and rock music, merged with the natural world to create a sensory experience rather than a narrative one. Sketching the natural forms in the world, she then composes the painting by overlapping individual forms to create more forms within the whole. The result is a web of conflicting energies with many intricate textures.

“Leaves” and “Coltrane’s Crescent” by Karen Kopf

Gold, silver and copper leafing is used liberally throughout the works. The overall impression of the paintings is a tactile and luminous interpretation of the energy within forms in nature.

After studying painting in Austria for a year, Karen Kopf established a studio in Marbella, Spain on the Costa del Sol.  Five years under the bright Spanish sun added an intensity to the colors of her palette and a wide range of experiences and exhibitions to her career as a professional artist. Her works from this period are in collections all over the world.

Upon returning to the U.S., she painted in upstate New York, where she was resident director of the Guy Park State Historic Site. Eventually she moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she earned a master’s degree from Salem College and worked for twenty years as a teacher while she and her husband raised two sons. She currently exhibits at Artworks Gallery in Winston-Salem.

A framed print of the “Peaceable Kingdom” by Edward Hicks hung in Jessica Tefft’s living room when she was growing up. The lion’s eyes appeared to watch over her. Later, she realized Hicks’ painting was a visual sermon promoting spiritual and earthly harmony. In addition to being a painter, Hicks was a Quaker minister, and his works were based on Isaiah 11:6-9: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”

“Madonna” and “Peaceable Kingdom” by Jessica Tefft

When Tefft created this new body of work, she thought about how the Peaceable Kingdom would look today in our gun-crazed country. These works express her thinking on how the things we hold most beautiful are also the most targeted.

Jessica Tefft is an artist and professional photographer based in Winston-Salem. She believes art offers her the language to explore themes of trauma and healing. She also sees art as a lens through which to interpret current events. She worked as a photojournalist in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere and has exhibited and won numerous awards for her work. Photojournalism took her from Cuba to the Alaskan wilderness, and then the presidential campaign trail. She assembled and edited an entry for coverage of the D.C. sniper that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in studio art and is currently working toward a master’s in public administration. She is the founder and executive director of The Art SHAC, a creative reuse nonprofit providing affordable art supplies to her community.

This exhibition is free and open to the public.

Posted on

Q & A with artist Jessica Tefft

How would you describe your art?

Art gives me a language to work through and express my ideas. A lot of my art is focused on social commentary and politics. I also like to use humor in my work. When people laugh, they’re more open to thinking about a different point of view.

How have you changed as an artist over the years?

When I was a student, I was very concerned with mastering the technical aspects of art. After school, I turned to photojournalism for a career. My creativity there was driven by capturing that decisive moment. Now that I’m older, I appreciate the process of art and letting it take me in directions I didn’t expect. I find that more and more, the concepts behind the art interest me more than the final piece itself.

What artists have influenced your work?

Laurie Anderson is one of my favorite artists. I just saw a new show by Anderson at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. She is a singer and performance artist but has branched out into visual art. Anderson pushes the boundaries of how the viewer experiences and connects with art. One of the pieces that stuck with me in her new exhibit was a hologram of tiny people sharpening knives. Nick Cave’s Soundsuits also inspire me. His pieces blend sculpture and fashion. He says they evolved after the Rodney King beatings and have grown into vehicles for empowerment. It made me look at art and textiles in an entirely different way. His Soundsuits are like modern-day armor, and I was fascinated by what he chose to create these superhero costumes. Some are intricately beaded but then juxtapose a megaphone or an abacus.

Do you have a favorite medium?

I’m not tied to one medium. Different concepts require different art forms. Since turning more fully to art from photojournalism and becoming an Artworks Gallery member, I’ve enjoyed experimenting with different art forms. Since the pandemic hit, I’ve worked with fabric and photograms. And I’m excited about art that incorporates technology.

What does making art mean in your life?

It does a lot of things. At its broadest, making art gives me a voice to speak about what I care about in the world. It’s also a stress reliever and a way to indulge in some “me time.” Some of my art has helped me process some of the complex emotions from my time in photojournalism. I read about soldiers treated for PTSD who were assigned to write stories about their trauma but then rewrite the ending to what they wanted it to be. I decided to take some of my old photos of crime scenes and the Pentagon on 9/11 and envision what I wanted to happen. I called the show “Magical Thinking” because I created a better ending.

Jessica Tefft
Posted on

Crane Project in the News!

We’ve had some great press about our current 1000 Cranes COVID-19 Public Art project. Check out these two great articles:

Artworks Gallery and Forsyth County Department of Public Health collaborate on the Thousand Cranes Project Winston-Salem Journal, Oct 27, 2021, Fran Daniel

In a project aimed at bringing hope during these difficult times, Artworks Gallery and the Forsyth County Department of Public Health have teamed up to display 1,000 origami cranes to honor healthcare workers and people affected by COVID-19.

Members of Artworks Gallery in Winston-Salem folded the paper cranes that are now hanging in the public entrance of the health department at 799 Highland Ave. in Winston-Salem. The public art project is called the Thousand Cranes Project.

A statement on the wall near the origami cranes says, “The origami crane represents healing, hope, joy and prosperity. Legend says that if a person folds 1,000 cranes, they get a wish. Therefore, folding the cranes represent our wishes for hope, health and well-being to all healthcare workers and those people who have been affected by COVID.”

Lakecia Owens, coordinator of health services for the Forsyth County Department of Public Health, approached Jessica Tefft, president of Artworks Gallery, on behalf of the health department this past spring to find out if Artworks artists would come together to assemble a paper-based art project.

Owens said the goal was to honor front-line workers and their families, as well as people in the community who had COVID-19, lost their lives to COVID-19 or had a relative who was affected by COVID-19.

Tefft said Owens told her that the health department had COVID-19 fact sheets in different languages that could be used for the project. Read more.

Artworks Gallery honors healthcare workers and loved ones lost to Covid with 1000 cranes
ABC 45 News, Friday October 22nd 2021, Cassie Schirm

More than 500 people in Forsyth County have lost their battle to Covid 19 leaving many families heartbroken. Now a local art group has teamed up with the Forsyth County Health Department hoping to honor the lost loved ones and healthcare workers fighting to keep people alive.

Jessica Tefft, president of Artworks Gallery says it’s those people who deserve to be remembered in a beautiful way.

“I really do believe in the power of art,” said Tefft.

That’s why you’ll see 1000 origami cranes hanging in the Forsyth County Health Department. The origami may be small but artists say they carry a big meaning, the meaning of hope.

Each crane was created with meaning and made with love. Read more

Posted on

Post-election: Critical reflections on the Trump era dominate three-artist show at Artworks Gallery

The Sunday, Nov 21, 2020 Edition of the Winston-Salem Journal has a review of our November exhibits by art critic Tom Patterson. Read the full article here. You can also read a PDF version of this review here. Thanks to Tom for this insightful review. A few quotes from the article below.

Jessica Tefft’s Work: Politically Charged

“Tefft’s work encompasses a variety of mediums, and much of it relates directly to the Mueller Report and Donald Trump’s presidential administration, which chose the passages to be redacted. Like many contemporary artists, Tefft is not a fan of the outgoing president, as is clear from her work on view here.”

– Tom Patterson, Special Correspondent, Winston-Salem Journal, Nov 21, 2020

My Button is Bigger – Jessica Tefft

Woodie Anderson’s Work: Printed Charms

“Anderson’s festively colored prints on cloth and paper are charms against inertia and hopelessness — icons of strength, endurance, and abiding energy. The thematic gist of her stylized imagery is reflected in the titles of individual pieces — “Eyes,” “Fire,” “Mindful,” “Comfort.” Inspiration is the name of the game.”

– Tom Patterson, Special Correspondent, Winston-Salem Journal, Nov 21, 2020

Woodie Anderson, Protection, Serigraph on cotton

Lea Lackey-Zachmann’s Work: Nature Nurture

“…Lea Lackey-Zachmann employs a darker and more subdued, earth-based palette in her five-part series of mixed-media monoprints. She’s a resolute nature abstractionist, whose work typically has a neo-pagan undercurrent. … Leaving aside the titles, on their own as evocative markings on paper, these pieces extend Lackey-Zachmann’s ongoing project of visualizing natural forces. It’s a theme both limitless and imaginatively challenging.”

– Tom Patterson, Special Correspondent, Winston-Salem Journal, Nov 21, 2020

When We Fire Dance – Lea Lackey-Zachmann
Posted on

NOV 2020 Jessica Tefft


Artworks Gallery Presents:

Jessica Tefft
May Cause Ongoing Harm

Exhibition dates:
Nov. 5 – 29, 2020

Open Limited Hours:
Thurs. – Sat., 12 – 3 pm, or by appointment
  • Hurrican Dorian
  • What We Worship
  • Whistle Blower
  • My Button is Bigger
  • Grab Them By The Pussy
  • Squid
  • Pro Crow
  • Harm to Ongoing Matter
  • Squid Pro Crow
  • Columbine

Come visualize through works by Jessica Tefft what happens when information is intentionally obscured. She says, “I got the idea for this show when I read the Mueller Report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. It felt as though I could not read two sentences without some part being blacked out – redacted – so the public couldn’t read it. But I kept looking at all the redactions. And I noticed the little black bars were often embellished with the words “May Cause Ongoing Harm.” If so many things could cause “ongoing harm,” I wondered, shouldn’t the American people know?”

Visitors will see many imaginings of ongoing harm caused by willful obfuscation conveyed through a variety of multi-media art. Many employ tongue-in-cheek commentary of the social, political, personal, world we live in.

Posted on

Artworks: November 2020

  • Jessica Tefft, Harm to Ongoing Matter, Fabric Collage
  • Jessica Tefft, Peace, Digital Collage
  • Lea Lackey-Zachmann, When We Accept, Monotype with Pencil
  • Woodie Anderson, Protection, Serigraph on cotton

Jessica Tefft
May Cause Ongoing Harm

Woodie Anderson
Weary Heart

Lea Lackey-Zachmann
Still Standing Like The Trees

Exhibition dates:
Thursday, November 5 – Saturday, November 29, 2020

Open Limited Hours:
Thursday – Saturday, 12 – 3 pm
Or By Appointment

Come visualize through works by Jessica Tefft what happens when information is intentionally obscured. She says, “I got the idea for this show when I read the Mueller Report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. It felt as though I could not read two sentences without some part being blacked out – redacted – so the public couldn’t read it. But I kept looking at all the redactions. And I noticed the little black bars were often embellished with the words “May Cause Ongoing Harm.” If so many things could cause “ongoing harm,” I wondered, shouldn’t the American people know?”

Visitors will see many imaginings of ongoing harm caused by willful obfuscation conveyed through a variety of multi-media art. Many employ tongue-in-cheek commentary of the social, political, personal, world we live in.

The new works by artist and designer Woodie Anderson employ printmaking, drawing, sculpture and written language to explore the areas where identity, personal history and society intersect. “Weary Heart” shares work from her ongoing series, “Tooth and Nail,” about the fight for love and community, as well as the struggles of identity, self-protection, and self-projection. These prints, presented on paper and fabric, will delight and engage viewers with fresh, meaningful messages.

Lea Lackey-Zachmann endeavors to bring you into the realm of awareness and sensing she extends to all living beings. “Still Standing Like The Trees” is a collection of images, started before the California fires this year. The artist says, “As their process towards completion continued they began to reflect the possible methods in which a conscious living being might respond to extreme circumstances. The trees, like all Nature have much to teach us.” These impressive new works, rendered in monotype with pencil, suggest viewing trees as sentient beings.

www.Artworks-Gallery.org

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Artworks Gallery, Inc. 
564 North Trade Street
Winston-Salem, NC  27101.
Gallery phone: 336-723-5890

Limited Gallery hours are:
Thurs. – Sat. 12-3pm and by appointment
shop@artworks-gallery.org

For information about this press release, contact sssmoot@triad.rr.com

Posted on

Artwork’s Jessica Tefft is One of Six 2020-2021 ArtPop Winners

Jessica Tefft, featured in this season of ArtPop!

Arts Council Names Six 2020-2021 ArtPop Winners

“Street Gallery” billboard art soon to be displayed in 12-county region

Winston-Salem, NC (July 13, 2020) –The Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County has announced the winners in its 2020-2021 ArtPop Street Gallery competition. ArtPop fosters collaborations between arts organizations, such as The Arts Council, and the private sector to promote the work of local artists on available media space, such as billboards. The traveling public enjoys engaging public art, and ArtPop artists receive visibility that affirms their considerable talent and often boosts their careers.

More than 60 artists submitted entries for this year’s competition. There are six winners — five adult artists and one high-school senior artist who will be attending college for visual arts studies in the fall. Read more on the arts council website. See more of Jessica’s artwork on Instagram.

© 2023 Artworks Gallery, Inc. All rights to images in this site remain with the respective artists. Images may not be displayed, printed, published or reproduced without permission of the artist.