Jenny Gummersall, USA
Jenny Gummersall’s images of horses, natural objects and landscapes present an enduring and iconic vision of the West. But while the subject matter is familiar, Jenny’s photographs abstract the shapes into unfamiliar forms. This is seen clearly in her horse abstract series where the extreme close-up view of the manes, backs and faces of these animals are transformed to suggest landscapes, dance, or other purely natural scenes. Gummersall’s work is inspired by illuminated forms, driven by "writing" with light, coupled with a constant close observation of her environment. There is a strong desire to share with the viewer the interchange of what is presented to her lens. From her earliest days in the darkroom, at just 3 years old, she has "studied" life with a unique eye for the normal being transformed into the unusual. A graduate of the University of New Mexico, Gummersall's love of the West was first inspired by the New Mexico light. Her mentor, the late Professor Reinhold Misselbeck, then Curator of Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany encouraged Jenny to photograph her present surroundings so as to share those expert technical abilities with her passion of "drawing with light". For over 3 decades, Jenny Gummersall’s photographic work has been exhibited by galleries and collected throughout the US and abroad by private individuals, corporations and museums. Feature articles celebrating Gummersall's art have appeared in magazines and books including Aspen Magazine, Cowboys & Indians, Southwest Art-(cover), Colorado Homes and Lifestyles, Canada's Wish Magazine, Horse Dreams Book and the book on The Art in the Residences at the Little Nell (cover).
Jenny's work may be viewed in fine art galleries and collections in Aspen, Chicago, Oklahoma, Telluride, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Scottsdale and California to name a few. She is married to Abstract artist C. Gregory Gummersall. They live on a ranch near Durango, Colorado. Together they raised three boys who are all finding success in the arts.
Horses as Landscape, Landscape as Horse, Horse as Dance
The subject of horses as landscape, as abstracted forms and by the flow of their movement as dance, resonates with me. From the Paleolithic cave paintings of Lascaux to Degas’ Dancers, Muybridge’s horses in motion, and my living in the American West inspired this series of Horses. I intend my photographs to be places that one's spirit can rest or recklessly fall into. Horses as landscape, in a dance, landscape as horse forms, bring metaphors to life.
Jenny Gummersall’s images of horses, natural objects and landscapes present an enduring and iconic vision of the West. But while the subject matter is familiar, Jenny’s photographs abstract the shapes into unfamiliar forms. This is seen clearly in her horse abstract series where the extreme close-up view of the manes, backs and faces of these animals are transformed to suggest landscapes, dance, or other purely natural scenes.
