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Jenny Walton does not want her osteoarthritis or her seven surgeries to define her. But she admits her chronic condition has become an essential part of her artistic growth. Inspired to "explore the idea of faith and events that are beautiful and horrific," the District resident's exhibit "Fluidity" is on view through Oct. 19 at the Public Arts Trust Visions Exhibition Space in the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel.
Walton may have studied landscape painting in the past, but recently spent five months concentrating on printmaking as part of Pyramid Atlantic's Keyholder Artistic Residency. A jury evaluates artists' proposals and selects a small number to use the Silver Spring printmaking studio free of charge.
Once Walton received 24-hour access to the printmaking studio, she knew the clock was ticking.
"I work fast," Walton says, "thumbing through an anatomy book" in search of ideas.
"My work expresses the pushing and pulling of nature, the construction and deterioration of the body," she explains. "I am interested in exploring life and death processes, and am fixated on the rib cage as a structure."
Eschewing drawing on plates, Walton applies ink directly on the press bed, which is unusual, and thus excited the jury.
Her printmaking process starts with the creation of a monoprint, which she uses as an inspiration to make successive prints. She doesn't ponder, relying instead on her subconscious to explore an image's possibilities.
While Walton was happy working at Pyramid Atlantic she recalls "some days, it was painful standing on the concrete floor." She used this pain in her art.
It is easy to understand why Walton was drawn to the landscape growing up in Spokane, Wash., and attending Central Washington University. But watching her own "body decay and be rebuilt and reconstructed" gave her an entirely different perspective. She felt compelled to rethink her ideas about "spirituality and God," she says.
In the four years between earning an undergraduate degree and the start of graduate school, Walton concluded it was time to get personal.
During the first year of studying in Corciano and Rome, Italy, through American University, Walton "did the old stuff." The cycle broke quickly when she began painting images of bursting sutures and tightly wound stitches some people might find nauseating. She offered viewers an "intimate and personal" look at physical pain. Realizing she didn't want to be a one-note artist, she has worked to become "global and more generalized."
After two years in Italy, the university abandoned this portion of its abroad program, and disappointed, she relocated to D.C. to complete the degree. In retrospect, she believes that living in very different locales helped her work grow exponentially.
"The East Coast is incredibly different [from Spokane]. It is much more focused on marketing, and being so close to New York, artists look at the global art scene. There's a lot more of everything here," Walton explains.
Walton is at home creating and marketing her artwork. With a Web page and back-to-back art shows, she is quickly finding her voice.
"Fluidity," monotypes by Jenny Walton, is at Visions Exhibition Space through Oct. 19 at the Bethesda North Marriott, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda. Call 301-565-3805 or visit www.creativemoco.com.
