Jen Durbin is a sculptor based out of New York City, originally from Springfield, Illinois.
She attributes her interest in sculpture, and particularly motion’s long intimacy with it, to the surreal proximity of her numerous childhood walks thru Abraham Lincoln’s home, as well as her repeated exposure to the sequential unfolding of such icons as the Catholic Stations of the Cross.
Durbin’s forms use the inherent bond between sculpture and the moving image to bring to light the viewing experience as a living space. Centered around iconic moments in the psychic and historical memory, her work is often pointedly American. These figureless forms and uncanny familiars linger at the periphery of our shared story. Durbin’s work often exposes points within that cannon where the female figure has been rendered invisible.
Her large-scale assemblages, comprised of humble materials and commonplace objects, meticulously map the mediated moments that linger and stay. Durbin’s sculptures are both kinetic and combusting, offering a haunting glimpse of an attunement to that which we erase. By uncovering these forgotten frames, she is navigating territory beyond the visible - insisting that when objects cohabitate with memory, they take up an enduring space.
After completing a degree in Journalism and Literature at UW-Madison, Jen Durbin received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000 and her MFA from Yale in 2003.
Durbin has exhibited in the US and abroad including shows in Chicago at Arena Gallery, Contemporary Art Workshop, Gallery 2 and The Law Office; a solo installation at NEWD Art Fair in Brooklyn, New York; as well as solo shows with Motus Fort Gallery in Tokyo, Japan - Capsule Gallery , NY and Silas Von Morrisse gallery, NY.
Her acclaimed show 90 Moves in 9 Seconds (Art Forum, Best of 2017) documents the movements of Jackie Kennedy’s infamous pink hat as she reacts to the unfolding tragedy of the assassination of her husband, a series Durbin mapped over a nearly 20 year span.
She attributes her interest in sculpture, and particularly motion’s long intimacy with it, to the surreal proximity of her numerous childhood walks thru Abraham Lincoln’s home, as well as her repeated exposure to the sequential unfolding of such icons as the Catholic Stations of the Cross.
Durbin’s forms use the inherent bond between sculpture and the moving image to bring to light the viewing experience as a living space. Centered around iconic moments in the psychic and historical memory, her work is often pointedly American. These figureless forms and uncanny familiars linger at the periphery of our shared story. Durbin’s work often exposes points within that cannon where the female figure has been rendered invisible.
Her large-scale assemblages, comprised of humble materials and commonplace objects, meticulously map the mediated moments that linger and stay. Durbin’s sculptures are both kinetic and combusting, offering a haunting glimpse of an attunement to that which we erase. By uncovering these forgotten frames, she is navigating territory beyond the visible - insisting that when objects cohabitate with memory, they take up an enduring space.
After completing a degree in Journalism and Literature at UW-Madison, Jen Durbin received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000 and her MFA from Yale in 2003.
Durbin has exhibited in the US and abroad including shows in Chicago at Arena Gallery, Contemporary Art Workshop, Gallery 2 and The Law Office; a solo installation at NEWD Art Fair in Brooklyn, New York; as well as solo shows with Motus Fort Gallery in Tokyo, Japan - Capsule Gallery , NY and Silas Von Morrisse gallery, NY.
Her acclaimed show 90 Moves in 9 Seconds (Art Forum, Best of 2017) documents the movements of Jackie Kennedy’s infamous pink hat as she reacts to the unfolding tragedy of the assassination of her husband, a series Durbin mapped over a nearly 20 year span.
