My story
Through my work, I elevate the everyday to express appreciation for the wonder of the ordinary.
Everyday objects and spaces have the potential to become something more depending on how you see them. Growing up in a rural area with creative parents allowed me to see the aesthetic quality and alternative functions of common objects and spaces. Observing this from a young age, I became aware of how form connects to function and how function can be open to interpretation.
My painting practice has evolved from representing life realistically from observation to collecting pieces of my everyday reality to use as inspiration for my abstractions. The observations collected from my daily routine become the compositions I develop and execute in paint. When this current way of working began, I set out create a personal narrative using abstract painting as my method. Working this way provides an opportunity for an ever-evolving framework that will shift and grow as I move through life.
Artist Statement
My art, initially abstract in appearance, records a journey of a day in the life—a practice that starts with documentation through the lens of a camera. I see my experiences through special goggles with the ability to transform banal spaces and objects into engaging formal elements that are pulled out of their environment and placed into my painting compositions strictly for their aesthetic significance. The process of cataloging my everyday leads to the solidification of my memories in a specific time and place and constant access to a breadth of inspiration for my paintings. New inspiration comes out of each new environment I experience whether as a resident or a visitor allowing the work to be an ever-evolving documentation of my days.
The observations I collect are combined into compositions through a process of drawing and collage where I am selecting and joining bits of each sighting to build abstract structures in imagined worlds displaying a combination of shallow and deep space. The work demonstrates loose, painterly applications juxtaposed with more rigid, hard-edge areas of the acrylic paint and spray paint that I use. While the palette is imagined, each painting is an archive of a time and place connected to a personal experience.
I want to challenge the viewer to see the work as personal yet universal. A compilation of my experiences, but also as a way to connect with abstract painting in a tangible way. I want to elevate the humble from unnoticed and small to colorful and grand by putting a spotlight on the unrecognized poetry of daily routine.
Bio
Jennifer Small (b. 1982, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) explores the wonder found in the everyday through abstraction. The paintings are constructed using collected observations recorded for their engaging formal qualities, while also representing a compilation of the artist’s experiences. Small earned a BFA in Studio Art and BS in Art Education from Millersville University in Pennsylvania and MFA in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia. The artist has participated in solo exhibitions at the Delaware Contemporary and Mezzanine Gallery in Wilmington, DE; Shockoe Artspace in Richmond, VA; and Sarah Gormley Gallery in Columbus, Ohio; among others. Group exhibition participation has included shows at James Oliver Gallery in Philadelphia, PA; MK Apothecary in New Jersey; Site: Brooklyn in Brooklyn, NY; and Aqua Art Miami in Miami, FL; among others. In both 2025 and 2023, Small was featured in Create Magazine and Art Seen Magazine highlighting multiple bodies of work and insight into her painting practice. Other publication features include New Visionary Magazine, New American Paintings, and Artist Talk Magazine. Small currently lives and works in Wilmington, Delaware.