Jeremy W. Simmons

Jeremy W. Simmons

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Artist Statement

2021

 

My works are a form of poesia — poetry in painting. Painting the everyday transcends the everyday. Experiencing subjects directly allows me to take in the sensual conditions of a place or idea and present a visual expression of mood and spirituality.

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The paintings present dramas and experiences becoming subjects of mystery and psychological intimacy. In a keen inspection of the observable world, I translate the engagement and perception of the subject into a record of my world that penetrates beyond the visible. The paintings demonstrate a clarity of vision and a balance between a surface graphic and spatial design. Some of the smallest objects become subjects of the painting. Undramatic elements are used to lead audiences through my works. I frame up multiple vignettes with smaller relationships inside works of art to add to the depth of the experience.Visual pathways are utilized to move audiences through the works. The visual pathways, vignette framing, and other relationships are used to create a visual maze to engage audiences. Everything is a clue. I consider the emotive and painterly aspects of color, surface, and textures of the materials in an aesthetic, psychological, and specific approach to my subjects. 

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The works present an experience that goes beyond the confines of the everyday. The subjects of my work represent the many facets of my experiences. Audiences interpret the visual information, symbols, and archetypes found in the paintings through their perspective. The viewer fills my images with their own unique perception and state of feeling. In experiencing my works, audiences are participating in a shared moment that reflects a shared human condition. The works tell the audience more about themselves in the time spent with my paintings as they redress the works with their own experiences to find their own moment.

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Biography

2021

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Jeremy Simmons was born in the Flint Hills of Eastern Kansas. Growing up in the rolling hills of rural Kansas on a cattle farm gave Jeremy a deep appreciation for interacting with and observing landscapes, nature, and animals. A great deal of his time growing up also was spent reading mythologies, comics, and drawing. These interests were translated into pursuing art as a career. Jeremy was also inspired to become an educator by his grandfather and grandmother who had careers as teachers.

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After completing a BFA in Painting, a BSE in Art Education, and a year of teaching pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, Jeremy was accepted to the graduate painting program at Indiana University, Bloomington. The painting program at Indiana was a match with Jeremy’s own interest in figurative, narrative, and perceptual painting.

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The works tell the audience more about themselves in the moment of time when they are with the painting. Viewers redress the works with their own experiences to find their own spiritual moment. The artist explains,

 

“My paintings deal with the human condition. I select objects, subjects, and experiences that reveal a sense of the spiritual in my response to them. I am influenced by expressionism in the way I spiritually respond to the life of the paint to render forms on the surface of canvas. The works reveal a delicate surface of honesty through their record of evident painterliness. A sense of uncanny agreement between the painting and life occurs as I balance formalism, poetic interpretation, and subjects and symbols to create narrative images.”

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After graduating from Indiana University, Jeremy accepted an art faculty position at Louisiana State University in Alexandria in 2004. He has exhibited his paintings in one and two person shows as well as various juried exhibitions. As a faculty member at Louisiana State University in Alexandria, he teaches painting, drawing, design, color theory, ceramics, art history, digital photography, and art education.