From a Here to a There

This exhibition of recent paintings by Jenni Hodgson takes us on a visual and psychological journey. The map is not just the use of paint but also the ambiguity of the image. The viewer is invited to wander through the exotic and often unsettling places that she creates. These places are not based on photographs but come from associations and sensations of being in a place. They combine experiences from her formative years spent in rural East London in South Africa. She holds a vivid memory of the brilliant light, jewelled natural landscape and the vibrant palette of African life and art. This is juxtaposed with her later years spent in East London, UK where she absorbed the monotone and controlled colours of a European environment and the urban culture of the East End. Jenni makes paintings that do not conform to one particular style, method, medium or scale. Her work displays an unusual curiosity and energy engaged in pushing the possibilities of painting. This results in exciting risk-taking; her paintings thrive on differences, making it possible for her to create and deal with a visual language that ranges from the unsettling to the beautiful; from a large spectacle to something quietly intimate.