Art Opening at the Museum: Stories as Organisms

On Wednesday, August 1, Madison Children’s Museum opens a new exhibition of artwork created through a collaboration with kids at the museum and local artist Jennika Bastian.

Stories as Organisms consists of works created during Collaborative Painting programs at Madison Children’s Museum. Each of the paintings is, in Jennika’s words, “an ephemeral, shapeshifting game, a documentation of a community of thoughts played out, scribbled, and adapted off one another.” A dinosaur maiden exploring a robot city, a snail astronaut heroine, and a monster sock maker are just a few of the subjects explored in this bright, whimsical body of work.

All of the paintings displayed will be available for sale, with proceeds benefiting Madison Children’s Museum. A complete price list will be available at the front desk while the exhibition is open, August through November 2018.

At the museum, Jennika is one of several local artists who work with children in the museum’s Art Studio, leading drop-in programs where visitors can explore artistic techniques and become inspired. The paintings in Stories as Organisms were created during “Collaborative Painting with Jennika” programs, where kids were invited to add their own contributions to paintings started by Jennika, including inventing narrative elements explaining their work. If your child has participated in Collaborative Painting at the museum, look for their contributions within Stories as Organisms.

Jennika says that her goal in creating these pieces is “to help build kids’ self-confidence in creative experimentation, while teaching painting techniques, sharing space and respecting others.” She strives to create an encouraging, open-ended environment of constructive play.

Outside of her work at the museum, Jennika is an accomplished artist in her own right. More about her work, including her recent artist residency in Germany, is below.

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Stories within Stories as Organisms:

Each of the paintings in Stories as Organisms includes a short narrative based on the stories children told Jennika as they painted and her own interpretations of their work.

Chameleon Has a Secret

“Chameleon has a secret, but he won’t tell anyone because he is a stellar secret keeper. Unless……he is persuaded by a slew of albino spider’s and Mister Krabs himself from Spongebob??!”

The Woodland

“At the center of the Woods lives the brilliant Blue Doily-Eyed Owl Bat. She was exiled to the woods, but her heart yearns for the mountain peaks. Around her fly curious Woodland Eels; one poisonous rose grows high in the treetops, and miniature houses scatter the landscape, home to hundreds ―if not thousands― of little folk.”

Cosmic Cat

“An alien cat from the outer rims of the cosmos trudges through a flower patch on a drizzly afternoon. It’s just the right weather to spot a flying horse maiden and the elusive four-armed sparrow.”

Family Reunion up North at the Cabin

“It’s summer and a very odd family returns for their annual family reunion at their cottage up in northern Wisconsin. Aunt Deer Forest Spirit puts on her fanciest shawl for the occasion, galloping proudly through the field, excited to bake muffins for everyone. Grandfather Spider immediately goes into his comfy bed underneath the cabin. to settle down for a nap after his long flight to rest his many weary eyes. Uncle Neptune sings a song, wearing his favorite shiny golden coat. Who else can you spot from the family? What do you think their story is?”

The Sphinx

“The Spinx, full of riddles and mischief, sits delicately in a field of origami wildflowers. A trumpeting goose fish flies over-head. The sky is a sea of scribbled yellow lined paper.”

Snail Astronaut Heroine

“Our snail astronaut heroine explores a new planet, searching for a home for her people.”

Self-Portrait as a Monster Sock Maker

“By the time this character was painted, I could see this was clearly a self-portrait. Who knew, deep, deep, down, that I was a monster sock maker? Sometimes the art we create surprises and mirrors to us who we truly are. White ghost clouds decorate the castle walls, as a very helpful cat snuggles out of it’s knitted sock sleeping bag. A dragonfly winged dirigible flaps in the sky. As you can see by the label in the left-hand corner, this sock maker is 100 years old, because “Years” most certainly starts with an “R.””

The Forest Gathers for Snowman’s Birthday

“This, I believe, is my very favorite of all of my Colab art pieces so far. During the creation of this piece, I met a very special, talented young girl who I would end up giving private painting lessons to for three years! She helped me peer into the painted forest that was materializing and clearly see that it was Snowman’s birthday. And how delightful that all of Snowman’s friends could make it for his special day. Bee brings a honey present, Spider sends down his black present wrapped in a nice pink bow on a silk thread from his web and a Ladybug kid brings popcorn.”

A Dinosaur Maiden Explores a Robot City

“It’s a busy day in the thick of a robot city. Robots rush with their briefcases to their 9 to 5s and a large musician robot plays obscure, static-ey bluegrass music on its radio. A dinosaur maiden is lost, trying to find her way in all this chaos – she is searching for the address of her great uncle, a burly robot by the name of Remus.”

Bird Ship

“This piece changed orientation many times: starting out it was vertical, and the multiple groups of kids I met during my program each wanted the canvas to be turned around a different way. For most of this painting’s journey, it was totally abstract. The last child that helped me with this piece was a young boy who, filled with much inspiration, sprinted to the museum’s Paint Wall and grabbed a squeegee. Before I had time to even say a word, he then pushed his tool through the entire paint pallet and ran his squeegee up and down the canvas! I was laughing and just thought he was a genius. That last mark, the whole piece just came together before my eyes – his mark was the sail of a great Bird Ship! I finished the painting by adding the details of the bird head, appropriate ladders to different sections of the ship and a good yellow deck.”

Blueberry Layers of Existence Cake

“Ahhhhhhh, a nice slice of Blueberry Cake……that just so happens…..to be a slice from the Blueberry Layers of Existence Cake!!! This delectable, magical, dessert summons the eater of it to whichever land one happens to taste. One might find themselves floating through a bubblegum pink thunderstorm, or lost in the forest of the Gumdrop Headed Centipede Guard who can turn totally invisible, except for his hovering gumdrop head. One might also find themselves drifting in the middle of the Milky Way, or in one of the blueberries themselves: tiny galaxies dancing and being born (or are they cells going through mitosis?) Floating around it are all the many creatures who inhabit this cake slice: a Skeleton Whale, a long pink Sky Serpent,  a small red Cat Serpent, a Birthday Fish, and also a few unknown beings who are still very Good, respected and loved by all. Dare you take a bite?”

Witch Girl Sings the Stars into Being

“Little Witch Girl has an important job: every night she must sing the stars into existence so they can blink and twinkle in the open night sky. She’s young so she’s still learning how to sing well. Good thing she has her best friend the Cauldron Toad, as well as a forest sprite who sleepily plays his recorder in his pj’s. It’s always easier to sing the stars into existence with best buddies by your side.”

The Extinction of the Dinosaurs

“It’s the last day of the dinosaurs! As a meteor rushes towards earth, the dinos all have very different last moments. A lot is going on. The volcanos are erupting. A time-traveling RV floats overhead. One dino shows off her fire-breathing skills (wait, is she a dragon? How does she do that?). A Jurassic era moth prince attempts to ride a brontosaurus to safety. A freshly hatched baby dino is still smugly wearing its shell near a tree, and the two-legged dinos prancing madly are definitely my sister, Marit and I. Are you somewhere in the scene?”

 

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About Jennika:

Jennika Bastian began working with Madison Children’s Museum after graduating in 2013 with her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from University of Wisconsin–Madison. She recently returned from the artist residency, EUARKA+ in tandem with the exhibition Documenta 14, in Kassel, Germany.

Jennika’s personal artwork is inspired by in-between spaces of her middle world: the connective flow of dreams and waking; growth and decay; and the ebb of the ephemeral. She is interested in creating a personal folklore of motifs and characters that share stories of navigation through the dark and light of the psyche. Aesthetically, her current work is characterized by gestural line work and emotive swaths of color, paired with realistically rendered fragments of environments and characters that cause the viewer to peer into my reality through a fantastical lens.

Her freelance work includes illustrating a young adult fantasy series, installation design for the Burning Man festival, many paintings, wearable sculptures, giant puppets, and murals. She has exhibited regionally and internationally.

At the museum, in addition to Collaborative Painting, other of Jennika’s recent programs include Clay Day!, Mask Magic, Gelli Prints, Recycled Sculpture, Rooftop Watercolors, and Playdough Party.

More of Jennika’s artwork may be viewed on her website: www.jennikabastian.com.