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Artist's Statement In all my years of artistic poustinia on behalf of the wild creatures' relics, people have asked me, "Why bones?" It is no surprise that our bones and those of our fellow creatures have held wonder since before human habits of naming. Classically, from ancient times, they have been held as representative of sterility, aridity and death. For me, beyond the physical fact of death, bones are portals, thresholden estuaries unto exaltation. The bones seem to verily sing, they hum with resonate mystery. Mostly hidden within while being used, when the garments of flesh falls away, there they are! Hiking and discovering the skeletons of wild creatures, I become heavy with an eery inkling of the meteoric impact which scatters the bones out from the place of deathly departure. Relentless predators, patient scavengers and weathery elements work to pull apart bony members as droplets freed where a cast stone meets the pond's still surface. |
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My experience with bones goes back to age six and a half, when I first met the wee, porcelainesque skull of rodent among reeds on shores of Pokegama Lake near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. During growing years, bones sustained my curiosity. Then in summertide of 1965, I fully began engaging relics. Searching forth, oftentimes, I found and gathered boxes of these treasures from the fields, forests and lakeshores surrounding property of Benedictine abbey in Southern Wisconsin where I worked in the abbey printshop. At the same time, during what were four years of quasi-hermitical life style, I taught myself to draw and have never stopped. From that beginning, over a decade was consciously devoted to resolutely draw one, single relic on a given page. In early 1978, I drew commingling of turtle bones, braving configuration for the first time. Almost half of my time, past constraints governing knitness of their anatomical origins, is spent mutely hefting and brooding over and within the bones. When I find what I call the sacred bearings, I fix them into oiled clay mountings, then begin the pilgrim journey of drawing images which result from musings. If we but look into, inexhaustibly vital glories await our wondering gaze. We do look forth within our surroundings through bioptical arms of embrace. Our two yearning eyes reach out, opening unto all which realms the seeable. My heartfelt sharings are the resulting drawings, idealizations of the found forms. With them, I yearn to bring back echoes of what I am lavishly privileged to behold. |
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My one, ardent expression for others is to simply see and to remain open! To look within Nature! If I am allowed more than this encouragement, my only credo is within the statement which I wrote and had translated into French Language, published in Clermont-Ferrand, in the poetical chapbook, "a/r/p/a, no. 33, Cahier de recherche poetique" March of 1987. Here follows this statement:
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This lithograph exists in entire inventory, printed in two editions, one of forty impressions-Arabic numbered, and one extraordinary edition of ten impressions-Roman numeraled, with fourteen artist's proofs, bon-à-tirer, and cancellation. The word, widi-gewin, is Ojibwe native American phonics for English word "marraige". During May 4th to May 13th, I drew day & night, in reserved faculty computer room, next to their lounge on the third floor of Minneapolis College of Art & Design. This was collaboration with master printer, Cole Rogers, MCAD Printmaking professor. I did drawing on their "Tatyana" stone, which weighs 500 pounds. I drew configuration derived of male and female gray wolves, Canis Lupus. I vantaged the female skull uppermost, with male skull underpinning in support of shewolf skull. I have ever attested William Shakespeare should have had his Dane of Elsinore Castle muttering, " To Have or to be had? That is the question." I do not see this cynically, but have every observed the dynamics of relationship for this mysterious dance of lover-beloved witness. The printing of impressions was realized in two sessions, spanning a number of weeks. |
 Image:© 1999 Gendron Jensen |
Image:© 2003 Gendron Jensen |
This lithograph is derived of bull mooses skull from Isle Royale in Lake Superior, specimen #1825, who was 14 years old when he died in autumn of 1985, dying from stress in the rut season, of pneumonia. He had a bad wood tick infestation which weakened his immune system. His headgear, antlers spanning four feet across, are the most impressive ever collected by researchers on the island. The asymmetry of those antlers shows he was beginning his decline of aging which contributed to overall misfortune due to severe winter of limiting nutrition. He also had signs of arthritis and osteoporosis in skeleton. Configured within this lithograph, also, is echoing of alpha female wolf skull, specimen #2542, from the island. She died in 1994, possibly from starvation, since she weighed only 47 pounds, having ruled over the Middle Pack. In my ponderings and drawing, I encountered signs in her skull of osteoporosis, only subtly hinted in cheekbone of my drawing on stone. She had horrid damage-injury in her right maxillary region and her teeth were stumped with extreme wearing. I felt the grandeur and majesty of these two creatures and endeavored to convey something of this and the mysterious realm of their Eden Isle, named, "minong" by the Ojibwe Natives, which has one meaning, "Place of Blue Berries", long before the arrival of French explorers who named the island so royally. Master printer, Bill Lagattuta was my collaborator, assisted by apprentices: Roberta Flemming Jeffries and Lee Turner. Drawing on stone was begun 9:30 on September 20th and completed at 10:34 on the 25th. Next day proofs were pulled. All in all, I am so fiercely pleased in this venture. The project was funded by: Rolf O & Carolyn Clarke Peterson. |
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This is the second of eleven drawings in main corpus of series. All relics from which these drawings are derived, originated out of research midden next to Bangsund cabin on Isle Royale, Lake Superior, U.S.A. These relics for this drawing are from ball ends of thighbones of moose. |
 Image:© 1994 Gendron Jensen |
Drawings Published and Articles about the Artist |
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Prizes and Fellowships |
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Drawings in Collections |
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Exhibitions |
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Visit the Calendar of Events Search Page for complete exhibit and performance information. LAST MODIFIED: January 9, 2008 |
