Jane Fergusson ’21

Jane Fergusson

I have always been one who is fascinated by cycles of life and death and rebirth. With the onset of COVID-19, I began to observe and question how our new pandemic rules were shifting emotional landscapes. That is, how do you comfort a friend when you can’t hug them? What happens when you remove the social aspect of grief? I began this project by thinking about the changing emotional topography I was observing, but soon broadened to a longer and wider scale of time. So I have arrived at sand as a vehicle. Sand, as time. Sand, as builder and destroyer. Sand, as equalizer. Some paintings are smooth, the composition only revealed as sand strips layers of paint from canvas. Some paintings are heavy, textured, built into mountains and valleys. Here, sand creates terrain, worlds which the paint must navigate.