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Signal to Noise Strikes a chord on campus
BY IAN VAN ORDEN
ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
A new art exhibition has come to Clackamas Community
College’s Oregon City campus. From Nov. 7 to Dec. 3
the art of Jennifer Ingram, a local surreal artist, will be
on display in the Pauling Gallery in the Pauling Center.
" I ’ m kind o f like a transplant up here in the
Northwest,” Ingram said. “ I was born in the Mojave
Desert in southern California.”
Homeschooled from the sixth grade on, Ingram’ s
mother served as a major influence in her decision
to pursue her career as an artist. Also an artist, her
mother taught her many of the foundational elements,
creating the beginnings of her passion for the world
of art.
“ It was kind of like our time together,” said Ingram.
“ She would sit down with me and invent characters
and taught me the basics of shading and coloring. It
just became the thing that I wanted to do. Since I was
a kid it was the one thing ^wanted to d o .”
Ingram returned to school during her college years
where she attended art classes that helped grow her
preexisting interest in the arts. During this tim e,
Ingram began to explore her own vision, her own style
of art and truly began to experiment with what that
would look like on paper.
In 2010 Ingram moved to Southern W ashington,
co n tin u in g her work as an a rtist in her new
environment. Despite the move, much of her work
is influenced by the environments of her childhood.
In her artist statem ent, Ingram says, “ My art is
profoundly influenced by the extremes of the desert
environment, which is Where I grew up. The struggle
with which life must endure to survive the extreme
temperatures and limited resources.”
Another inspiration for her art comes from her
struggle with bipolar disorder. Also known as manic-
depressive illness, bipolar disorder is a condition that
photo by Jonathan Villagomez
to by Jennifer Ingram
causes extreme mood swings, from extreme highs to
extreme lows.
This disorder has greatly influenced her work in
many ways, according to Ingram. Though it affects
her productivity, says Ingram, it also has an effect on
the art that she creates. One piece, the Bloodflower
Stew, was created based off a depressive period that
she experienced. The work is a reflection of how she
felt during that period of time.
“ If you look at the sym bols,” said Ingram, “ like in
‘Altars in the Sand’ , there’ s the two boxes where one
is a white face and one is a dark face. One is kind of
the subconscious and one is the conscious, and one
is the depressed and one is the m anic. I’ m always
looking for way to bring those two together and find
equilibrium between the two instead of living in the
extremes of the duality.”
The name of the exhibit, Signal to Noise, references
her disorder, specifically the dualism that exists within
herself due to the disorder. She describes the disorder
as almost having two personalities living inside of
her, one energetic and active, while the other exhibits
the opposite personality traits. Due to her art also
containing elements of this dual identity, she wanted
to find a name that conveyed this duality.
When Ingram was young, her parents were interested
in amateur radio. This introduced her to some of the
elements of radio, including the term signal to noise.
Referencing the level of the desired signal to the
background noise, Ingram relates her work to this idea.
is “ What I Learned in Sunday School.”
On her Instagram , Ingram describes
the piece: “ It ’ s really about bipolar
disorder and my experience with it, and
the ultim ate m ental fires that come
between states of mania and depression.
I’ve always sought this middle state
where elements of both could survive
without ever leading to extremes, thus
the rainbow in the m iddle.”
She credits much o f w hat she was
able to accomplish with this piece to
her experience creating the exhibition’ s
sign atu re p iece, S ig n a l to N oise.
Com pleted in about three m on th s,
Ingram believes that the experience
creating her largest piece of work to
photo by Jennifer Ingram
date helped her grow immensely. The
creation of What I Learned in Sunday
School was much easier, completed in
only a fraction of the time, in large part
due to that experience and growth.
Ingram’s art will be available to view
until December 3. If you wish to see
more of her work, much of it can be
found on her Instagram, @pinkpoppy32.
Also available are in progress shots of
her work, giving a glim pse into the
creation of her paintings and collage
works.Though Ingram has a vision for
her work, a message that she includes,
she also stated that she wants others to
be able to bring their own stories, their
own interpretations.
“ It’ s about the creator as well as the
viewer,” said Ingram. “ I just think that
art can be seen on so many different
levels and layers. You might have what
the artist intended it to mean and their
personal story, but then each individual
person who com es to see that work
might have their own story. And each
one is just as valid as what the creator
intended.”
For those attending the exhibition,
Ingram states that her favorite is What
I Learned in Sunday School. On her
Instagram, Ingram describes the piece:
“ It’ s really about Bipolar disorder and
my experience with it, and the ultimate
mental fires that come between states
of mania and depression. I’ve always
sought this middle state where elements
o f both could survive w ithout ever
leading to extremes, thus the rainbow
in the m iddle.”
She credits much of what she was
able to accomplish with this piece to
her experience creating the exhibition’s
sign atu re p iece, S ig n a l to N oise.
Com pleted in about three m on th s,
Ingram believes that the experience
creating her largest piece of work to
date helped her grow immensely. The
creation of “ What I Learned in Sunday
School” was much easier, completed
in only a fraction of the time, in large
part due to that experience and growth.
Ingram’ s art will be available to view
until Dec. 3. If you wish to see more of
her work, much of it can be found on
her Instagram , @pinkpoppy32. Also
available are in-progress shots of her
work, giving a glimpse into the creation
of her paintings and collage works.
photo by Jonathan Villagomez
Ì
“Blackmasking,” left, and “Alters in the Sand,” above, will be displayed in
Pauling through Dec. 3.
photos by Jennifer Ingram
Signal to Nois e
Jennifer Ingram
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“What I Learned in Sunday School,” above, and
“Signal to Noise,” right, are displayed in Pauling.
Clackamas Print ------------------- ;__________
Though Ingram has a vision for her
work, a message that she includes, she
also stated that she wants others to be
able to bring their own stories, their
own interpretations.
“ It’s about the creator as well as the
viewer,” said Ingram. “ I just think that
art can be seen on so many different
levels and layers. You might have what
the artist intended it to mean and their
personal story, but then each individual
person who comes to see that work
might have their own story. And each
one is just as valid as what the creator
intended.”
For those attending the exhibition,
Ingram states that her favorite piece
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November 14, 2018