Enamel is an alchemical dance between glass and metal. Jennifer Davis Carey is an enamel artist whose artwork is all about seeing and remembering. Seeing the patterns, seeing the unseen, seeing the small, seeing the unnoticed, seeing beyond the obvious. Can we pause and see all the details? This might include small gestures, the night sky, insects and hidden stories. The colors are vibrant, the patterns electric and the themes are current as well as ageless. She is also about remembering, remembering collective and individual identities, particularly within the African Diaspora.
Her “Insect Series” is about being present with the small parts of life. Her celestial pieces refer to her great love of the night sky; she is an avid fan of the natural dark skies that are taken from us by electric lights. We miss that we are just a tiny part of the greater universe visible only in the few dark-sky places of today. Our ancestors saw this every night. She has worked with goddess and cycle-of-life themes and is also known for her enamel tableaus of figures, landscapes and celestial themes.
Based in Worcester, Massachusetts with a shared enamel studio at the John H. Higgins Armory (the former home of the Higgins Armory Collection that is now housed at the Worcester Art Museum), she is a familiar presence in Worcester galleries and also shows her work in Boston and New York City. Her studio’s walls are lined with glass frit (ground glass), there are worktables and a 12” cube enamel kiln ready for the magic she will create. Working in a shared studio enables problem solving and sharing tips with others for everyone’s creative process. In addition, Carey is part of an artist group that meets monthly at the Higgins to share ideas and tips and recent artwork with others.