February 6, 2020 - March 21, 2020
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I Remember Feeling Far
Jay Stern

First Thursday opening: Thursday, February 6th from 6pm-9pm
Gallery hours: Saturdays, 12pm-4pm & by appt.

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Specialist presents, I Remember Feeling Far by Jay Stern. This work is an effort at documenting memory through spatial reflection, using architectural landmarks as anchors for showcasing the visual details of a memory. For Stern, the dissection of landscape and interior space is essential to reconciling the relationship between the two sides of experience—the emotional and the physical. 

Drawing on the aesthetics of American abstract expressionism, the work uses a similar compositional mapping, balancing large confident natural shapes with tight influential linework. The paintings act as portraits without human form, instead focusing on the spatial remnants of each memory. Eager for balance, the work finds kinship as both the memory and the masked landscape that was once clearly identified. The origin is combatively filtered, challenging the presented visuals to perform in clarity as they’ve been altered.

Using a collection of found architectural materials, Stern explores the nostalgic quality of these moments by revealing specific physical attributes in the portraits. The practice reveals a fear of fading narratives, and the performance of basking in the past enough to set them free. Made from history; the work serves as both a reminder of and graceful wink toward the past. Stern tells a story that is more about setting and structure than character, solidifying nostalgia, spatially.

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There is no such thing as an empty space or
an empty time. There is always something to see,
something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make
a silence, we cannot.

John Cage

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Jay Stern lives and works in Seattle, Washington. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he received his BFA in Painting from the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. He then earned his MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University. His work has been exhibited in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Seattle. After a four year hiatus from making art, I Remember Feeling Far represents Stern’s first solo show in Seattle and the first time he has exhibited work formally since 2013.