Jane Shoenfeld - Biography

Biography

Jane Shoenfeld moved to NM in 1987. She chose the endless space of North Central New Mexico over New York City’s grid. Shoenfeld grew up in the DC area and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at Pratt in addition to studying painting at a graduate level at Brooklyn College.

Shoenfeld is also a lover of poetry. Her work includes a series in response to poems about climate change and a collection of pastel paintings based on Yeats’ classic 22 line poem “The Second Coming.” Subsidized residencies at The Virginia Center for Creative Arts and at Jentel Arts in Wyoming were invaluable in developing and completing these bodies of work.

Shoenfeld organized and taught residential workshops at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu for 30 years and taught art therapy and creative process for 15 years at the former College of Santa Fe. Although no longer part of academia, Jane thoroughly enjoys teaching landscape painting in the spring and summer and every winter holds a series of classes in her Santa Fe studio. One of her favorite places to work en plein air is at Ghost Ranch.

Shoenfeld’s pastels were exhibited through the First Street Gallery in NYC for many years.  Her current work is represented through the STRATA Gallery in downtown Santa Fe. Shoenfeld’s Second Coming pastels were displayed in a major exhibit at the Visual Arts Center in the Santa Fe Community College in 2022. In 2023, through NM Arts in Public Places, a suite of three pastels were chosen by The University of NM Hospital for their new hospital tower. Recently her work has been curated into exhibits in the NYC area and in January/February of 2024 her pastels were on view at The HERE Gallery, Santa Fe.

 

Artist Statement

Since the early 80’s, my primary medium has been pastel. My imaginative pastel paintings reflect both my trust in the unconscious as a source and my lifelong love of nature. Pastel, for me, lends itself to resonating layers.

Although much of my art is abstract, organic form, movement and light from the natural world remain.  Additional visual elements – unexpected transitions, textures, color relationships and allusions to representation animate the field. The emotional impact of color is central.

I cultivate ambiguity in visual cues and dissolve edges, both literal and metaphorical. My art reflects my dreams where setting and emotions shift – sometimes seamlessly, sometimes abruptly. I also follow the urgings of the collective, cultural unconscious in my work. I trust the unconscious voice.

I often paint in response to poetry.  A recent body of work is based on the ominous and predictive poem “The Second Coming,” written in 1921 by WB Yeats. While working on this series, I focused line by line on Yeats’ powerful and relevant poem. The titles of the paintings are lines from his poem.

I am also a poet. A collection of my poetry and painting Petals in the Tunnel was published in 2022.

My plein air paintings are in the moment and are my response to the energy and connections I experience in nature. Painting outdoors involves all my senses. It is more than a visual experience.