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1.5°C Exhibition
Eno Arts Mill Gallery, Hillsborough NC / April 2024 Juried environmental exhibit hosted by the Orange County Arts Commission in partnership with the Orange County Office of Sustainability. Pioneer 2050: Epilogue, an acrylic and collage painting by WALSH/BLAZING, includes a QR code enabling viewers to experience the piece in motion with NASA audio. The work imagines the message a final space probe from Earth might include if we don’t take sufficient action to stem our climate crisis. |
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NC Literary Review: Winter 2024 edition
WALSH/BLAZING artwork paired with poem by Duncan Smith, 2023 Applewhite Poetry Prize Semifinalist Produced annually by East Carolina University and NC Literary and Historical Association. |
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Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh
NC Artists Exhibition / September 24 - October 22, 2023 California Dreamin' is my response to the impact of the climate crisis in my northern California hometown. The state suffers from increasingly frequent and severe wildfires exacerbated by climate change, as rising temperatures drain moisture from the soil and vegetation. My loved ones have evacuated their homes and suffered property loss. The iconic song, California Dreamin', holds new meaning as I reflect on my family and their neighbors. The lyrics, "All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray," conjure a post-fire landscape. California Dreamin’ also serves as an embodiment of the global calamities caused by the climate crisis. The presence of the capitol building on the horizon acts as a reminder of the importance of collective action. As a long-time resident of North Carolina, I encourage individuals to support measures at the local, national, and global levels. Through united efforts, we can make a significant impact in addressing climate change and protecting our planet. |
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Uproar Festival of Public Art
WALSH/BLAZING: Changing Worlds Now Eno Arts Mill, Hillsborough, NC / July 14-August 12, 2023 This interactive, multimedia projection highlights the personal impacts of climate change through a unique, storytelling art experience. Uproar Festival of Public Art showcases 60 large-scale, bold works of art throughout the downtown areas of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough. |
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Dissent: Spring 2023 edition
Blazing artwork paired with piece about climate activism by Kate Aronoff Smith, staff writer at the New Republic and a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. She is the author of Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet and How We Fight Back, as well as a member of Dissent’s editorial board. Published in print three times a year by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas. |
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WALSH/BLAZING Featured Artists
A/perture Cinema, Winston-Salem NC / August 2022 The Picture Card Series is a program that showcases the digital presentation of work from North Carolina visual artists on the a/perture screens as a prelude to every theatrical presentation. Their 2022 artist selection showcases diverse works of high merit from across the state. The overarching goal of the program is to use the a/perture screens to generate more exposure and engagement with NC artists. Following their premiere month on screen, their digital program is now available on the a/perture website. |
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Meredith College, Raleigh NC
Jenny Blazing and Carin Walsh: Turning Point Weems Gallery / September 2 – October 1, 2021 This solo exhibition featured WALSH/BLAZING’s Changing Worlds Now – a multimedia projection installation that highlights the personal impacts of climate change through a unique, storytelling art experience. The exhibition also included 17 paintings, assemblage sculptures, video display, and interactive opportunities for visitors. Exhibit catalog linked below. View the Artists Talk. View the Exhibition Catalogue. |
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Journey Toward a Turning Point
Artists & Climate Change / September 1, 2021 Thank you to Artists & Climate Change for sharing the story leading up to our solo exhibition at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC, Jenny Blazing and Carin Walsh: Turning Point. |
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Duke University, Durham NC
Enviro-Art Gallery 2021 / April 2021 The work of WALSH/BLAZING is on view in the virtual Enviro-Art Gallery 2021 exhibition designed to inspire environmental stewardship through art. DURMatitis depicts local landmarks in an imagined, graphic novel-styled Durham if our battle to save the environment is lost, and speaks to the looming questions facing humanity when the threat of Covid-19 is finally over. Audio/video collage embedded in retro space heater. Total run time 1min14sec. |
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NC Artists Exhibition: A Virtual Retrospective / March 17 - July 17, 2021
The Seeker embodies the essence of human curiosity and the pursuit of meaning. With the absence of detailed facial features, the painting invites viewers to project their own experiences onto the figures, fostering a personal connection and introspection. The Seeker encapsulates the universal human longing for knowledge, enlightenment, and a profound connection with the world around us. |
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Powerplant Gallery, Durham NC
Art of a Scientist: Bridging the Gap / March 11-28, 2021 The work of WALSH/BLAZING is featured in this exhibit zine. Inspired by Duke’s Amboseli Baboon Research Project, WALSH/BLAZING’s mixed media painting, Generations, presents a layered vista inspired by the baboon research location in Kenya, plus 3-D elements depicting one of the project's many data collection methods. Their accompanying video integrates the WALSH/BLAZING artistic process with actual researcher photos, videos and interviews. many data collection methods. |
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Cameron Gallery, Durham NC
Pleiades Arts Truth to Power 8 / Sep 2 - Nov 10, 2020 My painting Trickle Down speaks to the environmental hazards that disproportionately threaten Black and Brown communities. In April, the predominantly Black community of St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana endured the highest Covid-19 death rate in America. Pollutive industrialization has left residents with staggering rates of severe illness including heart disease, respiratory illnesses and diabetes—all high-risk conditions for Covid-19. Structural racism has focused the harmful impact of the climate crisis on people of color. To pursue climate justice, we must dismantle racist environmental policies and learn from the many Black voices informing our path forward. In the words of Mustafa Santiago Ali, V.P. of Environmental Justice at the National Wildlife Federation, “When we say, ‘I can’t breathe,’ we literally can’t breathe… At every turn the deck is stacked against us.” There can be no climate justice without racial justice, nor racial justice without climate justice. Media: acrylic painting on stretched canvas with charcoal and collage (hand-painted original papers, stamping, monoprinting) 30"x40". Link to online gallery guide including a brief artist's talk: https://issuu.com/powerplantgallery/docs/truthtopowerfinalaug6/30 |
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Power Plant Gallery, Duke University
Pleiades Arts Truth to Power 8 / August 2020 Blazing's painting, Trickle Down, was on exhibit as part of Pleiades Arts' Truth to Power exhibition. The exhibition was curated by Angel Dozier and Cornelio Campos. The focus of this exhibit was communicating messages of social justice through visual art. |
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Happening at CCB Plaza, Downtown Durham / June 21, 2019
WALSH/BLAZING were invited to project Changing Worlds: Durham onto 21C Museum Hotel. This 7-min looping video depicts the imagined evolution of local landmarks and challenges residents to confront what’s at stake if our battle to save the environment is lost. This Happening brought together six Durham-based artists for a two-hour collaborative performance. Presented by Justin Tornow, Saba Taj, and Pierce Freelon, with support from Downtown Durham Inc, 21C Museum Hotel and Kontek. |
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WALSH/BLAZING were engaged by Cline Design Associates to produce a large-scale, mixed-media painting for the lobby of their client's new and NGBD Green Certified apartments. The work is visible from Main Street and is in conversation with the modern architecture and distinctly Durham feel of this downtown property.
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Rubenstein Arts Center, Duke University
Enviro-Art Gallery Showcase / April 2019 WALSH/BLAZING’s free-standing animated video environmental sculpture DURMatitis: Dual Forced Air Heater was on exhibit as part of the Enviro-Art Gallery showcase of professional and student artwork designed to highlight the beauty and struggles of nature. DURMatitis: Dual Forced Air Heater depicts local landmarks in a graphic novel-styled imagined Durham if our battle to save the environment is lost. The work asks what role each of us plays toward that outcome -- Am I the problem or am I the solution? You are one or the other, or both, but you cannot extract yourself from the equation. April 6 - WALSH/BLAZING gave a presentation about their science-based practice of letting climate communication research findings, focus groups, and viewer input shape their approach to environmental messaging through visual art. |
No Harvesters: Bruegel’s Missing Painting
Hunters in the Snow, Pieter Breugel
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Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh
NC Artists Exhibition / March 10 - June 16, 2019 I painted No Harvesters: Bruegel’s Missing Painting hoping to pique viewers’ interest in our environmental and political climate. This is the premise: Pieter Bruegel (c. 1525-1569) a Dutch Renaissance painter is famous for his set of landscapes. With titles such as Hunters in the Snow and The Harvesters, they show humanity in balance with nature throughout the seasons. Five of what many believe were a set of six paintings survive. No Harvesters: Bruegel’s Missing Painting portrays my highly unlikely explanation of the fate of that painting. Imagine Bruegel transported to the present-day United States. In this Anthropocene Era - when nowhere on earth remains untouched by humans - the world would feel vastly different to him. He would note the absence of rich biodiversity that surrounded him in the 1500’s, something we do not sense due to the “gradual nature” of these changes in the psyches of humans. To his horror, Bruegel would realize that we are blissfully ignorant of the tragedy at hand. To his relief, he would recognize we have collective solutions available. However, he would soon learn that the US administration has withdrawn from many of the global efforts to solve climate change. This policy not only puts the future of our planet in extreme jeopardy, but also aggravates the current plight of our southern neighbors creating complex immigration issues. As climate change-induced drought destroys their agricultural livelihoods, people relocate to overcrowded cities straining resources and fostering a violent atmosphere. Some flee to US borders in desperation. Realizing that our climate policies not only jeopardize our very existence, but also aggravate our more immediate economic, social, and political concerns, Bruegel would be inspired to create a landscape like no other he has before. No Harvesters: Bruegel’s Missing Painting is my interpretation of that painting. |
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Jenny Blazing: Worlds in Process March 2019 / Pleiades Arts/ Durham
This solo exhibit featured the creative array of techniques Blazing employs in her paintings of imaginary vistas. On view in the main floor gallery was Can you Guess the Secret Ingredient? Blazing and the Pleiades Artists shared their sculptures, ceramics, photographs, woven works, and paintings that they each created while using the same mystery ingredient. Thank you to Kerry Rork with The Chronicle for her fabulous article about this "Secret Ingredient" exhibit. View her article with this link: https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2019/03/new-pleiades-exhibit-invites-visitors-to-guess-the-secret-ingredient |
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Changing Worlds Now
Communication, Rhetoric & Digital Media Symposium NC State University / March 2019 WALSH/BLAZING shared the evolution of their collaborative practice that includes video, sculpture, and large-scale installation. Based on scientific research, their work is designed to effectively engage the public around environmental issues through unique and personally relevant storytelling art experiences. Their goal is to empower others to speak out about the dire consequences to humankind if we fail to act. |
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Carrack Modern Art, Durham, NC
Carrack Community Show / January 2019 WALSH/BLAZING’s wall mounted environmental assemblage animated video DURMatitis: Retro ViewScreen was on exhibit as part of the Carrack Community Show. Viewers were asked to weigh in on their role in our environmental crisis. |
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Changing Worlds Now is a series of planned site-specific installations by the collaborative team of Carin Walsh and Jenny Blazing. WALSH/BLAZING was thrilled to introduce this exhibit during Earth Month (April) at Pleiades Arts in Durham, NC in conjunction with works by the ten member artists. On View April 2018 at Pleiades Arts, Durham NC.
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Changing Worlds: Earth Month Exhibit and Community Programing,
Pleiades Arts, Durham NC / April 2018 Changing Worlds, a group exhibition organized by WALSH/BLAZING was on view throughout April 2018. Pleiades artists offered visual responses to the dichotomy that is the beauty of our environment, the need to protect it, and the politicizing of the climate crisis. Upstairs in the solo gallery, WALSH/BLAZING brought Changing Worlds Now – an immersive, multimedia installation that invited viewers to both honor our past and confront what’s at stake if we fail to embrace long-term strategies for sustainability. Viewer responses to the installation were solicited and documented. |
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The Bull Meets the Bayou Artist Collective
New Orleans LA & Durham NC / February - June 2018 Changing Worlds: Rear View, a wall-mounted environmental sculpture and video installation by WALSH/BLAZING was on exhibit as part of The Bull Meets the Bayou Artist Collective Exhibit in New Orleans, LA. The entire exhibit then traveled and was on view at The Carrack Modern Art in Durham, NC. Changing Worlds: Rear View, consists of a tablet-sized, video display set within a wall-mounted, distressed, scrap metal assemblage. The looping video montage depicts real environmental disasters projected onto a foreboding, other-worldly paint and collage cityscape. Contrasting audio delivers a woven tapestry of an aging midwestern family’s actual ‘voices of remembrance’ recalling simpler times growing up in the Midwest. |
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Cameron Gallery, Durham NC
Packaging Space: Presented by Calvin Brett / January-February 2018 WALSH/BLAZING were contributing artists for Packaging Space: Presented by Calvin Brett. This large-scale interactive installation invited visitors to consider all the items our society packs, ships, and discards as a means of defining class and comfort. Through the exercise of gathering scrap items and repackaging boxes, people were asked to consider how all our actions relate and how the trash of one class often becomes the treasure of a lower class, but all discards, regardless, eventually become the contents of landfills. The immersive installation was conceived by Calvin Brett and constructed by a group of artists. WALSH/BLAZING’s Changing Worlds looping video was projected onto the scene as a reminder that the perils of excessive consumption are already upon us. |
Promise, 24" x 24" Acrylic and Collage
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Jenny Blazing's work was selected for publication in Radar Poetry:
"I'm honored to have provided artwork that is paired with poetry written by the very talented, Ross White, in the January 2018 issue of Radar Poetry. His poems, Patron Saint of the Savings & Loan and Portrait of my Father as a Junk Bond paint vivid pictures in my mind." |
Fragments, 48"x 38" mixed media
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Fragments, Jenny Blazing was featured in Pleiades Arts' Truth to Power V July 13 - August 6, 2017
Statement: Fragments is my representation of how distortion and fragmentation impact reality. Our sources of information have rapidly increased since the advent of the internet. These sources often present only parts of a story or issue making us vulnerable to distorted or inaccurate information. The proliferation of misrepresented information is impacting how we interpret important issues in our world and may have ramifications for our very existence. Although there is overwhelming rigorous research-based evidence that climate change is happening, a large segment of our society is unconvinced. The spread of inaccurate theories and anecdotal information that passes as fact contributes to this denial. Fragments is designed to stimulate thoughts and discussion about our future and what could happen if we do not acknowledge our role in preserving this planet. This piece is made from a single photograph I took of a complex imaginary world maquette that I constructed in a box. First, I divided this image into multiple “panes” as if they are being viewed through a divided window. The process of transferring each pane to the canvas produced unique distortions of the original images. I then added collage, brush strokes, and sgraffito to each pane to further distort the “true” image. Like the real world, the original world I created was complex in its own right. But in Fragments this world is muddled and contorted, its true identity obscured. I hope that we can do our best to see through distorted facts in our own world and take action to save our planet. Thank you to Blue Greenberg for her insightful review of this exhibit www.heraldsun.com/news/local/counties/durham-county/article163859978.html |
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Article in Artists & Climate Change
Thank you to Artists & Climate Change for sharing the work of artists across the globe who explore the intersection of arts and climate change. In her article, Propagating For Our Planet, Blazing explains how she hopes to use her paintings to help build acknowledgement and community around the importance of saving our planet. |
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Suntrust Gallery, Durham, NC
Jenny Blazing: Building Worlds / January 13 - March 11, 2017 |
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Blazing's 2016-1017 studio in the heart of downtown Durham.
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Global Grift, Jenny Blazing was featured in Pleiades Gallery's "Truth to Power IV" July 13 through August 7, 2016
Visual art has been used as a vehicle for social and political commentary throughout history, and continues to communicate a wide array of ideals, opinions and criticisms from a spectrum of voices. The exhibit was curated by Dr. Wesley Hogan, the Director of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Dr. Hogan is a historian widely honored for her documentary work on the civil rights movement. She is a documentarian and social justice activist. Artwork selected for the exhibit reflected on personal, local, national and global experiences that fill the nightly news: PTSD from war and sexual abuse; racial and LGBTQ identity and discrimination: the massacre in Orlando: HB2; NC Governor McCrory; institutionalization and incarceration. |
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Test of Time was featured in the Contemporary South Art Exhibition, January - February 2016
Curated by Kristin Fleischmann Brewer, Manager of Programs at Pulitzer Arts Foundation, the show was at the Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, North Carolina . |
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Bastion, 16" x 20" acrylic and collage
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Test of Time was featured in the Durham Art Guild's 61st Annual Exhibition curated by Alice Gray Stites, September 4 - October 17, 2015
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Strata was featured in Pleiades Gallery's "Truth to Power III" July 30 - August 30, 2015
This exhibit marked their third annual show about social justice. The exhibit was intentionally broad in scope so that each artist could address issues of personal, local, national, and/or international importance. This year’s Truth to Power show was curated by elin o’Hara slavick: Professor of Art at UNC Chapel Hill, international exhibitor, and author of Bomb After Bomb: A Violent Cartography and After Hiroshima. She also is a curator, critic, and activist. |
elin o'Hara slavick's statement about Strata:
Jenny Blazing's black and white Strata speaks to the "acceleration of climate change with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. There is the abstract, romantic and classical sediment underground that contains cave paintings, Egyptian tombs, Roman aqueducts and mountain ranges. Pressing down on nature is our urban weight of skyscrapers full of plastic and unsustainable materials, products designed to become obsolete as quickly as possible so that we replace them and keep the commodity culture churning. The sky is drained of color. Lightning is black. And while this is dystopia, Susan Sontag reminds us in On Photography that "there is beauty in ruins."
Jenny Blazing's black and white Strata speaks to the "acceleration of climate change with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. There is the abstract, romantic and classical sediment underground that contains cave paintings, Egyptian tombs, Roman aqueducts and mountain ranges. Pressing down on nature is our urban weight of skyscrapers full of plastic and unsustainable materials, products designed to become obsolete as quickly as possible so that we replace them and keep the commodity culture churning. The sky is drained of color. Lightning is black. And while this is dystopia, Susan Sontag reminds us in On Photography that "there is beauty in ruins."
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Blazing's works were featured in the Preservation Chapel Hill Horace Williams House Art Committee Exhibition, June 2015
This show featured sculpture, photography and paintings. |
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Crux of the Matter, Jenny Blazing was featured in the Durham Arts Guild 60th Anniversary Exhibition, September 2014
The curator was Marshall Price, Ph.D., Nancy Hanks Curator of Modern and Contemporary art at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. |
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Enlightenment, Jenny Blazing was featured in "Truth to Power II" at Pleiades Gallery in Durham, NC, July 2014
The show was curated by Kenneth Rodgers. |
"A New Perspective on the Everyday" Au Courant Magazine — an article about Jenny Blazing's paintings
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Liberty Arts Featured Artist / April19 - May 13, 2013
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Truck Series: Jerome, Arizona – Solo Exhibit
Golden Belt Room 100 Gallery / March 2013 |
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Horace Williams House / May 2013
Truck Series: Jerome, Arizona – Solo Exhibit |
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