Courtney Jacobs
Mesa, Arizona
Abstract expressionist artist Courtney Jacobs uses paint as a medium of meditation, finding allure in the unexpected. "I find the harmony in seemingly contradictory visual ideas both beautiful and exciting," says Courtney. Her work embodies a personal language shaped through the use of color, composition, and action. She channels glossolalia—the vocalizing of speech-like but unintelligible utterances, especially in religious practices—and creates the visual equivalent through her work. She invents her titles as part of her painting process, and are meant to be spoken aloud by the viewer. She completed her BA in English in 2000 and pursued advanced studies at the Academy of Art University, where she received a Master of Fine Arts in Painting. Courtney enjoys listening to music while playing with different color combinations in her garage, which serves as her home studio. When she's not painting, Courtney indulges in her musical talents, which include singing, piano, and guitar playing. She also finds pleasure in reading, writing, and dancing.
Artist Statement
My paintings represent a personal language created through the use of color, texture, composition, and action. By pushing, scraping, dripping, and throwing the paint I create a visual history of my own response to these complex, chaotic elements. It is an active process, intermingling various elements (line, spatter, drip, brushstroke, and squiggle) into one final composition.
As I paint I forever seek the balance between negative/positive, lost/found, light/dark, thin/thick. For every “yin”, I search for the “yang”. I juxtapose great sweeping gestures against calm breathing spaces. Every splatter, gesture, and stroke is planned in terms of how it will affect the overall whole and where it can be mirrored elsewhere. I find this harmony of seemingly contradictory visual ideas both beautiful and exciting.
It’s an intuitive process that requires as much looking as painting…perhaps more. This intuitive process taps into the purely visual non-language right brain—a meditative unfolding I liken to “speaking in tongues.” Also known as “glossolalia,” speaking in tongues is “the vocalizing of fluent speech-like but unintelligible utterances, often as part of a religious practice”.
For me the painting process has become a visual equivalent of glossolalia. Instead of vocalizing “fluent unintelligible utterances,” I let the paint act as my medium of meditation. The titles have been invented as a part of this process and are meant to be spoken aloud by the viewer.
As I paint I forever seek the balance between negative/positive, lost/found, light/dark, thin/thick. For every “yin”, I search for the “yang”. I juxtapose great sweeping gestures against calm breathing spaces. Every splatter, gesture, and stroke is planned in terms of how it will affect the overall whole and where it can be mirrored elsewhere. I find this harmony of seemingly contradictory visual ideas both beautiful and exciting.
It’s an intuitive process that requires as much looking as painting…perhaps more. This intuitive process taps into the purely visual non-language right brain—a meditative unfolding I liken to “speaking in tongues.” Also known as “glossolalia,” speaking in tongues is “the vocalizing of fluent speech-like but unintelligible utterances, often as part of a religious practice”.
For me the painting process has become a visual equivalent of glossolalia. Instead of vocalizing “fluent unintelligible utterances,” I let the paint act as my medium of meditation. The titles have been invented as a part of this process and are meant to be spoken aloud by the viewer.
Artist Background
Academy of Art University
Master of Fine Arts, 2008
Bachelor of Arts, 2000