Jane Zweibel

Jane Zweibel was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1959. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn.

My recent and current work is comprised of two interrelated series: stencil paintings and stuffed paintings. The stencil paintings use silhouettes of figures and nature forms to contain narrative fragments. These fragments suggest larger stories and contexts, which the viewer completes with his/her imagination and perception.

My newest series, Stuffed Paintings, arises from the stencil series. This body of work brings my narratives to life in object paintings. I start by creating silhouettes based on different transformed figures, often of my young son. I transfer the stencils onto canvas. The pieces are hand-sewn and filled with cotton. The resulting soft sculptures allude to childhood stuffed animals and dolls. They also suggest cartoon figures and spiritual icons. I make mixed media paintings on the faade of each piece. The illusionary paintings play off of the 3-D sculptural forms.

A major theme in my work is an on-going quest for identity in a chaotic world. My content is culled from a range of sources: personal and collective history, experience, current events, urban life and nature. My hybrid c...

Jane Zweibel has an M.F.A in Painting from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Visual Art from Bennington College. She is a recipient of fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and a grant from the Puffin Foundation.

Her work has been feature in numerous solo and group shows, including Tabla Rasa Gallery, Brooklyn; Project Room 88, New York City; David Beitzel Gallery, New York City; 55 Mercer Gallery, New York City; the Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series, Rutgers University; the New York Transit Museum, Brooklyn; and the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

Ms. Zweibels exhibitions have been reviewed in a variety of publications, including Art in America and the New York Times.

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