Sunbath Painting

Pamela Simon-Jensen is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist working with painting, photography, and film. Raised in Paris and Los Angeles, Simon-Jensen first immersed herself in painting as a universal communication that transcended the language barrier between French and English. Inspired by Europe’s classical arts and LA’s contemporary culture, Simon-Jensen also enjoyed unique family exposure to art. She learned aesthetics from her grandfather Norton Simon as he built his collection of visual masterpieces. She is a longtime board member of the Norton Simon Museum. Simon-Jensen received her BA from Brown University before studying filmmaking at UCLA. Craving greater artistic freedom, she renewed her focus on painting, which has evolved from figurative work to energetic abstract expression. Her work has been exhibited at Arena One Gallery, The Other Art Fair, Propeller Gallery, Slip Stream, James May Gallery on Artsy, and various other galleries. Artist Statement- My paintings combine gestural abstraction with interplaying color to create immersive abstract pieces that reflect nature, motherhood, and human emotion. I work with large canvases that relate to the human scale — their very size absorbing the viewer and filling their field of vision. My art is a release. My studio is a “room of one’s own” where I am free. Themes of womanhood and motherhood are still diminished in contemporary art, yet these states of being abound in heightened and tumultuous emotions that make compelling subjects for abstraction. I invent with color, motion, and texture. I am inspired by the grace and exaltation of dance, and the ever-changing Pacific Ocean. These are reflected in the rhythmic movements in my work, which combine soft pools of color with vigorous, explosive brushstrokes. I also experiment with a variety of paint consistencies, working with both thick and thin paint to convey transformations from stillness to turbulence through texture.