Artist Statement

I am exploring a painterly myth for myself to explain the power of what I see and feel. Nature is a mystery, with volcanic activity hidden from view by steam and the earth’s crust. To know the earth through the senses is to experience it sensually and intimately.

These paintings are abstract, yet totally grounded in nature. They are informed by geographic formations but are not landscapes in the classic sense where everything is pastoral. They are experiences of awe at the alive, fluid nature of the earth.

The connection to the body and viscera comes only after I begin working and translate that experience into something which suggests a personal connection—a physical one. Power that blows a volcano is felt first in the heat of coursing blood.

Education

1982 BA California State University, Fullerton

Bio

Jean Towgood created art work that focused on the personal, political and environmental issues that impacted her life. She was in over 100 solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Canada and had also been invited to participate in international theme exhibitions in China, England, France, Italy, Japan, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Her studio was in The Brewery Art Complex in Los Angeles.

Towgood was on the Board of Directors of the Brewery Art Association, which operates the I-5 Gallery and the semi-annual Brewery Art Walk. She was a past Board member of the Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art (SCWCA), active in both the local chapter and as a Past President of the national Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) from 1992-94. She was Coordinator and Co-Chair for the 1999 WCA national conference in Los Angeles and the “Women Making It in the Arts” SCWCA symposium at the University of Southern California in October 2004.

Jean Towgood (1938-2013) is a legacy member of the Artist Registry.