Website: www.jasonpatrickjenkins.com
Email: jasonpatrickjenkins@gmail.com

I was born and raised in Newfoundland, Canada, and I discovered drawing in a time before I can remember. I have always been fascinated with figurative art, and I have striven to be a realist for far longer than I have known what the word meant. I took all the studio art and art history courses offered in my secondary school, and then I went on to get my B.F.A. at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.

After university I showed my work in several galleries in Canada, took portrait commissions, gave a few artist talks, did some volunteer work, and I taught art on the side. Eventually, I found my attempts at a realist career failing in a gallery system more interested in modern art, and moved to Korea to teach English.

Teaching in Korea gave me time to re-evaluate my career, research technique, and hone my craft. I had time to reflect on the state of the art world, and I recommitted myself to making realist art that promotes beauty and a sense of purpose. I want to contribute to a revival of traditional art-making and a reinvestment of value and interest from a currently disenfranchised and alienated public. I want to use art to awaken compassion and sensitivity in a generation that has been dulled by nihilism and desensitization. Great art can provide transcendence, clarity of vision, and a sense of purpose. In the age in which we live, we as a society have an unfulfilled holistic need, and I believe traditional humanist art can help fill that need. I believe in the power and importance of humanism in art-making and its ability to benefit society. I believe it is the vocation and even the responsibility of artists to create and promote values in society, and to work toward fulfilling the needs of it and its individuals. That is the very important contribution I want to make to society and to my generation, and it is the legacy I want to leave to future generations.

Since then, I have moved to Philadelphia and completed the 4 year advanced fine art program at ARC Approved Studio Incamminati. During my studies I showed my work repeatedly, demoed on occasion, and was published in the pages of International Artist Magazine. I am now a fellow and teacher at the school, where I am working on my new body of work with the support of a Stobart Foundation Grant. I aim to produce work that speaks to us deeply, addressing who we are and how we live, by recontextualizing instances and figures from our narrative history, and examining themes that are timeless, universal, and significant to all.