ARTIST STATEMENT
Currently my creative focus explores how the American culture has shifted over time to become a complex façade of manufactured visions. I am exploring how our self-image and goals for happiness have been sold to us for political and monetary reasons, and how this has formulated our understanding of the role of women, religion, and the general concept of paradise in America.
My inspiration comes from the realization our culture is often driven by the institutional promotion of fundamental stereotypes. Structured belief systems entice us to continually pursue specific roles in society, believing this will bring us happiness. My recent paintings explore images related to these topics.
I paint in oil, sometimes adding charcoal and oil pastels into the many layers of my work. I work in a whimsical style using loose charcoal lines and lots of color. This adds an element of innocence, as if we are looking at children’s stories, but it is an innocence that is not real. It doesn’t really exist. It merely hides the true reality. It creates a tension with the sense of lost that these abandoned items suggest.
BIOGRAPHY & CV
Born, Houston, Texas
Lives and works in Southern California
info@JeanneCHolbrook.com
Jeanne Holbrook was raised in San Diego, California. She grew up in suburbia. Her sheltered life gave way to 20 plus years of corporate work. This was the beginning of a creative career in sales promotion and store design in Los Angeles and New York. Her career allowed her to travel and develop her visual judgement capabilities. Every day she developed her creative problem solving skills.
Eventually Jeanne returned to school and completed her formal education in studio art. She received her BA at California State University at San Bernardino. She is currently working on her MFA at CSUSB.
Jeanne maintains a studio at home in the Inland Empire, in addition to working in a studio space at the university.
Today she focuses on creating oversized canvases, painting in oil and creating depth and texture with charcoal. Currently, Jeanne is exploring how American culture has formed our understanding of the reality of our daily lives, the role of women, religion and the concept of happily ever after. She is interested in how the pursuit of the American Dream evolved to be a hegemonic influence transforming America into a consumer society that exists only as advertising images of happiness.
EDUCATION
M.F.A. Studio Art, California State University San Bernardino, San Bernardino,CA Present
B.A. Studio Art, California State University San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA 2020
A.A. Studio Art, Norco College, Norco, CA 2017
A.S. Architecture, Norco College, Norco, CA 2018
Attended San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Attended USIU Ashdown Park, Sussex, England, U.K.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2nd Year MFA Show, Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, San Bernardino, CA 2022
Alumni Art Exhibition, Norco College Art Gallery, Norco, CA 2021
Visual Frequency, Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, San Bernardino, CA 2020
Students of Art & Design, Norco College Art Gallery, Norco, CA 2016
Students of Art & Design, Norco College Art Gallery, Norco,CA 2015
Students of Art & Design, Norco College Art Gallery, Norco, CA 2014
PUBLICATIONS
Dotphotozine 2021
Norco College Alumni Art Exhibition Catalog
https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/7705185/catalog 2021
COLLECTIONS
Norco College Art Collection, Norco, CA 2014
WORK EXPERIENCE
CREATIVE DIRECTION/DESIGN PROJECT MANAGER CONSULTANT
DFS North America/DFS Group Limited/LVMH, Los Angeles, CA 2 years
VISUAL MERCHANDISING/STORE DESIGN CONSULTANT
Brighton Collectibles City Of Industry, CA 1 year
DESIGNER
The Design Network Santa Barbara/Los Angeles, CA 8 years
CREATIVE DIRECTOR - NORTH AMERICA
DFS North America/DFS Group Limited/LVMH El Segundo, CA 5 years
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT MANAGER
Mervyn’s Hayward, CA 2 Years
WEST COAST DESIGN PROJECT MANAGER
HTI, Hambrecht Terrell International, Architects Los Angeles, CA, New York,NY 3 years
VISUAL MERCHANDISING DIRECTOR/MANAGER
Federated Department Stores, Bullock’s Los Angeles,CA 4 years