Courtesy photo
Visual artist and arts educator Deborah Jones is the focus of a solo exhibition at the Art Base in Basalt. Titled “Absence,” it opened Thursday and will run through July 5.
The show is Jones’ visual exploration of things that are not present or no longer exist.
Her personal morning journals will be on view, offering insight on the artist’s past five-year daily practice. In the main gallery, three distinct bodies of work are on display: a quote from Albert Camus flows through the installation of “Flow” tiles; a subtle, cooler grey wall highlights nine, 10-by-10 inch pieces depicting ice shelves; and the third wall showcases 80 photographs of Mount Sopris shot between first light of day and mid-morning over the past 10 years.
“This exhibition is a culmination of different strands of my work in recent years,” Jones said in an exhibition announcement. “The work is primarily mixed media, painting and photography.”
The show is broken up into four parts: “Morning Journals,” “Flow,” “Ice” and “Mountain.”
“Each embodies the notion of absence exploring that which is not present at the moment, or that which no longer exists — never to return,” Jones said. “In absence, there is an undercurrent of loss, and yet I find renewal and grace as well. The beauty and mystery of experiencing the loss of loved ones, the turns of an unstable climate, when human kindness and integrity are lacking — all relate to my feelings behind this work.”
Passionate about both art and teaching, Jones received a BFA from MassArt in Boston while simultaneously being a founding member of The Graphic Workshop in Boston. After completing her degree in printmaking, she moved to the Roaring Fork Valley, continuing design and pursuing her own art and teaching K-8 art at the Aspen Community School in Woody Creek.
In 1995, she founded and directed the Wyly Community Art Center in Woody Creek and moved the organization to Basalt in 2004 where she was an active leader until 2011. She was honored with the organization’s Creative Force Award in 2013. Her work has been exhibited locally and nationally. Jones works full-time in her studio on Basalt Mountain making paintings, collages, installations, and handmade books.