Kenneth Jackson is an artist who works largely in the photographic medium. His works have included natural environments, still life, portraits, and the figure, rendered using digital, analog, and alternative processes. Since 2005, his work has been exhibited around the US and overseas, published in journals and catalogs, and has entered a number of private collections. Jackson is also a musician, composer, and writer. He lives in the woods with his wife, cats, and dog on Crow Hill, in rural Chatham County, North Carolina.
Statement
The tension between surface appearances and underlying mystery is where I most enjoy working. I approach my work as poetic visual meditations that respond to, and in some ways express, the emergent beauty of this passing world and our brief lives. As the renowned depth psychologist James Hillman wrote: "That the world is loveless results directly from the repression of beauty, its beauty and our sensitivity to beauty.” This meaning of beauty is layered and emotionally stirring; unlike the superficial kind of “beauty” so celebrated in popular media, it is essential to the nourishment of the soul. I like to make mages that can be beautiful in this deeper sense, evoking emotions, memories, and dreams; a trail of breadcrumbs leading us back to a love of the world.
Selected Exhibitions
2016
Altered Narratives. Group exhibition of alternative process works by twelve artists. City Gallery on the Waterfront, Charleston, SC.
2015
Selected works from the Texas Photographic Society Alternative Processes Competition, at LOOK 15: The Liverpool International Photography Festival. Liverpool, UK.
Alternative Processes. Juried by Christopher James. Texas Photographic Society. Options Gallery, Odessa College, in Odessa, TX.
2013
International Portrait Exhibition. Invitational group show including two American and four European artists. The Loft Gallery, San Pedro, CA
2011
The Photographic Nude: in the spirit of Ruth Bernhard. Juried by Cherie Hiser. LightBox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, Oregon.
Lens on the Land: An invitational group exhibition. Castell Photography Gallery, Asheville, NC.
Pose and Gesture. Juried by Tim Anderson. Photoplace Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont.
2010
Exposed: Nudes in Art 2010. Group Exhibition. Litmus Gallery and Studios, Raleigh, NC.
Alternatives: Uncommon and Unconventional Processes. Juried by Keith Taylor. Minneapolis Photo Center, Minneapolis, MN.
Low Tech Exhibition. Juried by Crista Dix. Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO.
2009
Natural Poetics. Shared exhibition with Rochelle Moser. Art of Chiropractic gallery, Minneapolis, MN.
Alternative Processes Exhibition. Juried by Blue Mitchell. Photoplace Gallery, Vermont Photography Workplace, Middlebury, VT.
Alternative Processes: A Traveling Exhibition. Juried by Christopher James. Texas Photographic Society, San Antonio, TX. Opened at the Options Gallery, Odessa College, in Odessa, TX in early 2009, and traveled to various locations through 2010.
Badlands: Figure in the Landscape. Group exhibition. Umber Studios, Minneapolis, MN.
2007
Slow Exposures 2007: Exhibition Celebrating Photography of the Rural South. Juried by Sylvia Plachy and Birney Imes. R.F. Strickland Building, Concord, GA.
Alternative Processes Exhibition. Juried by Elizabeth Spungen. Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO.
Anima Mundi. Solo exhibition. Fayetteville Museum of Art.
Upaya. Solo exhibition. Throckmorton Library, Fort Bragg, NC.
2007 (cont’d)
Upaya. Solo exhibition. Virginia Intermont College Photography Gallery, Bristol, VA.
Texas Photographic Society’s 22nd Member’s Only Show. Juried by Kathy Vargas. University of the Incarnate Word’s Semmes Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX.
2006
In Search of Spiritual Essence. Group exhibition curated by Michele Horn. Fayetteville Museum of Art, Fayetteville, NC.
Discovering Contemporary Art in the Carolinas: A Juried Exhibition for North & South Carolina Artists. Juried by Mark Sloan. Fayetteville Museum of Art, Fayetteville, NC.
2005
In Focus Photography, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh. Juried by Allen Thomas Jr., Dennis Weller, and Emily Rosen. Online exhibit.
Discovering Contemporary Art in the Carolinas: A Juried Exhibition for North & South Carolina Artists. Juried by Katsumi Murakami. Fayetteville Museum of Art, Fayetteville, NC.
Bibliography
Diffusion: unconventional photography; Volume IV, Summer 2012
Pose and Gesture. Exhibition Catalog. PhotoPlace Gallery. 2010.
Alternatives: Uncommon and Unconventional Processes. Exhibition catalog. Minneapolis Photo Center. 2010
Perspectives. Center for Fine Arts Photography Blog. Featured artist. http://www.c4fap.org/tag/ken-jackson/. 2010.
Photos that Inspire. Edited by Lynn Eodice. Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2008
Education
Studied with Diana Bloomfield, private workshop, 2015
Studied with Doug Beasley, Santa Fe Workshops, 2006; VisionQuest workshops, 2008.
Studied with Norman Mauskopf, Maine Photographic Workshops, 2004.
Photography and graphic design. Coursework at Fayetteville Technical Community College, 1999-2001.
Collections
Works held in numerous private collections in the US and the UK.
Awards and Grants
Emerging Artist Program Grant. Durham Arts Council. Durham, NC. 2013
Artist’s Residency Merit Award. Vision Quest Workshops. 2011.
Regional Artist Project Grant. The Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Fayetteville, North Carolina. 2007.
Regional Artist Project Grant. The Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Fayetteville, North Carolina. 2005.