Jenifer K. Wofford: Limning the Liminal
Feb. 25-April 14, 2019
This work by interdisciplinary artist Jenifer K Wofford returns to notions of the liminal—the threshold between worlds or ideas—to express her intercultural, creative logic. With no fixed points in her background, Wofford’s visually crisp artwork exudes imagination, humor, and a healthy appreciation for the absurd.
Spanning over a decade, the artworks include her iconic studies of nurses and Filipina comfort women as well as recent paintings examining the aftermath of seismic disruptions. In the Nurse (2006-07) drawings, Wofford presents images of Filipina nurses enveloped in an abstract, institutional green goo, reminding us of the ways in which these essential caregivers are often made invisible. Lolas (prints, 2016) presents portraits of some of the longest-living “Lolas” (Filipina grandmothers) and WWII comfort women. In contrast to these figurative works, Wofford will also present recent acrylic paintings rendering the aftermath of seismic ruptures. Begun in 2016, these paintings depict ghostly landscapes from earthquakes around the Pacific Rim. The paintings function as a metaphor for broader contemporary conditions of cognitive and cultural collapse. Seen together, the works in Limning the Liminal remind viewers of the tenuous nature of our times.
About the Artist
Jenifer K. Wofford is a San Francisco-based artist and educator whose work has been exhibited at the Berkeley Art Museum, Oakland Museum of California, YBCA, San Jose Museum of Art, Southern Exposure, and Kearny Street Workshop as well as at New Image Art (Los Angeles), Wing Luke Museum (Seattle), DePaul Museum (Chicago), Silverlens Galleries (Philippines), VWFA (Malaysia), and Osage Gallery (Hong Kong). She is a 2017 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant among many other awards. She teaches in Fine Arts and Philippine Studies at the University of San Francisco, and holds degrees from the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA) and UC Berkeley (MFA).