ARTIST ART CARD

Jan Gough • Non-traditional Retablos in Mixed Media

Jan Gough

email: Jan Gough

PO Box 319

Medanales, NM 87548

505-685-0933

 

 

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

As a child, I would “rudely” stare at friends and strangers alike, hoping for eye contact, yearning both to see and to be seen in the deepest possible way. Somehow I intuited that human faces, with their ever-changing expressions, reveal deep, complex stories and truths. As an adult, in my work as a hospital chaplain and spiritual director, I have seen Divine Light shining through even the most damaged souls. And I have seen award-winning healers grappling with their Shadow Sides. It is this paradox of human existence that I strive to convey in my art. While traditional Retablos depict Saints and Angels in highly stylized, symbolic poses, The Rio Grande Sun has said of my work, “Jan Gough… has a triptych of rather untraditional looking retablos – more like portraits of people in the neighborhood.” For supporting and encouraging my “reimagining” of this genre so venerated in Northern New Mexico, I am grateful beyond words to my mentor, Santero Juanito Jimenez, and to the talented traditional Retablo painters with whom I have shared studio space at NNMC.