Moose Jaw artist Jess Zoerb opened her latest exhibition at the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre this week (MJCC), themed around the inner experience and her personal development, and more celebratory than some of her previous work.
Titled ‘atma: the art of being’, the exhibition is Zoerb’s latest showcase of her absorbingly detailed, impressionistic, and ultimately deeply emotional style.
atma includes the ‘playful squiggles’ of her left-handed portrait sketches, paintings of animals in bold strokes and powerful contrasting colours, and a new series called ‘What’s that Song’.
Each of the ‘What’s that Song’ portraits depicts an older person listening to music on headphones. Their expressions communicate memory and the inner experience of joy, inspired by watching elders with dementia listening to familiar favourites. Zoerb titled the portraits after what she thinks the subject could be listening to, and encourages gallery visitors to make their own guesses.
The exhibition is open for viewing March 4 to April 30.
DiscoverMooseJaw.com caught up with Zoerb at the MJCC to learn about the direction and themes involved in creating ‘atma’.
“Often, I’m just following the inspiration,” Zoerb said. “I’ll have an idea that kind of floats around for a while and sometimes I’ll grab it, and sometimes I’ll ignore it, but it comes back. And I know that if an idea has been hanging around for a while and it’s not going away, I have to do something with it.
“Sometimes, I’ll have actual visuals of what I want to create, or I’ll have reference pictures that inspire me, or I’ll even have a dream that will stimulate something and it kind of takes me on this journey.”
‘If Words had Wings’ by Jess Zoerb, acrylic on canvas, 2024Zoerb becomes carefully soft-spoken and introspective when speaking about her art. She has been an artist since her youth, has a depth of technical knowledge, and operated a portrait photography studio for 10 years. However, she believes her art comes to her outside of those boundaries, from spiritual and personal locations that cannot be controlled or restrained.
The idea of ‘atman’ speaks to that process. In many Hindu traditions, it refers to the eternal, immaterial portion of self.
“Music is a really big part of my life and my creative process,” Zoerb explained. “I came across this song called ‘Atman’ and it was just a beautiful song, and it was the first time I’d ever heard that word. So, I looked it up and it comes from Sanskrit and means the essence of that part of us that is eternal.
“Depending on the different traditions, you’ll get different meanings out of it, but like anything creative, I’ve made it my own in how I relate to it. … The creative process is, very much, coming from that part of myself. In sharing with others, it seems to allow other people to connect to that part of themselves as well, when they’re viewing the art.”
‘Portrait of a Raven’ by Jess Zoerb, acrylic on canvas, 2022, on loan from ownerThe opening reception for atma: the art of being is this Saturday, March 9 from 2 to 4 p.m. There will be snacks and refreshments, and at 3 p.m. a facilitator will guide visitors through an exploratory, only somewhat-structured music circle. Instruments will be available for anyone to join in.
