MEET JENNY
Welcome to my heARTwork.
About Jenny Vyas
Jenny is a contemporary fine artist based out of Chicago. She is highly influenced by beauty in complex human emotions and the human condition, and attempts to reveal them through multiple nuances in expressions through her art. Her interest in human frailty shows in her paintings where she create semi-abstracts of human silhouettes and fluctuating forms in half-light; all drawn from reality, personal experiences, and memories. Since her art emerged from the darkest period in her life, she explores vulnerability to heal herself and hopefully heal others through her work. As a result, painting Phoenixes rising from ashes is a significant theme as part of her work. Jenny enjoys painting interactive murals where the viewers become a part of the artwork and the art is an extension of their stories. Some of her popular murals are the Wings in West Loop at Federales Chicago (painted in collaboration with Chicago artist, Caesar Perez) that have gone viral on Instagram with the hashtag #FederalesChi, her #BeTheBridge mural supporting the Black Lives Matter + her untitled mural at Westfield Old Orchard mall in Skokie (IL), #HowWillYouRISE mural at the Clifton Street Art Gallery on Broadway/Clifton in Uptown, Chicago, her Indian murals at ROOH Progressive Indian restaurant in Chicago + at ROOH in Columbus (Ohio), and at the Khiladi South Indian Gastro pub (now closed) in East Village, Manhattan in NY.
Best place to see her latest artwork and follow her journey is on her Instagram at @JennyVyas.
Jenny's artistic influences stream from music, poetry, books, artists like Shakespeare, Rothko, JR, Banksy, Alexa Meade, Andy Worhol, Jackson Pollock, Da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Georgia O'Keeffe, Gustav Klimt, and many more.
Prior to becoming an artist, Jenny has headed eCommerce for corporations and brands for 15+ years, including The Oprah Store at Harpo.
Photography by ArtistReplete.com
NOTE FROM JENNY
"It comes through you, but not from you. And though it is with you, it belongs not to you" ― Khalil Gibran
In 2013, I went through what turned out to be the most significant transition of my life. All I yearned for during that period of darkness in pain was to paint. Prior to this, I had painted only once in my life in an art class during college (where I studied Graphic Design). As terrified as I was to risk it all and explore this artist journey, I did it. I began painting. The key message moulded in one of of my favorite books, “The Alchemist” is when you want something, the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. What you seek is seeking you. In that moment, all I could think of was to paint. And I strictly focused on that with an audience of one: myself. I wanted to heal my wounds through my art. Once I surrendered to this intense pull from within, this fire in my belly urging me to paint— this gift took on a life of its own. What emerged felt surreal and explosive. I became a conduit for something larger than "me." What you see in my heARTwork these days is what emerged. I finally understood what poets talk about, what artists paint about, what dancers dance about, what Shakespeare wrote about. That cognitive ecstasy.
As an artist, I’m perpetually in that liminal space where I’m leaving behind everything that I have known about myself professionally and don't have a clear idea of where I’m heading as a creative. It is terrifying and unnerving. But, if there is one thing that I have learned about myself in these past few years, it is to stay in this uncomfortable space until the noise in my head quiets down and I find clarity as clear as day when I surface from the waves of fear, ambiguity and discomfort. Today, I understand that everything that has happened in my life has been preparing me for this moment: To become an artist.
Welcome to my heARTwork.
Namaste.
P.S. I occasionally write when inspired. You can read my philosophical musings on my Instagram posts.