Jen Perkins is a 2023 Artist Opportunity Grantee. The Artist Opportunity Grant is funded by the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District (MCACD) and administered by Culture Works, the region’s United Arts Fund and Local Arts Agency. Her project sent her to Greece in the spring of 2023 to participate in a relief sculpture workshop. An encaustic artist, Jen blends media to build layers of colors, adding dimension and depth to her interpretations of the world, creating dreamlike landscapes and otherworldly dimensional forms. Encaustic is ancient art form, born in Greece, and Jen felt that traveling to the birthplace of encaustic painting would broaden her knowledge and enhance her creative practice.

Jen spent 10 days in Greece, the majority of which were on the Island of Naxos in the Cycladic Islands where she worked with her collaborator in an intense 10-day workshop marble relief carving. The workshop was documented in photos and videos to be shared in both Naxos and the United States. Maggie Ross, an American ex-pat and a recognized Naxian marble sculptor and instructor, created all the marble relief carvings from drawings created by Jen.

Magge and Jen worked with a master mold maker to create silicon molds from the marble sculptures. The creation of the “mother” silicon mold allowed Jen to create multiple plaster casts of the reliefs. In her studio in Dayton, Jen spent the summer casting multiples of each relief in the studio. Each plaster had to be unmolded and sanded in preparation for painting. The process was photographed for slide presentation and display.

An exhibition of plaster relief works, including photographs of the original marble, will be on display at the Dayton Metro Library Main Branch from January 7 until the end of February. On January 13, Jen and Maggie will simulcast artists’ talks in WebX, with Jen in Dayton and Maggie on Naxos, where she will be hosting an exhibition of the marble relief works with photographs of Jen’s plasters.