Bio
J. M. Culver is a contemporary figurative artist who creates portraits and psychological narratives with universal themes. Her work explores figuration and abstraction through a combination of painting and drawing, focusing on the transitory nature of memory, social dynamics, and personal allegories that offer an intimate glimpse into the human psyche.
Highlights include an artist feature on MN Original TV PBS series, receiving multiple Artist Initiative Grants from the MN State Arts Board, a First Place International Award for painting from the FSU Museum of Fine Arts, exhibiting alongside Margaret Keane in an international exhibition curated by the editor of Juxtapoz Magazine, and features in numerous publications.
Culver's professional background encompasses leadership roles as a former gallery director, arts non-profit organization director, curator, board chair, and development. She attended Syracuse University in New York for graduate studies and holds a BFA in painting from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
As a full-time artist, writer, and curator, Culver actively exhibits her work, which is held in private collections internationally. She enjoys collaborating with clients on commission requests of all sizes: intimate to extensive. Culver maintains a multi-functional studio in Minneapolis, where Eve, her Siamese rescue cat, runs the show.
Statement
My paintings explore memory, identity, and the human condition through dramatic character portraits and psychological narratives.
Bordering between representation and abstraction with provocative paint and charcoal layers, the portraits explore identity by obscuring facial features, revealing the underlying structure, and expressing a sense of raw emotion, while presenting a distorted character of what once-was. The viewer is confronted with an uncertain and unnerving presence of the other, with something almost nonhuman left on the surface.
Using these characters, I recreate narratives that stem from my childhood memories of my grandfather who suffered from schizophrenia combined with the second-hand memories of his surreal story-telling. These reconstructions and personal observations of the human condition present an immediate and intimate, tangible expression of memory while exploring the mundanity, absurdity, gravity, and the humor of life.
My work addresses issues of the transitory nature of memory, the ownership of stories and secrets, and the inconsistency of perspective with mental health and personal identity. I create paintings that have personal significance and create social consciousness to connect and emotionally resonate with the viewer.
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