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Artist Statement
 Some of Jeanne Wilkinson's images document the travels and vision quests of a Paleo-Postmodern migratory clan, the Painted People. Called "iridescent" by art critic Dan Bischoff, these former Barbies, Kens, GI Joes trek across the face of an earth that becomes more alive, more revelatory of its underlying forces as they pass. Cities become strange night places where streets are fluid streams, skies morph into oceans and buildings dissolve into fantastic life-forms.
The Painted People's first adventure--Western Walkabout--was a collaboration between Wilkinson and her son, Andrew Yonda (photographer/musician). These real-time photos were taken on a trip mirroring one she took 1969, but instead of traveling in a psychedelic VW microbus, the Painted People rode the Horse With No Name (HWNN) and Mr. Blue the Toad on their journey from the mountains to the sea.
In the Sky People, Night in the City, and Alight series, the imagery is layered with her photos of nature, the city, the dolls, and her artwork. Now with three babies and many more creatures, the clan traverses a world of strange premonitions, environmental change (apocalypse?) and natural magic. In the "Painting People" series, they take on the Q-line in Brooklyn, armed with paint cans and brushes.
The "Love" series is another collaboration with Andrew Yonda, taking a bit of 2004 San Francisco sea-wall graffiti (L-O-V-E) and transporting it into various landscapes.
Her latest Painted People collage, “Deliver Us,” brings to mind Baroque ceiling paintings where creatures, angels and gods float in unearthly realms. The image was derived by merging a photograph of the Painted People (taken by her son, photographer Andrew Yonda) with her photos of the British Petroleum Skandi ROV 1 internet "live feed" while oil was billowing into the Gulf of Mexico.
It depicts a kind of environmental "Last Judgment,” a tipping point from which ever more explosive changes will take place faster and faster unless...or is there an "unless"? Have we reached a state of critical mass where the future is out of our hands and all we can do is try to save ourselves from the worst consequences?
“Deliver Us” will be shown in the Art For Progress exhibition "Critical Mass,” curated by Natalie Kates, in Tribeca, NYC.
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