The title Entropvisions is in homage to my mother, the poet and art critic, Harriet Zinnes. In 1990 New Directions published a collection of her poems titled Entropisms, a word she made-up combining entropy - the tendency toward disorder - and tropism - the growth towards or away from a stimulus. Similarly, my short reviews combine entropy and tropism by suggesting growth towards a vision of art from the chaos of the art world. Through the back door, my title also pays homage to my physicist father, Irving Zinnes, whose long discussions with my mom got her thinking about entropy and tropism in the first place.
Jessica Nissen Studio Visit
2024.2.27
For quite a while, people have been asking me if I knew Jessica Nissen
and her paintings, because we seem to have some mutual sensibilities.
The other day I was lucky to finally make a studio visit and yes,
absolutely we share interests – in art and intellectual pursuits outside
of art. Plus, Jessica’s paintings have conviction, a spatial bravura,
and glowing light. They create a hopeful sense of life forming out of
the primordial goo that spewed out of volcanic ash from deep
within the earth’s surface, as well as an absolute dread of our
impending environmental and climate doom. Her paintings connect the
inner mind with the outside natural world of water, air, and eternal
movement. They reflect her fascination with the history of alchemy and
its connection to art, with the science of matter and the energy of life
forms. In fact, they bring in the connections between everything.
Thank you, Jessica, for a wonderful afternoon, looking at your glorious
work, discussing your interests and artistic journeys, and in many ways
inspiring me to keep going myself.