Jennifer Zee is a printmaker specialising in meticulously designed and compositionally balanced beautiful tributes to the natural world. With a strong interest in the natural sciences, her artworks are visual odes to the species and specimens with which she feels an affinity. Under her brand name GinkgoZee, Jennifer has been working solely on personal projects and selling her own prints for over 3 years.
She describes her brand as one that draws an audience “who embrace geekery”. Geekiness is the deep seeking and appreciation of specific knowledge above and beyond what is necessary for everyday existence. Amongst her followers, Jennifer has geeks of maths, food, ballet, mystery novels, libraries, grammar, and, of course, art and science. With graduate degrees in Biology, Art, and Museum Studies, Jennifer describes herself as a “certified geek”. Thus, it is no surprise that her style is heavily influenced by scientific illustration. In fact, her prints are science illustrations in print form, as she visually researches her subjects to stay true to the specimen or organism. “In my art I enjoy tedious detail, precision in technique and accurate portrayal of species” says Jennifer. She has also worked with several nature museums as an exhibit designer, illustrator, and scientific illustrator (Exhibit Museum at University of Michigan, Birch Aquarium in San Diego, Natural History Museum in San Diego).
Geometry also plays an underlying role in many of her prints. Jennifer creates a visual, layered duality wherein a geometric structure is overlaid with organic images. Her works often comprise repeat printings of a solo or set of tessellating blocks. She uses groups of “modular” tessellating blocks that can be combined in various orientations to create an infinite variety of compositions. “I like clean lines and clear details. Yet I aspire for organic forms, even in my geometric prints which are composed of precisely registered shapes” states Jennifer.
“My art reveals an East Asian aesthetic. Wait… What does that even mean!? I am thinking about examples of traditional Japanese Woodcut and Chinese Brush Painting. All details are deliberately chosen and carefully placed. Complexity reduced to its most essential forms. There is a strong sense of balance, in even the most asymmetric of compositions. My flatlays also aspire to achieve this balanced asymmetry thing I speak of.”
Her works begin with pencil sketches on isometric paper, and if she has a tessellation in mind, Jennifer will draw out geometry guidelines. For subjects such as minerals, she will study images to understand the structure of the mineral, and the patterns it can take. Then, with those specifications in mind, she designs her own mineral (e.g. malachite, bumblebee jasper, fossilised coral). Once a design has been perfected in pencil and paper, Jennifer transfers it to a block (Speedball speedycarve), and carves with Flexcut and Pfiel carving tools. She prints with ink pad inks by Tsukineko, hand pressing with a barren onto smooth cardstock.
Jennifer is looking forward to working on local exhibits of prints in the near future, as well as producing some larger scale artworks.
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