This textile installation represents a sentient growth that speaks to the viewer through sewn messages and vinyl messages on the walls.This is a playful glimpse into a transitioning future world with plant-like figures inspired by sneaky mold and fast-growing invasive plants. Using the language of Sci-Fi creature feature films and media, such as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Invasion of The Body Snatchers”, these creatures will signify an inescapable change due to life-transforming. Messages will include "we were always here," "we grow when you aren't looking" and "we grow and grow”, and “I think about you all the time.” This work combines comforting textiles with alien otherness to renew curiosity in nature.

About Jen Clay

Jen Clay creates textiles and animations for immersive and interactive installations and performances. Clay earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture at the University of Florida while also studying costume design and behavior analysis. Clay research encounters with the unknown, from H.P. Lovecraft’s stories to actual reports of hallucination experiences. Her first commissioned performances were in 2015 at ICA Miami and Miami Light Project. During Miami Art Week 2016, Clay created a micro-theatre experience to showcase her 20 min video piece; “Episode” at SuperFine Fair. Recently Clay was awarded the 2019 South Florida Cultural Consortium fellowship for her wearable works. In 2019 The Young At Art Museum of Davie, FL invited Clay to create her first large-scale, site-specific piece "Welcome to Me & You,". Clay is currently an artist-in-residence at Oolite Arts in Miami South Beach.

On View: July 8–October 5, 2022 Pompano Beach Cultural Center, Art Gallery