No matter how you look at it, an accomplished work of visual art is shaped by the artist’s relationship to aesthetics,composition, technique, and subject matter.

Jennifer Massoll, a young, self-trained artist from Northeast Minneapolis, paints light-filled abstractions that always seem to be on the verge of representing something recognizable and vibrant. What seems to influence her work the most is art which captures the beauty of a natural setting draped in light. Her work impresses on being both interesting to the eye and satisfying to the soul.

Jennifer’s education played an unexpected role in her art. She earned a BA in Agricultural Science and an MED in Agricultural Education from Texas A&M University – studies which drew her closer to nature, and perhaps helped her to develop a heightened awareness of the details of her surroundings. Almost more importantly though, her undergraduate studies also provided her with the opportunity to study abroad in Tuscany, where she enrolled in her first art courses since high school: drawing and painting. While this didn’t change the course of her formal education, it caused her to become aware of her deep-seated artistic interests, and to connect with herself in a meaningful way – as if her “soul had been fed.”

Today, Jennifer has her own studio at the California Artist Building in Northeast Minneapolis, where she paints in acrylics and experiments with the effects of iridescent acrylics to capture the changeable nuances of light. Working with a limited amount of formal training, each piece becomes an opportunity to experiment with textures and different ways of applying paint to the canvas – leading to new techniques and directions for her art. She produces this work instinctively, seeking to channel her emotions into a painting which is both visually pleasing and emotionally provocative for the viewer.