Exhibition Review: Jen DeNike: Visions of the Daughters
Mirror Levitation, Vision 2, 2022 © Jen DeNike
Written by Ashley Mercado
Copy Edited by Parker Renick
Photo Edited by Lucia Luzzani
When you walk into Jen DeNike’s Visions of the Daughters exhibit, you are welcomed with the surround soundings of DeNike’s rewritten modern version of Vision of the Daughters of Albion by William Blake. DeNike’s poem, Visions of the Daughters, is rewritten to fixate on the inclusivity of pronouns (she, he, they) through the feminine perspective. The words queens and goddesses, originally written as kings and priests, are heard throughout the exhibition as you make your way through each installation. Each installation has one thing in common, the ever-existent presence of women.
Mirror Levitation, Vision 1, 2022 © Jen DeNike
Mirror Levitation, Vision 3, 2022 © Jen DeNike
The series of photographs titled Mirror Levitation captures women who are all levitating as they hold square-shaped mirrors over their faces, leaving them unidentifiable. The only thing that shows remnants of these women pictured in this series are their bare legs, arms, and hands—body parts that are completely untouched—leaving scars, hairs, and pores visible to the eye. The juxtaposition of these women levitating as they remain unconstrained from gravity while also being unidentifiable creates the concept of these women being truly free. They are free from being seen, free from covering up their naked, digitally untouched bodies, free from being tethered to gravity. The mirrors only add to this notion of being free by each mirror capturing lights that all range in colored orbs and refractions. Bright yellows, hues of baby blues, and dark blues create a portal within these crystal-clear mirrors that create an escape from reality. They make you ask yourself, “Are these women actually free?” as you look down at the photos and see two footprints below their levitating figures. The footprints indicate that somehow, someway, their presence is still tied to the simulation that they originally resided in.
Visions of the Daughters © Jen DeNike, Installation shot, Courtesy Signs and Symbols
In the middle of the exhibition lies the show-stopping video installation that plays inside of a wooden box. The video installation is of different women shown one after another, lying on their backs on a white background; their breasts and genitalia covered with a white cloth and crystals. Inside the wooden box are different-sized white crystals that are meticulously placed inside the edges of the wooden box so that the video installation is visible. DeNike’s archaeological research paired up with her own personal mining experiences added a personal touch to this video installation, given that DeNike mined these crystals in Arkansas. Connecting her own personal life to her art, DeNike accomplished this seamlessly without taking away from the women who bared their bodies in this video installation. The crystals added an extra layer of divine femininity rather than taking away anything from it.
Visions of the Daughters © Jen DeNike, Installation shot, Courtesy Signs and Symbols
Jen Denike’s Visions of the Daughters allows the viewer to question what it means to be here. It allows us to question the unknown but also acknowledge the things that we feel, see, and know are real, all while keeping femininity and the bodies of women as the main vessel in which these concepts are presented.
Jen DeNike’s Visions of the Daughters opened May 12 and will remain on display until June 15, 2022, at Signs and Symbols on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
