Jennifer Gardiner-Lam, MFA '93

Submersed in the art scene

As a young girl, Jennifer Gardiner-Lam, MFA 1993, set her sights on becoming an artist and never looked back. In UB’s art department she found the perfect atmosphere for her creative ambitions. Initially a lithographer, she was attracted to the graduate program because of renowned printmaking professors Harvey Breverman and Adele Henderson. Of working with them Gardiner-Lam says, "They fostered an environment where it was not as much about collaboration as it was about constructive criticism and support – which was a godsend, especially when you are a young artist and you are trying to find your own space."

Gardiner-Lam also credits Western New York with contributing to her growth as an artist. "Buffalo has a strong arts community with the Albright Knox Art Gallery and the other shows and galleries," she says. "It felt like you were submersed in the art scene. It gave me more goals to shoot for, and showed me what I could achieve." It's clear that Gardiner-Lam has accomplished much in the art world. Her paintings have been shown in galleries throughout her home state of Michigan, and she has also exhibited work in Buffalo, Washington DC, Chicago and Los Angeles. Her art is also included in many important corporate and private collections.

Progression of an artist

Although she began in printmaking, Gardiner-Lam now works primarily in mixed media. Currently she is painting on large wood panels. Her preference for the wood surface stems from her lithography background; never partial to the bounce of canvas, Gardiner-Lam says, “I am used to the plate. I like that the wood is a really smooth, flat surface. It also gives me the opportunity to gouge out or dig into the wood itself."

The thematic scope of her work has evolved as well. "Over the last decade," Gardiner-Lam explains, "there has been a progression of work. It started off sort of traditional modernist, and it was a lot more about form, space, aesthetics and composition and not as much about content. Now I am still concerned with aesthetics and creating a strong composition, but I am interested in thinking more psychologically and using that to create more atmosphere."

For the last three years, Gardiner-Lam has been working in a medium called encosting, which fuses beeswax, varnish and oil paint. The resulting material is extremely versatile, but its unique properties also dictate the artistic process. Gardiner-Lam says, "It moves so fast that you can take a heat gun and fuse it, and you can make layers really translucent and opaque. Since you let things go subconsciously your work is going to change with whatever is going on in your life."

Gardiner-Lam's recent work is proof that art mirrors life. She has two young children, ages 3 and 6, and her art is subtly infused with domestic symbols. Many of her paintings have featured backgrounds with repeated images of small houses or three circles, and her newer pieces also have ladder-like figures in them. "The house form I always liked as a universal icon that almost anyone can to relate to," Gardiner-Lam explains. "The ladder seems to be coming up more too. Some of it is ideas of [the children's game] Chutes and Ladders and because I am a mom. These forms have more of a social significance to them. I use them because aesthetically I think that they are interesting. I also like how they suggest home – they connect me to who I am as a mom."

Creativity and reciprocity

Gardiner-Lam also makes important connections in the college classroom. For the past seven years she has taught art courses as an adjunct faculty member at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. "Teaching provides a couple different things," she says. "First, it keeps you in a creative environment. I think it is essential for an artist to be surrounded by that energy. Teaching is also reciprocal. Even though you are teaching your students you learn from them as well. It is exciting and you can bring that excitement into your own work. It fuels the fire, so to speak."

Gardiner-Lam's love of art is perhaps rivaled only by her love of the outdoors. She lives with her husband and children near Lake Michigan, and says, "When I carve out time for myself I usually try to run. I like to hike on the sand dunes and at the beach." One thing she hasn't had much time for is travel. "Life gets away from you when you have kids," she says. "After that you don’t seem to travel as easily. I enjoyed Buffalo, and I am really missing it. There were so many cool little things about Buffalo. It was very friendly and seemed like a small town in a bigger city. It had the diversity yet there was a lot of fellowship and openness about it."

Written by Jessica Dudek, BA '94
March 2005

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