Jennifer Becker

About the Artist

I am  a mixed media artist and a high school art teacher. I hold a B.F.A. in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.F.A. in sculpture from University of Maryland, College Park and maintain a studio practice. My work has been shown in and around the Baltimore area for the last 20 years most recently during Artscape 2015 as part of The Ebb and Flow Exhibition as well as in America . . . at the Touchstone Gllery in Washington D.C.  and 1st Women’s Work Anniversary Exhibition at the  Old Courthouse Arts Center in Woodstock, Illinois. I was awarded The Robert Rauschenberg Arts Educators Award from The Washington Lab School and I was a Japanese Fulbright Memorial Fund recipient.  In 2018  I received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council for her embroidery portraits. In my teaching practice I am concerned with teaching through social justice themes and I feel it is very important that my students make connections with their community and learn to be leaders.  My students have worked with the Memory Project, Wide Angle Youth Media and Art on Purpose among other organization.  They have had the opportunity to exhibit their work in major art venues in the Baltimore area including Center Stage, The Walters Art Museum, The Baltimore Museum of Art and Artscape. My own art work is about family, social issues and crafts.  I use very traditional materials in non traditional ways and visa versa. I like to go from two dimensional materials and turn them into three dimensions by crocheting, sewing, quilting and folding or any other traditional crafting method.  

Artist's Statement

My work is about using traditional craft materials and techniques in an untraditional, personal and idiosyncratic way. My work has varied from large scale to small scale; including a 16' wooden life guardchair and a 17' pinwheel , both for Artscape. I have also consistantly used crocheted plasti ,folded books and family photographs in my work. My most recent series of embroidered self-portraits that began in November, 2016. This series was created to document my reaction towards the election in a very systematic way. Starting the week after the election I began the ritual of creating a self-portrait every three weeks, by taking a photo of myself, I then translated the photo into a drawing on canvass and embroidered the portrait. As soon as I was finished I repeated the process over again. I want the images to be a simple record of my reaction to events and in the end I belive truth wins. I have taught art for a variety of different programs from elementary to college, over the last 25 years. Most recently I have enjoyed working with Baltimore City School students as a high school art teacher. In 2018 I received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council for her embroidery portraits.