Jennifer Halvorson: "Lineage"
December 19, 2025 - February 22, 2026
McDonald Gallery
The collection of artwork is inspired by patterns that form throughout generations. Some works internalize moments while others project a path. The artist’s work focuses on values and knowledge that are passed down with the intention of providing security for the future.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
By examining everyday objects within my home and the homes of others, I aim to alter or combine forms in ways that illustrate their significance. Some of my sculptures are designed to personify the object or display a human presence, while other pieces aim to evoke an emotional understanding with the viewer from the objects alone.
I utilize found objects for inspiration, modeling, or collage within the final sculpture. Many of these forms are from past generations and are used to showcase human values and illustrate the importance of temporal connections.
-Jennifer Halvorson
Reflection
cast glass, metal, found object
Reflection is from a body of work focused on the idea of mending, describing the want to make something which is broken, worn, or torn, whole again by the act of repairing.
This process is not inevitable, but a choice we make.
From numerous interactions, we may become worn or fatigued. By an unforeseen experience we can be unraveled. It is through self-preservation and the help of others that we choose to mend and become sound.
Encouragement or a helping guide may pull you up and take you forward. Other mends require stitches of time. The wear and repairs remain and continue, but through time and reflection we gain a better understanding of ourselves.
2017
Jennifer Halvorson
Featured Work
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Traces
Glass Boot Series
cast glass, pressed flowers, flowers
This still life focuses on an antique women's boot and conveys how the simple objects surrounding the form create important moments and values. These activities and objects are passed down through generations. The sculptures are further connected to time by the display of fresh flowers.
This ephemeral component is meant to show how short a life span is, in contrast to the objects.
2025 -
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Gather
press glass fused with cast glass, glass paint, metal powder-coated brackets
Pick is a series of three separate wall pieces, displaying press glass leaf plates fused with cast glass berries.
Perseverance and Gather, shown in this exhibition, are in the orientations of table settings. These wall sculptures connect to the heartfelt activity of gathering strawberries in the field, and bringing people together around the table, experiences that are valued by families and communities.
Though the plates are mass-produced, the selection holds unique defects of unfilled stems and captured bubbles.
Displaying these pieces on the wall gives reference to more decorative functional objects that have become heirlooms that adorn our walls.
2022 -
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Inhale Exhale
cast glass
These cast glass vessels are modeled from knit textiles, which were originally worn sweaters. My aspirations for the final piece were for the forms to hold light and allude to an expansion of air. Natural light and a deep breath can calm you and may be important factors in problem solving emotional distress, or confusion. This body of work branches from the artwork series titled Mend.
2016
