Building Expression With Jeannine Dabb

*“Hiking The Horizontal #2” — 48 x 24 in., linoleum block print and acrylic paint collage, © Jeannine Dabb*

Jeannine Dabb, whose 2022 exhibit, "Fulcrum," was the subject of an earlier Culture On The Line article, has been one of York's most visible artists for several years, being a York College graduate and earning the college's esteemed Appell Arts Fellowship.

Fortunately, the artist is sharing her work with us again, this time due to her work in the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program through Chambersburg, Pennsylvania's Wilson College. "Building Expression Through Layers of Thought" will premiere at Sykes Gallery on the Millersville University campus before moving to Creative York in March 2025.

Jeannine came to her art career after owning a business in the medical aesthetics industry, where she also volunteered as a board member of the Society of Plastic Surgical Skin Care Specialists and served one year as president.

Her works appear in the Penn State Hampden, Penn State Lancaster, and San Antonio Texas's University Children's and Women's Hospitals, and she was chosen to exhibit a work in the the 2021 Art of the State exhibit, as well as numerous other exhibits.

Here’s Dabb’s release for her exhibit:

"Building Expression Through Layers of Thought"

"My work to date has been a mix of abstract expressionism and impressionism that serves as a memoir of lived events. Through my lens and with my hands, I have produced work that expresses the Polaroid-like puzzle pieces of my life. My thesis body of work will be further investigation into this approach and a more focused response to the important journey I am on in my graduate education. The project will be significant as it will contain a record of experience with the diverse community of cohort colleagues, I have the pleasure of learning from in the MFA program at Wilson.

When I started this expansive body of work, I focused on the human spirit in general. The response to the dancers in my MFA. This focus has shifted throughout the last year as I was working through inner conflicts and observing the outer conflicts around me. As an Expressionistic painter, I am learning to lean into my emotions and tap into my creativity. This work is a direct response to the importance of feminine energy. Women deserve a plate at the table. The narrative work I will create will transform viewers into seeing me and a part of themselves in the work, leaving them with questions and bringing us together, honoring the differences that make us human.

The work will be layered – poetic ideas expressed in layers of paint, print, collage, and ceramic. The thesis project will also contain multiple layers, including painting, sculpture, music, and/or dance. The goal is to make my thesis presentation as immersive and interdisciplinary an event as possible. It will also be site-adaptive.

Starting at :

Millersville University, Sykes Gallery, 12/16/2024- 1/14/2025
Closing Reception 1/10/2025 5–7:30 PM

Moving to :

Creative York , 3/6/2025-3/29/2025
Opening Reception 3/6/2025 6–8 PM

Amanda Chestnut will be performing responsive dance based on paintings that were based on her and the work in the gallery during the receptions. Special thanks to collaborator Scott Bitzer for the finalized design and fabrication of the spinning recycled headboards."

*“Letting Go of the Waves of Entanglement” — 60 x 85 in., acrylic on canvas, © Jeannine Dabb*

The artist pairs their works with written expressions as well. For “Letting Go of the Waves of Entanglement,” shown above, she shares the following:

Pop
by Jeannine Dabb

Will you Pop?
Light and heavy
You dance through the air.
Is it playful?
Does it bounce or
Do your ties trap you?
The air inside I breathe till I can take in no more air...

High-pitched screams come out.
I want to know such weightlessness.
I want to know what it feels like to be free.
I want to fly across the oceans.

Here I am in the depths of the sea.
Causing necks to be broken,
unable to breathe
strings wrap around
Where are the passages to freedom?

Plastic rubber, full of delight?
playful moment, till it takes flight.
Take flight in masses, Messages attached.
Is it fair to take flight without a map?
Stagnant, plastics, ocean water.
Trapped by tides
Of plastic

My hands,
Heart, trapped inside
No more breath to give.
When the ocean meets the sea,
What does that mean?

The salty, plasticized, helium tears,
Bubble up
Bubble up
Bubble down
Where can I escape?

Elastic dance
Stretched to the limit
Pushed and pulled
I try to break free
I'm tied and tangled

What tangled webs we weave
Shakespearean plays
Not Forgotten
Pop goes the balloon
Now will it sink to the bottom?

Before the exhibit, Jeannine Dabb discussed her recent work.

Culture On The Line: "When noting this exhibit, you discuss "layers of thought" and explain the medium as "layers"of painting, sculpture, music, dance, etc. Was this something conscious? Regardless, what interests you about the idea of layers, and how does that play into this exhibit?"

Jeannine Dabb: "Throughout the process of my studies, the questions I have been asking about my work are constantly changing and evolving as I work. Some of these processes are subconscious, and others are completely intentional. I picked where I chose to do my MFA studies because I enjoyed the idea of working in multiple disciplines. I have a strong interest in all of the arts; I chose this MFA program at Wilson because it is interdisciplinary, and it allowed me the freedom to explore old interests, dance, writing, and theatre. Working on collaborations, even if I am not a professional dancer, writer, or choreographer, gave me the ability to understand a lot more about the connections between the arts and where that ability layered, understanding the importance of community and working together as a team broadens the scope of practice and makes you dream on a larger scale.

"I found this a natural layering process for myself. The dancers I worked with inspired me, and the work I created in drawings, paintings, ceramics, poetry, and spinning recycled bed frames were a lot of "layers" of dreams and hard work collaged together. This is a cumulation of experimentation and tireless documentation. All of this helped me find the words to articulate about my creative process. This work is a documentation of the last year and a half, but it also represents a glimpse into the layers that exist within myself."

*“Pensive” — 24 x 36 in., gouache on gesso board, © Jeannine Dabb*

COTL: "You've described your work as showing "Polaroid-like puzzle pieces" of your life. Can you tell us more about this very visual description?"

Jeannine: "I consider myself a visual artist. I document everything. The Polaroid puzzle pieces were a comment made to me by one of my many mentors, Philip Lindsey. He looked at the constant photos I took, and then he looked at the stories I created with my Linoleum block prints. The prints that I deconstruct and reassemble into new stories and collages. Nothing stays static in my work except the fact that the work is captured at that moment in time. Even that work sometimes gets painted over again when I relook at something at a later time."

“There are no obvious steps; I will start with a long and deep breath.”

— Jeannine Dabb

COTL: "You've described your time in the graduate program at Wilson as a journey. How so? How do you see yourself as artistically different now than before?"

Jeannine: "I consider education essential for personal growth. I am not saying that college is for everyone. I am saying that stepping out of your comfort zone and being uncomfortable changes you. It allows you to gain the opportunity to recognize things that you probably would never do on your own.

"Wilson was in a low residency MFA program. It allowed me to continue working the three jobs that I hustle while going to school. I am exhausted, but I feel like I have grown in ways I never thought possible.

"I have curated shows, taught some classes, worked as an artist in residence, and created an opportunity that brought my local community a chance to see some of my cohort dance last spring, along with other community programs. When that residency ended, I began substitute teaching, was a visiting artist at Hagerstown Community College, and painted sets for Weary Arts. All of these things I don't think I could have done before my MFA gave me the confidence to understand some of these connections more clearly."

COTL: "Is there an obvious next artistic step after your graduate work?"

Jeannine: "There are no obvious steps; I will start with a long and deep breath.

"With my Master of Fine Arts, I will have the ability to teach art at a college level. I will also have the ability to work as a professional artist. I will continue to take classes at my favorite Mount Gretna School of Art, as I feel like learning never stops as long as curiosity exists. My parents keep suggesting I should think about my doctorate. I think I need a vacation first."

*“Let Us Rebuild One Stone At A Time” — 36 x 48 in., acrylic on canvas framed, © Jeannine Dabb*

COTL: "You note that the "human spirit" and "feminine energy" are essential elements in this work. What led you in this direction?"

Jeannine: "This series of work developed as a response to the world around me. This year, I felt more than ever the need to show the female spirit as a strong force, One which is diverse but united. In a way, the spinning headboards are putting them on a pedestal of sorts."

Moving headboards, exhibit by Jeannine Dabb, December, 2024

COTL: "Were there any particular challenges you had to overcome in pulling this exhibit together as you envisioned it?"

Jeannine: "Making the spinning headboards become a reality. It wouldn't have been possible without the amazing engineering of Scott Bitzer. Making them safe so they wouldn't tip over took a master craftsman. We collaborated, and for that, I am so thankful. It takes a village when you don't have that skill set.

"Thankful to Amanda Chestnut for agreeing to come to dance at the closing at Millersville and the opening at Creative York.

"As always, funding shows are difficult in a world where so many are struggling. I was lucky enough to have the donation of headboards. Thanks to Mary Moore and the hotel that got rid of them. I tried for grants but was unable to find one that covered this show because it was too close to the last one. Maybe I will have better luck in the future. I had a couple of private donations that helped cover some expenses for that; I am forever grateful. The spaces that this site adaptive show is going to, Millersville and Creative York, took me being vulnerable and showing my work ethic, and I happened to get both I applied for. Transportation begging good friends to try to help me move is always the hardest part."

*“Celebration and Reflection” — 60 x 110 in., acrylic on canvas, © Jeannine Dabb*

COTL: "Your fellow graduate cohort of creatives (a fun phrase!) was impactful. How about the decision to incorporate them and/or their art into your own?"

Jeannine: "Being in a program like I am in, it was so easy to be in awe of my classmates. They are all professionals; they are in a graduate program for similar and different reasons. We all found ourselves in vulnerable positions and had to be open to formal critical responses. Having other people look at your work from new perspectives adds to the insight into our work. I found myself initially creating work that was in direct response to them. The narratives were about them. Eventually, I wanted to figure out how to create work that put myself inside the work. Recreating narratives that were about something entirely different."