71st Annual Juried Exhibition: Amanda Rombach

THE SCALE, Collaborative mural painted for the Santa Fe Community.
Artists: Natessa Amin, Amanda Dunham, Britt Kuechenmeister, AJ Rombach

I recently returned from a month-long-road-trip across the country. This marks my second trip in ten months, totaling in over 17,000 miles of traveled terrain. In addition to the healthy break I needed from my Philadelphia routine, these two journeys served as business trips in which I painted five independent murals and four group murals in New Orleans, Santa Fe, Minneapolis and Wolfeboro, NH.

The two trips have inevitably informed much of my work.  Many of the spaces and forms that take shape within my paintings and drawings, I have seen somewhere else, out there on the grid, on the field, --somewhere out there.

 

Shifting Scapes, 2012.  ©A.J. Rombach

The Fairmount Water Works, 2012. ©A.J. Rombach

In terms of future projects, the collection of photographs I have taken cover a vast span of the culture and geology of this land. These photographs will feed my upcoming project, a series chronicling my experiences called “WANDERLUST.” I am very excited about the series and project it will be comprised of about 50-60 paintings. I want the series to be descriptive and narrative, more representational than abstract but certainly flirting with both elements. I imagine that many of the paintings will be in the vain of my last solo show, “PHILADELPHIA,” a series of oil paintings depicting the City of Brotherly love in its simultaneous decay and rebirth. 

Touching the Pond, From the series “PHILADELPHIA,” 2012. ©A.J. Rombach

Beyond my personal activities, I have an ongoing project with four other artists, Lindsay Chandler (RISD ‘09,) Sean Fitzgerald (RISD ‘09), Liam Holding (RISD ‘11,) and Leah Morris (BU ‘10.) The five of us recently began FJORD, an artist run gallery space, in Kensington the epicenter of the burgeoning art scene in Philadelphia.

A still from Michael Robinson’s Hold Me Now,
from the Spectator Sport at FJORD Gallery

Our main purpose is to foster a contemporary conversation outside of the traditional gallery. We have done this so far by hosting events such as weekly film screenings and monthly exhibitions curated by FJORD artists and guest curators. FJORD has had three gallery openings, Considering the Provisional, Spectator Sport, and DAPHNE; and we are very pleased to present Red Herring Friday, August 3rd. 

It is exciting to recognize that our community and outside communities have been extraordinarily responsive to our very young project. We feel truly grateful for the continued support.
 

You can find FJORD on 2419 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA or visit fjordspace.com.

Amanda Jean Rombach lives and works in Kensington.

by Amanda Rombach


Amanda's work is featured in Woodmere Art Museum's  71st Annual Juried Exhibition.

About Woodmere's 71st Annual Juried Exhibition: 

Woodmere's 71st Annual Juried Exhibition, juried by artist Alex Kanevsky, will feature works in a variety of media from 46 artists living within 50 miles of the Museum. Works were chosen to create a cohesive presentation that explores contemporary ideas within the arts of Philadelphia. In conjunction with the juried show, Kanevsky's own work will be on view in the exhibition Alex Kanevsky: Some Paintings and Drawings, and the artist has also selected some of Woodmere's works of art for display in Selections from the Collection.