Enchanted Islands
Jill Slaymaker

Port Authority Windows
549 9th Ave, between 40th and 41st Streets
New York, NY

Visible 24/7 through the windows.
The Port Authority Bus Terminal, Chashama and the Hell’s Kitchen Foundation will present new work by Jill Slaymaker at the Port Authority Bus Terminal’s “Project Find” space on 9th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City.

Ms. Slaymaker, who lives and works in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, has created a series of large new paintings in oil, acrylic and aluminum leaf on canvas, as well as smaller works on paper and wood using gouache and ink. She states, “The idea of multiple realities and interconnectedness in the natural world, as well as an exploration of color, surface and line, are the main focus of my work. Influenced by Asian textile design, seen on recent trips to Japan and Hawaii, an art residency in Assisi, Italy, Dante’s Divine Comedy and the Hindu epic, The Ramayana, among others, my otherworldly environments are often inhabited by a lone figure lost in a chaotic world.”

Combining mostly nature-based, fragmented “puzzle piece” images (from sketchbooks, photos, imagination and the outdoors), Slaymaker creates relationships between disparate elements, always looking for connections. “I’m attempting to confirm the concept from Western physics and Eastern philosophy that all phenomena are interdependent and interconnected. Fritjof Capra’s writings on chaos theory are especially fascinating to me. He explains that, thanks to advanced computer technology, the movement of clouds, fire, falling leaves and other forms of motion in nature previously thought to be somewhat random or ‘chaotic,’ are actually measurable and have very similar mathematical patterns.”

Slaymaker’s new series of gouache explorations usually begin with parts of an orange tree. After becoming seriously ill during a trip to Rome, she healed quickly while painting under a 900-year-old orange tree that still bore fruit. “The orange tree is for me a symbol of rejuvenation and hope. It appears in almost all my work, as I try to capture the vastness, complexity and mystery of nature, while also maintaining a sense of humor and joy.”

Slaymaker’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Tate Modern, London; Dabawenyo Museum, Philippines; Blum Helman, NY, Kustera Projects, NY and Pierogi, NY; with recent solo exhibitions at The Nabi Museum of the Arts, NJ and The Davis Mini-Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. She was nominated for a 2018 Winter Workspace at Wave Hill, and was recently awarded a grant from the Hell’s Kitchen Foundation. Her work is in numerous public collections including MoMA, NY, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY.

Founded in 1921, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey builds, operates, and maintains many of the most important transportation and trade infrastructure assets in the country. The agency’s network of aviation, ground, rail, and seaport facilities is among the busiest in the country, supports more than 550,000 regional jobs, and generates more than $23 billion in annual wages and $80 billion in annual economic activity. The Port Authority also owns and manages the 16-acre World Trade Center site, where the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center is now the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. The Port Authority receives no tax revenue from either the State of New York or New Jersey or from the City of New York. The agency raises the necessary funds for the improvement, construction or acquisition of its facilities primarily on its own credit. For more information, please visit http://www.panynj.gov/

Media Inquiries please contact Rudy King, Port Authority of NY & NJ, Media Relations at 212.435.6930.