Jen Ray (American, b. 1970)
Untitled (Surrounded by Wolves), 2017
14.875 x 11 in
Watercolor and ink on handmade paper
Gallery Purchase
Jen Ray’s Untitled (Surrounded by Wolves) depicts two traditionally feminine faces — just their faces, as they have no necks. These faces float on the paper, each outlined by a red and orange watercolor ring, followed by a thinner light blue ring: a stark contrast to the deep black that fills the circles in the empty space behind their heads. Black spikes guard the rings, serving as the barrier between the women — a word I use hesitantly — and the outside world. Nothing is known for sure, even their existence as women, a label given simply because they appear feminine. Regardless of their gender, Untitled (Surrounded by Wolves) encapsulates not only the human experience but the feminist experience. They are alone in their circle, surrounded by nothingness — yet they are gazing at each other, smiling. Their faces are subsumed by a void of darkness and then captured by circles that cannot even let them interact in a physical sense, yet they connect with each other. They empathize. They understand that we all have our own complex inner world, and that is what ties us together, even as we float in our circles, alone in the cosmos, surrounded by wolves. Their shared experience bonds them, without the need for words.
This work currently hangs in my bedroom, thanks to our new program ArtMate, which lends artwork from the college’s permanent collection to students to display in their rooms. Untitled (Surrounded by Wolves) is across from my bed, so it is the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning. Every mirror in the room — and there are many — reflect the work, warped yet the same: colorful and blank and emotional. To me, the faces are my wonderful roommate and I, coexisting, trying to be present, surviving, communicating simply through eye contact. Untitled (Surrounded by Wolves) is calm and apocalyptic and beautiful.
-Isabel Smith ’24