Tracks:
- Abajo Mountain Hoop Dance
- The Open Circle Cairn
- Molino Falls Blue
- Aspens Ascending
- If There's a Heaven, This is Heaven
- West of the Fire
- Rimpoche Allison Jones
- Death Valley Hoop Dance
- Canelo Lullaby
"Stu Jenks' work is like the desert. If you take some time with it, the music gifts you with hidden arroyos, a fleeting glimpse of a drifting redtail, a pink splash of fairy dusters. I love the spaces it opens inside of my head." -Charles De Lint, author of The Onion Girl, Medicine Road, and the Newford novels
"There is a place where sound and image enter a holy conversation; where human eyes and ears become like an ocean tide surrendering to a distant shore. Stu Jenks' powerful work is a vehicle for taking us to such a place. The deep longing flow of his soundscapes initiate us into a fluidity of heart, while his mysterious images -alluring photographs that express the potent and healing themes of nature and the soul's journey-- beckon us to take the next step; woven together, the work of this wizard of sound and space will transform you." -Frank MacEowen, Celtic wisdomkeeper, author of The Mist-Filled Path and The Spiral of Memory and Belonging
Born a son of Virginia, Stu Jenks has lived in Upstate New York, the Piedmont of North Carolina and, for the last twenty years, in Southern Arizona. He graduated with a BFA in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1979. For a number of years Stu has been exploring the symbols of the Circle, the Hoop, and the Spiral, creating them in sand, in flame, in water, in Christmas lights, and in time. "Each time I shoot," he says, "I learn a little more about the space I'm in both emotionally, internal to my experiences, and physically, external to my environment. My images are often as much about an exploration of my spiritual reality as they are about an appreciation of form, space, place and design. And sometimes they are just about being playful and magical."
Stu's photographs and installations have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the U.S., including solo shows at Metroform Gallery, Tohono Chul Park, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson. His work appeared in "Ancient Spirit, Modern Voice," a major exhibition of mythic art in Atlanta, Georgia (2004); "Wildfire," an exhibition on the theme of desert wildfires at the Tohono Chul Park Gallery in Tucson (2004); the 10th Biennial National Juried Exhibition at Dinnerware Gallery in Tucson (2003); "Saguaro: Popular Image and Cultural Icon," an Arizona Commission of the Arts Touring Exhibition (2002-2004); the Rocky Mountain Biennial at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Fort Collins, Colorado (2002); and in numerous other exhibitions since 1979. His images have also appeared in books, magazines, and on CD covers.
Stu has recently released his second collection of Electronic Spirituals called "West of the Fire: Soundtracks for Photographs, Volume Two" on his Fezziwig label. His music has been used by counselors and massage therapists to help facilitate healing and relaxation. His compositions have also been incorporated in his installations in Atlanta, Georgia and Tucson, Arizona.
To see more of Stu's work, and for a full list of exhibitions, please visit his web site www.stujenks.com. Prints and CDs can also be purchased there.