Jenness Lasater, born 1975, is a contemporary abstract artist living and working in Houston, Texas.  A native of Louisiana, Ms. Lasater received her bachelors degree in architecture from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2000.  She worked in architectural firms both in her home state and in Texas before she and her family moved overseas in 2006.  Over the next 10 years, while continuing to study design abroad, her focus shifted to how architecture, culture and entire societies are shaped by our perceived moral tribes.  Extensive travel throughout Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa began to shape the vast and deep waters from which her inspiration is pulled.

Echoes of her architectural training are evident in the linework, geometry and implied movement of forms throughout her paintings.  Working mostly in oils on canvas, Ms. Lasater toggles back and forth between rigid geometric and more organic or biomorphic forms, which call to mind cartographic and topographic imagery.

"What's your ONE word?"  That refrain was pounded into me all through my student and professional life and is one I continue to revisit whenever I self-critique my work.  It is a phrase usually preceded by a long, blathering explanation of one’s intent and followed by, "If you had to boil all that down into one word…"  Give me the espresso, not the Americano, please.  

So, what is my ONE word?  Waltz. 

Why?  A dance term seemed appropriate due to the nature of its steps.  A waltz is a ballroom dance performed by couples creating circular movement within the larger context of the mass of couples also turning in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction around the room.  If you ever had a Spirograph as a kid, you likely saw a similar pattern of smaller movements within a larger one.  My work explores the tension between those two forces.  I create an overall sense of flow while encouraging a closer examination of the interactions taking place within it.

- Jenness Lasater