Jennifer Thoreson, Multidisciplinary Artist

Manus (2023, Santa Fe, New Mexico)

Across my practice, I examine questions surrounding faith, spirituality, and religious institutions. I probe into the relationship between belief systems and human behavior: how prescribed moral structures influence our care and perception of self and others.

In 2021, I devised a social media campaign--a public invitation asking people of all faiths and beliefs to contribute one pair of gloves to a collaborative work of art that explores the act of prayer. Their task was to sit with a pair of cotton gloves, wear them, and mark them with red ink as they form a prayer or affirmation for a single recipient--Caspian, a five-year-old boy living in New Mexico who suffers from severe seizures. The mark-making process is like a moving meditation, and allows spoken words and rituals to become evidenced, as if a prayer could occupy physical space. I received by mail nearly 2000 gloves from people all over the world, representing eleven countries, and an astonishing assortment of cultures and beliefs.

I hand-dyed the marked gloves using Indian Madder Root pigments. I then shaped the gloves over wooden molds and cast them, creating varied gesture and lifelike dimensional form.

Upon installation, I suspended the gloves from the ceiling in an undulating, organic mass, together with hundreds of hand-made brass shepherd’s bells which moved and rang with gentle breezes through near-by windows. The floor is covered in white volcanic ash collected from the mountains of Okeh-Owingeh Pueblo, New Mexico. Beneath the gloves is a child-sized bed covered in a woven blanket marked with a hand-inked pattern representing the star of Bethlehem. The initial installation pictured here was a private viewing for Caspian and his family; the following photographs and video represent Caspian’s interaction with the piece. The piece will be installed in its entirety for public view in 2024.

Installation View of Caspian at the Window

Installation View of Caspian at the Window, from the project Manus, 30x40", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Detail, Installation View of Caspian by the Window

Detail, Installation View of Caspian by the Window, from the project Manus, 2023.

Glove Detail, Installation View of Caspian by the Window

Detail, Installation View of Caspian by the Window, from the project Manus, 2023

Individual Gloves-2 pair

Individual Gloves, from the project Manus, each 5x5", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Caspian in the Blue Room

Daily Bread, from the project Manus, 24x30", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Detail, Caspian in the Blue Room

Detail, Caspian in the Blue Room, from the project Manus, 24x30", 2023

Individual Gloves (four pair)

Individual Gloves, from the project Manus, each 5x5", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Individual Gloves Number 62

Individual Gloves Number 62, from the project Manus, 5x5", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Installation View of Caspian on the Bed

Installation View of Caspian on the Bed, from the project Manus, 30x40" pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Detail: Installation View of Caspian on the Bed

Detail:Installation View of Caspian on the Bed, from the project Manus, 30x40" pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Individual Gloves-4 pair

Individual Gloves, from the project Manus, each 5x5", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Individual Gloves ,  2

Individual Gloves, from the project Manus, each 5x5", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Individual Gloves Number 44

Individual Gloves, from the project Manus, 5x5", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Caspian in the Blue Room, from the project Manus, 20x20", pigment ink on fiber rag, 2023

Ceremonial Gloves, each 4x8", Vintage Kid Gloves, Acrylic Paint, Gold Embroidery Thread, Antique Miniature Bells, 2022