Burned In: Opening Reception

Jen Turner’s BURNED IN: Closing Reception
Friday, November 14, 4-8 p.m. in ripple effect gallery, Room 723D

Strand by strand Jen Turner weaves a future ancestral cave with stalagmites of imperative messages

The Ripple Effect Gallery (Room 723 D) presents artist and SFCC student Jen Turner’s solo installation “Burned In.” The public is invited to attend the closing from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, January 22. The installation is on view through January 30.

The main installation features a hand-tied horse hair grid applied to the entire space, a forest of clay sculptures, and a time capsule-like soundscape. The show also includes four other works – three small sculptures and one large wall piece, which will be transformed with live vegetation for the closing. The installation explores the theme of deep time and its existence within civilization and in the natural world. While working, Turner considers the phenomenology of evolution, interconnected-ness, and ideas of control vs. chaos. She applies the grid as a motif, sometimes carved in clay or woven with horsehair onto geometric forms. Lastly, she uses Iive plants and sound bites to mark time.

The Ripple Effect Gallery is a dedicated space for site-responsive art installations, in Room 723 D at Santa Fe Community College. Part laboratory, part public venue, part teaching tool, the space hosts a range of local and regional artists. Launched in spring 2018 by Cary Cluett with the support of SFCC and Meow Wolf, past shows include “Amusia Alexithymia” by Roberto Espinosa and “Gathering Storms Before the Flood” by Polina Smutko.

BURNED IN will be on view until Friday, January 30, 2026. The gallery is open to the public: Monday–Friday, 8a.m. –10 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m.–8 p.m,; and Sunday, 12 pm–5 pm. Admission is free.

Jen Turner’s Bio:
SFCC student Jen Turner lives and works in Santa Fe. She has studied art at various institutions including the Glassell School of Art and Parsons/The New School. She received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas in Austin and a Certificate of Ceramics from SFCC. She has designed exhibitions for The Museum of the City of New York, The Women’s Museum in Dallas and The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Her design work has been featured in The New York Times, wallpaper, and Dwell, among others.