X as a destination. X as an endpoint. When walking the old Dutch churchyard in Kingston earlier this year I noticed some of the first immigrant grave markers from the Puritan era. On the back sides of some of these grave stones was a simple mark, an X, which, though likely made to mark graves that were not to be exhumed for fear of disease, seemed an interesting simplification of a life passed and gone; an x-ing out of a life lived and now at it’s end-point.

In my university studies we were required to take physics and I was particularly struck by the Conservation of Energy theorem which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather it can only be transformed from one form to another. When this theorem is applied to human life, there is no death.

In this series—The Veil—grave-rubbings cover the solid form of each painting, floating and revealing the content underneath: various words that describe core essence. On each black rectangular canvas, chosen to reflect the human torso, a different word is sewn in red thread, to connote life-blood.

Along with this Installation I will also be presenting a play that I wrote, The Four Sisters; The Eye, the Ear, the Brain, and the Mouth, an absurdist piece in homage Chekov and Beckett that examines journey, distraction and destination.  In this one act, four parts of one psyche are divided into eye, ear, brain and mouth, and these argue, distract and confuse each other as to how to proceed on their voyage in which they find themselves marooned in a boat
out at sea.

I will also engage the community in making their own grave rubbings—providing materials and teaching the process which is really very simple.

Jicky Schnee received her B.A. in Art and Art History from Rice University and studied drama at BADA in Oxford, England. She works as both a painter and actress. As a visual artist, Jicky shows with AMP gallery in Provincetown, MA and Collective Gallery which she also curates in Woodstock, NY. Her most notable roles as an actor have been a supporting role to Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix in The Immigrant directed by James Gray, the female lead role in The Afterlight also starring Rip Torn and Michael Kelly (House of Cards), the female lead across from F. Murray Abraham in Perestroika and the title role in Arabian Nights at Classic Stage Company in NYC. She lives and works between NYC and Woodstock, NY.

https://www.jickyschneestudio.com

https://www.thecollectivegallery.art