Ceres Gallery is pleased to present Refuge and Peril in the Borderlands by Jane Seavers – a New York, solo exhibition debut of desert landscape and portrait oil paintings. The vast arid Sonoran Desert, stretching across the borderlands in Mexico and the US, has had a unique place in American art for over a century. Jane Seavers’ new collection invites us to see the iconic Southwest landscape with fresh eyes.
Within the genre of Southwest Art, landscapes have been traditionally portrayed as expansive empty spaces or represented through the mystical lens of an imagined past. Seavers places real people, migrants and the evidence of their travels, within those landscapes. “With this show I hope that people will come away with a heightened curiosity, a certain awareness, and questions.”
Through her paintings, Seavers invites us to contemplate the experiences and challenges faced by these individuals and families as they navigate treacherous terrain in search of a better future. Her work insists that we look closer and see— perhaps for the first time — that the borderlands are also the setting for the terrifying journey of millions of migrants seeking refuge and a new life. Seavers amplifies the diminutive images of people in her landscapes through portraiture. Her portraits are rendered in a style informed and influenced by that of the Russian impressionists –employing a bright color palette. Viewed together, these portraits and landscapes express feelings of loss, apprehension, and hope.
Jane Seavers was born and raised on a multi-generational farm in Wisconsin. After formal education and work as a nurse-midwife/family nurse practitioner, in California, New Mexico and indigenous communities in Alaska and Guatemala, she began a lifetime dream to study oil painting through college courses, workshops, and personal mentors. Seavers has lived and worked in New Mexico near the US/Mexico border since 1980. In 2018 Jane began to paint the landscape of the borderlands. As more and more migrants made their perilous journey to the border, many, including children, dying enroute, Jane was moved to accompany Humane Borders to deliver water to key areas of the desert to sustain those migrants as they continue to flee from impossible circumstances at home. In 2019 Jane began volunteering weekly at the Deming Refugee Shelter. Inspired by the narratives of the migrants she encountered there; she began to paint their portraits.
Jane Seavers
Solo Exhibits
| 2023 | Refuge and Peril in the Borderlands, Ceres Gallery, New York City |
| 2019 | Perils of Our Southwestern Borders, Bear Creek Art Studio and Gallery, Pinos Altos, NM |
| 2014 | The Season of Winter, Copper Quail Gallery, Silver City, NM |
| 2012 | Landscapes of the Southwest, Silver City Library, Silver City, NM |
| 2010 | SW New Mexico: Land of Enchantment, Main Street Atelier, Pinos Altos, NM |
Group Shows
| 2022 | Ceres Gallery, Women’s Voices: A New Day, New York City |
| 2021 | Fall Show, Art at the Center, Nederland, CO |
| 2019 | Friend’s Show, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
| 2017 | Juried Purchase Prize Show, Grant County Art Guild, Pinos Altos, NM |
| 2016 | The Landscapes of Home, Vicky’s Restaurant, Silver City, NM |
| 2014 | 6X6 Show, Bear Creek Art Studio and Gallery, Pinos Altos, NM |
| 2013 | Teachers Who Paint and Students Who Teach, JW Art Gallery, NM |
Awards
| New Mexico State-Wide Juried Show,Grant County Art Guild | |||
| 2017 | Monsoon Over LS Mesa, Second Place (Oil Painting Division) Judge: Krystyna Robbins, El Paso, TX | ||
| 2016 | Alone, Third Place (Oil Painting Division) Judge: Carole Andreen-Harris, Tucson, AZ | ||
| 2014 | Snowy Path on the Loop, People’s Choice plus Award of Excellence (Oil Painting Division) Judge: Millard Davidson, Tucson, AZ | ||
| 2013 | City Of Rocks, Best of Show and First Place (Oil Painting Division) Judge: Donna Levine from Scottsdale, AZ | ||
| 2010 | Sandy Road at the Box and LS Mesa, Second Place and Honorable Mention (Oil Painting Division) Judge: Ken Hosmer, North Platte, NE | ||
| 2009 | Last Light on the Mesa, Honorable Mention (Oil Painting Division) Judge: David Schwindt, Tucson, AZ |