36”x 36”x2.375” Oil on Canvas (2025).

#1 Is a woman working on herself to learn how to love another person properly. Romantic love isn’t just instinct. We have to unlearn the traumas of childhood first to enter the relationship whole and ready.

The City Girl Series:

As an adult, I find it difficult to find that same sense of happiness and contentment with life as I did when I was small and had my doll to provide purpose. I’m sure we’ve all felt that at some point, or are still feeling that. In working on this series, the hope is to reclaim that joyful time and sense of purpose by making Sylvia the focal point of each painting and imagining scenes from a life she may have led. That was a very innocent time in my childhood. Joy came easy and it felt good to care for Sylvia’s spirit. Even now when I look at the doll, I see life. I never wanted her to be beaten or mistreated.

I also believe these paintings are a commentary on contemporary womanhood, the multifaceted experiences of women, and how we find meaning in our lives in the present day. Whether we want it or not, we’re perceived as children: irrational, emotional, naive. But from where I stand, and I imagine a lot of other women may also stand, in creating scenes from Sylvia’s imaginary life it becomes more about what she wants for herself, how she perceives herself, and how she protects her inner child. There’s a peacefulness to be found in that, one that’s much better than being made to feel like a child from the powers that be.

One of my earliest memories was when my mom got me a Cabbage Patch doll. It was my favorite and my grandmother’s dog ate it. She got me another one and wanted to make the unboxing special, but she didn’t realize until she opened it that it was a boy doll named Louis. We ended up renaming it to Sylvia Louis and moved on. I embraced the gender change without question because my mom said it was ok.

My mother bought me and my siblings dolls to help us learn empathy as kids. But my experience with Sylvia served as an entry point to an ongoing relationship with selfhood and care. I was empathetic with my doll to the point that I felt that she had a soul and an identity like mine. I made her clothes an older kid would wear and set up a small hammock for her to stay in when I wasn’t around. Believing her to have a soul and that she was deserving of dignity and respect gave me a sense of responsibility and compassion. It also subconsciously mirrored my own growth and desire for respect. If I could give her basic decency and care, then the people I would and will let into my life should be able to do the same.

Please send all inquiries to infojenniferwarrenart@gmail.com.

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