Jen Mann is a Canadian artist from Toronto, Ontario. Mann's dreamy, acrylic paintings are inspired by illusions and memories of her childhood, she experiments with a variety of different effects with color combinations and saturation to capture innocence and beauty. "I am fascinated by the subconscious, the soul, identity, and the way they interact to form meaning and beauty, or nonsense everything and nothing... 

Neubacher Shor Contemporary Gallery is presenting a new show by Toronto-based artist Jen Mann. Entitled Strange Beauties and inspired by the circus, illusions, dreams and the innocence of childhood, the exhibit captures the world through 'rose-colored glasses.'

'From her sketches, Jen has developed a style of digital collage using her illustrations. By scanning in her drawings and layering them in Photoshop, she creates delightful translucent images, with compositions that merge together animals, feathers, flowers and breath-taking women. These little treasures are paired with short poems that send the viewer into a fantastical world she has imagined for us to escape the tedious "every day".'

We have been impressed with the range of work from Jen Mann this year, from these layered color portraits to her stark white on white portrait works as well. Currently, Mann has work on display in Daydream Believer at Neubacher Shor Contemporary in Toronto, and we have a few examples of newer works here. The show is on through August 4, 2012.

This week's edition of Easy Like Sunday Morning in our Erotica Department took things a little darker than usual with artist Jen Mann's deadly beauties. Adorned in garlands of alluring yet toxic flowers, at first glance these graceful, lovely women seem to embrace the virtues of purity and feminine fragility. We decided to take a bigger look at Mann's work.

This week's edition of Easy Like Sunday Morning takes things a little darker than usual with artist Jen Mann's deadly beauties. Adorned in garlands of alluring yet toxic flowers, at first glance these graceful, lovely women seem to embrace the virtues of purity and feminine fragility. And yet, they are infected by the inwardly corrosive nature of vanity; their soft touch is poison and their elegant beauty is a venus fly trap.

Canadian artist Jen Mann attended OCAD U from 2005-2009, receiving her BFA in printmaking. Since then she has focused on painting and developed a large body of work, which explores the subconscious, and focuses on ideas of freedom, perceived beauty, identity and home. Jen loves to garden, cook and watch movies in her free time.