Jenifer K Wofford
Battlefield III (Choices), 2023
Acrylic on wood panel
Jenifer K Wofford employs a variety of approaches in her work, including drawing, performance, video, web, and print. Throughout these mediums, Wofford’s work often pairs humor with a crisp visual approach. Often seeking a visual shorthand to ease into difficult, complex conversations, Battlefield III (Choices) reflects the theme of “fight and flight” in familiar language.
Legendary Bay Area rapper E-40’s song “Choices (Yup)” poses a series of questions that are answered either “yup” or “nope.” The song was rewritten as a Golden State Warriors anthem, which is reflected in the composition of the diptych as a stylized basketball court, divided between the home team and the away team.
The artist says of the piece and her life here in the Bay Area, “It’s not easy to make clean ‘yup/nope’ choices here in the Bay Area: decisions can be shrouded in fog, and held in a state of in-between-ness. And yet fog is such a local comfort, despite how uncomfortable it can be at times. It’s an enduring fact of life in San Francisco.”
Born in San Francisco and raised in Hong Kong, Dubai, Malaysia, and the Bay Area, Wofford has also lived in Oakland and Prague in addition to San Francisco. In addition to her art practice, she is an educator at the University of San Francisco and an active and committed member of the San Francisco arts community.
Photos courtesy of Henrik Kam.
ARTIST BIO
Jenifer K Wofford is a San Francisco artist and educator whose work investigates hybridity, history, calamity and global culture, often with a humorous bent. She is also 1/3 of the Filipina-American artist trio M.O.B.
Her work has been exhibited in the Bay Area at the Asian Art Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, Oakland Museum of California, YBCA, San Jose Museum of Art, Southern Exposure, and Kearny Street Workshop. Further afield, she has shown at New Image Art (Los Angeles), Wing Luke Museum (Seattle), DePaul Museum (Chicago), Silverlens Galleries (Philippines), VWFA (Malaysia), and Osage Gallery (Hong Kong).
Wofford is a recent recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant. Her other awards include the Eureka Fellowship, the Murphy Fellowship, and grants from the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Art Matters Foundation, and the Center for Cultural Innovation. She has also been artist-in-residence at The Living Room (Philippines), Liguria Study Center (Italy) and KinoKino (Norway).
Wofford teaches in the Fine Arts and Philippine Studies programs of the University of San Francisco. She has also taught at UC Berkeley, Mills College, SFAI, California College of the Arts and San Francisco State University. She holds degrees from the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA) and UC Berkeley (MFA).
