Jenni Horne is a Southern-born painter whose work resonates with personal symbolism, emotional depth, and the power of quiet reflection. Raised in the American South, her artistic language draws heavily from memory, family traditions, and a distinctly feminine gaze. Her expressive mixed media paintings often feature pale, ghostlike figures that seem to exist between worlds—firmly rooted in narrative yet floating within ethereal, dreamlike settings.
Horne’s creative journey formally began at Auburn University, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts. Today, she shares her passion for painting as a professor at the University of West Georgia, mentoring a new generation of artists with the same emotional sincerity and technical curiosity that defines her own studio practice.
Based in the charming town of Newnan, Georgia, Horne works daily in her home studio. Surrounded by beloved pets and heirlooms of her past, she channels her memories into richly textured surfaces that blend storytelling, ritual, and personal history. Her creative process often begins in sketchbooks, evolving through intuitive mark-making and the layering of media. Her tools include acrylic paint, ink, graphite pencil, and found materials, which together create complex, tactile environments for her characters to inhabit.
Visual Language: Gesture, Gaze, and Ghosts of the Past
At the heart of Horne’s practice lies a deep fascination with the human figure—particularly the feminine form as a vessel for memory, identity, and emotional inheritance. Her white-skinned subjects are not blank slates but rather mirrors of ancestral memory, silent witnesses to the inner lives of women.
Each figure in her paintings feels simultaneously fragile and strong, mysterious yet familiar. Their blank stares and serene poses suggest untold stories, internal worlds shaped by generations of Southern women whose voices echo through time. These figures often appear with symbolic companions—birds, flowers, and handmade objects—each representing elements of vulnerability, grace, or resilience.
Her surfaces are layered with florals, washes of color, and spontaneous, intuitive marks that speak to the imperfections of memory and the messiness of lived experience. These are not just portraits—they are narrative spaces that invite the viewer into moments of contemplation, remembrance, and quiet connection.
Aya: Keeper of the Quiet Ones
One of Horne’s most compelling recent works, Aya, Keeper of the Quiet Ones, encapsulates her signature themes of feminine strength, guardianship, and silent endurance. The painting centers around a soft, spectral figure surrounded by delicate white birds, whose presence represents both fragility and spiritual clarity.
Aya’s gaze is steady and calm—her role is that of a keeper, a protector of the unseen and the unheard. The birds that surround her become both witnesses and messengers, hovering between reality and dream. They are the “quiet ones” Aya keeps safe, perhaps reflections of the artist’s own internal dialogues or symbolic stand-ins for silenced voices across time.
The pink, floral-saturated background adds another layer of meaning: femininity and beauty, yes, but also a dreamlike world where memory and imagination blur. Here, Horne invites us into a space that is both intimate and universal—a sanctuary for reflection and ancestral connection.
In her own words, Horne says:
“In Aya, Keeper of the Quiet Ones, I explore themes of protection, silence, and feminine strength. Surrounded by white birds—symbols of vulnerability and grace—the central figure serves as both guardian and witness. The pink, flower-filled backdrop evokes a dreamlike realm where memory and intuition meet.”
This poetic intent shines through in the final piece, making Aya not just a visual artwork but a deeply emotional and symbolic experience.
Teaching and Studio Life: A Daily Ritual of Making
Jenni Horne’s role as an educator at the University of West Georgia is not separate from her artistic identity—it is an extension of it. Her classroom is a space of exploration and encouragement, where she shares the importance of daily practice, artistic vulnerability, and personal voice. She teaches not just technique but how to find one’s rhythm in the creative process.
In her home studio, this rhythm manifests in a daily ritual of sketching, layering, and reflecting. Her pets move around her feet as she paints, adding a sense of warmth and grounding to her work. Each painting becomes a sort of journal entry—an emotional snapshot woven with intuition, visual storytelling, and quiet power.
A Unique Voice in Contemporary Southern Art
In a world increasingly dominated by noise and spectacle, Jenni Horne’s paintings offer something profoundly different: a retreat into silence, introspection, and visual poetry. Her work carries the wisdom of the past, filtered through a contemporary lens that values feminine resilience, emotional complexity, and the quiet rituals of remembering.
As both artist and teacher, she continues to create with authenticity, depth, and unwavering curiosity. Her figures—soft yet strong, still yet alive—will no doubt continue to haunt and inspire, whispering stories only silence can tell.
