"Nude On Point" /03 12"x83.5", acrylic on glass / encased in lucite

BIOGRAPHY Priscilla (Kern) Joffe was born in Clemscott, Oklahoma, and later moved with her family to New London, in the heart of the East Texas oil fields. At a very young age, she began to participate in theatrical competitions, performed in school plays and dance performances, and also constructed stage sets. In high school, Priscilla continued with her love of performance, participating in music as a drum majorette and as an alto clarinetist. She also acted as a cheerleader. During her college years, first at the Texas State College for Women (Denton, TX), Priscilla pursued a major in drama. She later transferred to the University of Texas (Austin, TX), where she finished her college career with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts. Following graduation, she worked with Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones and created demonstration records for The Fantasticks. She spent much of the rest of her life raising her children and assisting her husband Gerardo in building Haverhills, a national mail-order organization. Priscilla started studying painting at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center, under the guidance of Leonard Breger. She continued with two years of study at the San Francisco Art Institute under William Morehouse. While at the Art Institute she also studied ceramic sculpture and installation with Bob Rasmussen and John Roloff, and painting with Robert Colescott. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions at the San Francisco Art Institute (1964 and 1977), the de Young Memorial Museum (Elder Art Celebration, 2002), the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery (CoLab, 2002). She had a solo showing of her work at the Fort Mason Firehouse (Progression, 2002). Priscilla is a founding member of Women of Age Productions, a group of artists emphasizing video art performances. Priscilla Joffe's works are in private collections in Connecticut, Georgia, Texas and California. ARTIST'S STATEMENT I consider all of my work to be self-portraiture. This particular piece is exceptionally meaningful to me because I have used the glass from the shelf in my late son's room. He died in 1996. I used the shelf to make the combined painting and sculpture. It represents the feeling of sorrow and also of vulnerability. At the same time, it represents the attempt to get through life "on point" as gracefully as possible.