Jennifer Lugris,
The Search for Meaning, 2024
acrylic on canvas
24 × 48, 15 x 48 inches
$7,000
C-lective Curator’s Cut:
The Search for Meaning is a two-paneled work that reflects Jennifer Lugris’s belief that life cannot be confined to a single canvas or a single story. A vibrant row of flowers stretches across both panels, bursting with unexpected colors and playful patterns that are uniquely her style. Each petal and stem carries hand-painted collage-like textures, creating layers of detail that reward close attention. Joyful and exuberant, the work embodies her philosophy that even amidst life’s messiness, there is beauty, curiosity, and the ongoing search for connection and significance.
Jennifer Lugris
We Love Jennifer. She is a Sacramento-based artist who creates bright, joyful works of art as a way to honor her complex heritage and to celebrate the beauty of everyday life. With a family history marked by both tragedy and triumph, she is deeply attuned to life’s fragility and responds by painting her daily experiences as vibrant, patterned scenes filled with gratitude and presence.
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Bachelors Degree in French from Rutgers University
Post‑Baccalaureate Certificate in Visual Arts from UC Berkeley Extension
Masters of Fine Art in Painting, University of California, Santa Barbara
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National Endowment for the Arts Grant Recipient
Funded by the California Arts Council
Honored with the Linda A. Day Endowed Student Award during her MFA
Her works are included in key collections at Meta (Facebook), UC Davis Health, and the Art, Design & Architecture Museum in Santa Barbara
Completed a significant 40 × 9 ft mural installation with Meta Open Arts in San Francisco (2021)
Serves as Chair of the Art Department at Sierra College in Rocklin, CA
“My paintings honor my refugee grandparents and parents who risked everything to offer future generations better opportunities.”
Her multi-paneled works reflect the layered nature of her identity, refusing to confine her story to a single frame. As a culturally mixed Uruguayan, Korean, Spanish American who was raised Catholic and is now raising Jewish children, Lugris embraces multiplicity as both a personal truth and artistic framework.
Having grown up fielding curious questions about her background, she recreates that experience for viewers—inviting them to piece together meaning from richly detailed, interconnected elements, just as she has done throughout her life.
Click here to see Jennifer’s most recent C-lective interview.