Joelle Jensen's Page

Website

http://www.joellejensen.com

Relationship status

married

College / University

S.U.N.Y. Purchase, NY

Program

MFA in Visual Art / MA in Cont. Art Theory and Criticism

Member type

Artist, Curator

If you're an artist, what kind of art do you make?

Photography

I am...

having a solo exhibition at Wall Space Gallery, Seattle from April 8 - May 10, 2008. The opening reception is May 1, 2008.

I'm also thinking about curating a small "Anti-portrait Portrait" exhibition -- photo only.

About my artwork

I express feelings about memory, loss and familial relationships by photographing the interior space of my parents’ house. My parents retired there three years ago to take care of my elderly grandmother who has since passed away. Many of the objects and old photographs in the house came from her collection.

I take an analytical stance to examine spaces filled with emotion, distance, grief and love. The simple geometry of the compositions provides a counterweight to the melancholia. Fortunately, the images are also filled with a sense of humor as issues of cultural and economic status, fashion, adolescence and old age haunt the photographs within the photographs. I accentuate the space of memory by mirroring it with windows, curtains, vents and frames. I draw a parallel to the experience of memory by mixing natural and artificial lighting, casting various shades of pastels into otherwise white spaces.

Interests

Photography, good food (right now, Japanese noodles)

What exhibitions are good at the moment?

The jury is still out on this, but I most recently visited the Whitney Biennial.