We are excited to explore your exuberant visual work, Jenny. Tell us about the pleasures of creating these vastly idyllic scenes that border on reality. What do you think it is about perfecting these dreamy visuals to a point of realism that makes people so drawn to them?
Thank you for having me and I’m excited to share my work with you! Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by Surrealism as an art movement, which has been a great influence in my work. For me, the pleasure of creating worlds that border between realism and fantasy lies in finding magic and beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the mundane things of life that we normally will disregard. The act of taking a rational part of reality and integrating it with visuals that stem from my dreams and imagination, and making it look so real is what constantly makes this work so exciting to me. I think that’s also what makes people so drawn to these ‘dreamscapes’ that so many great artists are creating right now, because it looks real, but is also impossible at the same time!
In many of your sublime works, we see an element of furniture being used in a context of an enlightened, stylistic space. What is your take on the artfulness of furniture and how its purpose is being elevated in your aesthetic?
I believe that an environment can greatly influence how people experience, interact and feel within a space. I’m fascinated by the role of furniture in a constructed environment because inherently it is one of those things that are so deeply integrated within the daily human experience, oftentimes without being noticed at all. It dictates how we interact with not only our own spaces, but the spaces that we travel to on a daily basis. Since the nature of my work revolves around conceptualizing spaces that promote a sense of dreamlike fantasy while being rooted in reality, furniture is so important in providing the context necessary to communicate that sense of realism in my artwork. It basically indicates that this space is a place to be lived in, and can simultaneously coexist with nature in a beautiful and modern way. Being a typical product design graduate, one of the first things that I notice is the form of an object, playing into the idea of viewing furniture as art. As my work and aesthetic heavily integrates nature and architecture, I am naturally attracted to organic forms and its relationship to the free-flowing quality of nature.
How do you go about imagining up the scenes you create? Is it a process you sketch out first or do you work with intuition? Both? Tell us about it.
It varies from each artwork which can be exciting and at times, frustrating too! Generally, I begin by setting the intention of the piece I’m creating, whether it is to convey a certain message, tell a story or capture a feeling. I will then start by roughly sketching on paper and choose a direction that I believe will best serve the intention. This is great because it saves a lot of time in the process and prevents going into the program with no idea on what to create. This doesn’t always happen, and if that’s the case, I will definitely rely more on intuition. It can look like playing around with shapes that I find interesting, choosing pieces of furniture that I want to incorporate and letting the artwork begin to form itself! I think the most important thing is to just create because while ideas can generate action, action can also generate a ton of ideas.
What sort of subjects do you center your visuals around, if any? What sort of narratives are you hoping to instill in viewers? Or maybe just sentiments?
Storytelling plays a major role in my work as well as the emotional value of a piece. Through my personal work, I hope to instill a sense of serenity, calm and joy. If I’m working with clients, I center the visuals around the messages and values of their brands, using art and design as a medium to visually communicate and reach viewers around the world.
Your visuals are adorned with a robustly decided color palette. Specifically, the running vein of pink seems to enliven a substantial part of your overall artistry. What is the significance of using pink and your choice in color in general? What effect does color have on the scenes your portray, the natural elements, and riveting forms you compose?
Color is a powerful tool when it comes to designing with emotion. Color and lighting can totally change the mood of a piece and an environment. Since the values of my work revolve around transmuting positive, peaceful, joyous emotions, I try to use color in a way that will establish these ideas when people look at my work. As for pink, I absolutely LOVE pink! Always have, always will. It was one of those things that came naturally when I was developing a visual style. As I naturally gravitate towards what I’m most interested in, I’m not surprised that pink has become a running vein in my work!
What is your ideology on the relationship of technology with art? Your work is representative of the major advancements in creative technology that has allowed for such hyperrealism and fantasy to coexist. Do you think such scenes could be made even more real one day? How would you feel about viewers having the ability to literally step into one of your works in the future?
With the advancements of technology, virtual reality and the developments of the Metaverse, especially after this year, the idea of digital worlds being able to be experienced on a mass scale seems to be more and more palpable! It makes me so excited to envision the ability for viewers to literally step into my work, which I think would be so transformative in the way that artists create in the future. Imagine, instead of creating on the computer, we can literally draw in real time, in 3D. That would be amazing.
As you were molding into the artist you are today, what sort of challenges and accomplishments inspired growth in your artistry?
The creative route definitely has its own set of challenges that I think many artists will face at some point in their journey. In this day and age, there’s so much noise happening around you that it’s easy to get lost in comparison and self-doubt. I’ve definitely dealt with this and felt that whatever I do is never enough. I think the most useful thing that’s worked for me is to put on my noise-cancelling headphones (literally and metaphorically), head down and concentrate on what is most important, which is the work and doing really good work. Continuing to learn new things and educating myself, whether it’s tutorials on 3D software or listening to a podcast about design makes me feel more confident in my work. Working on a variety of client projects also inspired growth since every project is so different. This year I was lucky to be commissioned by Sony Music to create 3D artwork for their playlist covers while I worked on a series of animations for a ceramics store selling NFTs. There’s so many possibilities and always space to keep growing.
We are very much looking forward to “Notes I’ll Never Send,” a new animated series you have woven together based on heartbreak. What can you tell us about the process of funneling your emotions into the digital tapestry? How did you manifest raw feelings into 3D scenery and spaces?
“Notes I’ll Never Send” is a very special project to me because it is based on both a personal experience, as well as being the first time I explored a creative process that involves both my favorite creative mediums; writing and art. I approached this series by writing a collection of essays about my experience of a romantic relationship. I was interested in the emotions that come after the break up, the replaying of memories in your head, the longing, regret, anger, relief and ultimately a resolution that inspires growth and the act of moving on. These writings directly influenced the ideas that manifested itself into a visual story. I imagined these emotions as if they were a world within itself, as if they were snapshots of a memory during the relationship. What was funny was that after I released them, I received a ton of messages from people saying that they related to my story, (and one guy even told me that he was inspired to confess to the girl he’s loved since high school!) That’s what I love about the power of art, being able to connect on an emotional level with people you don’t even know but purely based on the same shared feelings and experiences.
