Jennifer Campbell

Jennifer Campbell's image-based practice explores the process and results of transformation through the use of her own body as a performative object. She draws upon a catalog of props—familiar and obscure, ready-made and invented, static and locomotive. She constructs images by positioning these props together with her body in unaccustomed ways that result in the de-contextualization of both the body and the object. Various configurations can trigger tension between differing psychological states. She is particularly interested in stimulating responses of contrasting emotions such as pain and bliss, humour and fear, desperation and exhilaration. These dualities point to an inherent theatricality which lies somewhere between Commedia dell’arte grotesque, which combined surreal tales with comedic absurdity, and to the conceptual performances of the 60’s staged specifically for the camera.

The psychological tension she aims to elicit is often extended to the physical. Much of Campbell's work requires significant contortion, balance, exertion, and endurance. The inclusion of these elements, whether explicit or implied, encourages the viewer to consider their own body. Each performance is at once arbitrary and deliberate. This condition unavoidably calls up notions of play. Whether documenting a sculptural assemblage of body and object, or filming a loop of unexpected physical action, her work always emerges from inquisitive experimentation. By using her own body as the primary vehicle of expression, she is able to convey certain subjective experiences that are beyond the scope of everyday experience. This in turn sheds light on the distinction between habitual and self-conscious activity. Campbell's investigations are meant to stimulate ideas and create situations that will challenge the viewer to re-examine their own actions, emotions and thoughts in relationship to the image’s framework.

Jennifer Campbell, 2023