Jenn started her art career drawing for the Animation Industry for many years, and has since then, become a prolific painter, illustrator, street artist and recently an international muralist. Her work has been described as colourful, playful and whimsical. It is figurative, often showcasing mischievous quasi-human beings, usually adorned with fauna and flora.
Jenn loves taking viewers to where these friendly creatures live, whisking you out of your every day life to worlds where magic still exists. All those years drawing cartoons have really influenced her style and how she builds her characters. Often using mixed materials in her backgrounds, such as spray paint, stencils, splatters and ripped paper, there is a slight juxtaposition between the chaos of the background and the calmness of the character living there.
Jenn’s art has been making appearances in the street art scene and as of a few years ago, has been getting more into mural painting. She has painted murals for downtown Vancouver, New York and has just returned from a month long mural residency in Sicily, Italy. Jenn is excited about sharing her art in this way in public and private spaces around the world. Currently living and working in Mount Pleasant, Vancouver, Jenn is continuously searching for magic beings and is living life to the fullest.
Jenn's showcase will be featured on the walls of Liquid Amber Tattoo & Art Collective from May - September, 2018. All pieces are for sale, including framed original works of art, prints, pins, buttons and stickers!
Artist Interview:
How did you end up on this artistic path? Have you always created surreal and whimsical art similar to the style we see you do today?
When I was wee, my mom and dad told me that I was pretty active and liked to get into trouble (obviously). Magically one day, they discovered that if they gave me a pen and paper, I could sit still for hours. That was a huge game changer for them, as well as for me. I was (am) such a daydreamer, that this was the perfect escape for me and I could go anywhere with anyone, and it could all happen on that little piece of paper.
If you could live a day in the life of one of the characters in your art, which one would it be, and what would your day look like?
Such a great question. There are 2 characters I’d love to be. One is the Mermaid being I painted in, “The Watcher From Below” and the other is “Mother Nectar” from my first mural piece I did for Vancouver. I am such a dragonfly in that I feel I have two lives: water and air. So, the Mermaid represents my water life… swimming with all the sea creatures (and then eating some of them haha… sorry, I love seafood), mysterious, playing with bubbles, loving those deep greens and blues, and peacefully floating through coral and underwater caves. I feel safe there. Then there’s the world above water… the vibrancy of a garden, those bright colours, the buzzing of the bees, insects, birds, animals… the forest feels like a home to me. Mother Nectar gets to be a part of all of it. She helps things grow, watches them die, then watches them as they are reborn again. She’s the unsung goddess.
“The Watcher From Below” - by Jenn Brisson
“Mother Nectar” - by Jenn Brisson
Do you have any rituals or things you like to do, before starting a new piece?
Of course, putting on the right tunes is a definite while I paint. But, generally before I start any painting, I like to rough things out in, what you would call, a thumbnail drawing. I like to visualize what I want on the painting before I start. I envy those who can just work right onto their canvas right away, but there are a lot of artists that rough things out before they paint, too. It’s like figuring out the blue prints before building a house. It makes me feel safe.
Do you have a favourite piece of art? Yours or someone else's?
This is always the hardest question to answer, since there are so many inspirational pieces out there. I’ll pick one from an artist that I rarely talk about, and it is usually my desktop screen saver because I want to see it all the time. The artist is Hannah Yata and the piece is called “Daughters”. It is so inspiring to me in so many ways! This piece is just so weird and beautiful and pulsating! I can’t even tell if the figures are disturbed or if they are in ecstasy. Her use of vibrant colours, dynamic figures and insects in this surreal world really rocks MY world. Haha. This is what I would love to achieve someday; something so out there and imaginative, something that lies between dimensions, something chaotic, sexy, playful and disturbing, and sure, throw in some candy and bugs and BAM!
'Daughters' - by Hannah Yata
Any goals for the next 5 years?
My goal for a long time has been to travel with my art more. I didn’t really know what that was going to look like until just recently. Last Oct/Nov, I was in Sicily for a month painting murals for a small village called Graniti with the art collective, 13 feet Off The Ground. It was such an incredible and heart opening experience that I am trying to call in more opportunities like that and paint more murals in communities all around the world. I want to share my art and spark inspiration to as many people as possible, so why not go BIG and go all over. “Be like a weed” - Trudy Smith (102 year old artist)
Find more of Jenn's art on her instagram @jennbrissonart and her website: http://jennbrisson.com/
