Object: Jenna Lee
Jenna Lee is a Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman and KarraJarri Saltwater artist with mixed Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Anglo-Australian ancestry. VAULT chats with her about the importance of identity in her multidisciplinary material-centred practice.
Image credit: Jenna Lee, Grass Tree, 2020, pages of ‘Aboriginal Words and Place Names’, black bookbinding thread, florist wire, 63 x 38 cm. Courtesy of the artist and MARS Gallery
Within your practice Jenna, there are so many layers and references informed by a myriad of experiences. For example, your work in museums and as a graphic designer; studying museology and learning bookbinding; and of course, the enduring nature of your identity, culture and community. Can you talk to how these influences play out in your work?
Absolutely. You can probably see from my most recent works that material is where meaning comes from. I like to intervene in materials, so very rarely is there anything in my work that isn’t purposeful. For example, in the work Self: Adorned (2021), body adornment pieces are mounted in entomology boxes with insect pins that I bought from an entomology supply store – materials that are distinctly linked to science and museums.
Overarchingly, red is very important in my work. Aesthetically I think it works incredibly well with the black and white of the books I work with, but I also see red as having a two-fold cultural influence. Red is one of those elusive elements for me because when you grow up mixed-race you don’t necessarily know what comes from which culture, but I just always knew red was a really lucky colour, as well being important in our Larrakia ceremonies. I also consider red to be connected to the colour of pen used to correct text – this was why I first started working with red, I liked the idea of washing words with red ink as a kind of corrective process. In application, the red I use is often French, Chinese or Japanese silk from bookbinding thread, calligraphy ...Subscribe to read this article in full
