This month’s edition of Friday & Friends features someone very special. She may very well be my first artist friend! I met Jessica Gabriel 14 years ago this September, when we were still both fresh faced, wide eyed teenagers, who were told on our first day of university that most of us would not become artists. We showed them! We’ve had many personal and creative adventures together, in foreign lands and back home, and it’s been a real pleasure watching her creativity evolve over the years, as she is a woman of many talents. I’m pleased to introduce the enchanting Jessica Gabriel.
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Roselina Hung: How did we first meet?
Jessica Gabriel: We met as students on the very first day of our first year at UBC in 1998. We were both keeners fresh out of high school, enrolled in the BFA program. During the four years of that degree, we took the Fine Arts department by storm! Some memorable collaborations on campus include when we staged “Jeff the Wall”, a performance spoof where us and several other creative peers parodied and documented ourselves alongside the “Storm The Wall” participants. Another glorified memory from those days was when we convinced our whole grad class to shirk the pre-packaged corporate Artona grad photos so we could instead all take the photos ourselves. Of course the main highlight of those UBC days was when we both went in third year on exchange to study art at ENSBA in Paris, France.
RH: Tell me a bit about yourself…
JG: I was born in Sechelt, BC and grew up in several of the many communities along the Sunshine Coast. My family members are very creative and observant, so I know that a lot of my artistic sense stems from having simply taken the time to notice things like forest litter and the tideline while growing up. I still have a great affinity with nature and can safely say that I learn more from plants and other creatures than I do from most humans. I did officially study art at the institutions mentioned above, although I’ve veered slightly away from academia after acquiring my BFA in 2002. Since then, my learning has continued into the realms of Permaculture Design, as well as practicing clowning at Fantastic Space Enterprises. I currently live, work, and play based out of Vancouver, BC.
RH: Tell me about your work…
JG: Painting is my first true love. I adore the potency of oils. But for lack of a properly ventilated painting studio right now, when I do paint it’s in acrylics and watercolors. I revel in combining mediums and have been working mainly in mixed media/collage. I am also currently immersed in the expansive medium that is shadow puppetry; working a lot with cutouts, transparencies, found items, and creating live performances from it all. I consider myself a Compost-Modern artist. I wish to emulate mulch. I let things rot. I admire red wrigglers. I sketch the sprouting seeds. I also work a lot with my dreams. I write in my dream journal every morning when I wake up. I illustrate the words. I word the illustrations. I am sometimes a poet. I am often a crow. I admire nettles. Plants and animals and growth and decay are recurrent themes in my work.
RH: What are you currently working on?
JG: Currently my art practice is focused on creating multidimensional shadow theatre using the overhead projector as a main experimentation tool. Designing compositions on the overhead projector has been a natural progression in exploring an array of substances and materials, which appeals to my love of collage and also draws upon my background in painting. Since 2003, Chloé Ziner and I have been collaborating and performing under the name Mind of a Snail Puppet Co. Our shows are a fusion of puppetry, clowning, mask and music. We perform shows, facilitate workshops and provide shadow visuals regularly at events throughout the Lower Mainland and beyond.
RH: Where can people find your work? Do you have any upcoming shows?
JG: Oh yes, come see a shadow performance! Mind of a Snail will be performing “Plasticity Now” at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island at the Vancouver International Fringe Festival this September. Woot woot! www.mindofasnail.org
Sometimes I tweet: www.twitter.com/garlicjoy
My personal website needs some tweaking up: www.mindofasnail.org/jessica.htm
RH: Tell me one fun fact about yourself.
JG: When I flare my nostrils repeatedly a dimple pulsates on my chin.
Thank you Jessica! Everyone should try to catch a show by Mind of a Snail, and you can keep track of upcoming performances through their Facebook page. The shows are not only entertaining but also thought provoking, colourful and musical performances of story telling and live music.
Read past Fridays & Friends posts here.