5 Questions: Jen Pack
Interview with Justin Kouri | January 19, 2022
Can you describe your process?
I explore intersections and liminal spaces through form, material, and color. The process of making is kinetic as well as spiritual and involves practices of woodworking, sewing, drawing with thread and pencil – and, more recently – performance.
What influences you when you are making work?
My experience of color as a connection to the soul, truth, and beauty is my primary exploration. I am influenced by my deepening relationship with natural forms, my cultural identity, and my spirit allies. Certainly, the broad history of artists exploring abstract form and herstory of women artists pushing on the boundaries of inheritance and acceptability is also of enormous influence.
Why is it important for you to make art?
I think a more appropriate word is ‘necessary.’ My work does not feel like a choice, more like an imperative / innate impulse / way of Being. I didn’t wonder what I would ‘be’ when I grew up, only if I could make it work with external societal demands.
What makes this show, 나의 형체 (This Is The Shape Of Me) different in context of your career as an artist?
This show creates a shadow habitat to explore the relationship between the twins: dark-light, joy-grief, healing-wounding, physical-spiritual. It is a space for the abstraction of everyday life to be recognized and take form as symbol. There are disparate variances in the included bodies of work that I hope present as an integrated holarchy. It’s a leap of faith – in the work and in myself! In concrete career terms, it is also my first show since letting go of my ‘day job’ in December.
What are you looking forward to in 2022?
a. As an artist?
Having only one career to develop, and building in time for more rest, restoration, and relationships. I hope to explore residencies and other opportunities for career development and focus. And, I look forward to making more work through color explorations!
b. Personally?
I’m looking forward to remembering my vastness. The mountain is calling me to remember this (the Sandias above Albuquerque). I’m actively unwinding and in a process of liberation from toxic social constraints and normative views. I am looking forward to reading and writing more, continuing to climb trees and paddle-boarding, getting to know the niblings better (my nieces and nephews) before they hit the teen years and forget who Aunt Jen is, and finding opportunities to expand through discomfort (I recently signed up for a Korean language class).