#17 Jennifer Jones, Associate Studio Programme
50 opportunities for 50 years
“For working class creatives, it is extremely difficult to build connections in the art world and to know what steps to take in a creative career with no guidance or financial support.”
Jennifer Jones is a textiles-based artist from Essex whose practice explores themes of the home and its entanglement with identity politics. Family photo albums act as a departure point, and she collages imagery together from photos ranging across family members and time, then recreates these collages in textiles objects which can function in domestic space, such as rugs or embroidery.
Jennifer is one of 25 artists selected from the Associate Studio Programme. Developed in 2010 out of a partnership between Acme and Double agents, a research project based at Central Saint Martins, the Associate Studio Programme provides low-cost professional space for graduates from University of the Arts BA Fine Art course for 2 years and a programme of studio visits by artists, curators, writers and peers.
“Opportunities like these provide confidence and clarity for young working-class creatives as we are reassured by mentoring sessions, being surrounded by other emerging artists and having the facilities to physically execute our ideas and build a body of work to apply for further opportunities.”
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer enjoys working from the shared space as it has enabled her to be surrounded with other artists, which she feels “is really helpful in maintaining inspiration.” These factors have caused her to have a more experimental approach to her practice, leading her to make work in a wide range of materials and scale.
Jennifer is planning to use the studio to experiment with different mediums including large scale painting, engraving onto wooden furniture, quilting and embroidering. “This opportunity was vital for me to be able to continue my practice after art school, as I did not have a space to make work in separate from the distractions of everyday life.”