‘Understory’ by Jenn Kitagawa is an analog observation of digital spaces and their overlap with nature. As life increasingly becomes more mechanized and instantaneous, the artwork is intended to disrupt the infinite screen scroll and to encourage viewers to be present in their body and surroundings.
Employing familiar materials such as cotton and wool emphasizes the idea of creating something tangible as a response to disembodied and virtual environments. In tech, nature is often used to help explain the abstract and cerebral environments we inhabit online. Researcher and digital pioneer Sue Thomas, writes about the idea of technobiophilia, “the innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology.”
Jenn Kitagawa is a visual artist of Japanese and Scottish ancestry from Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. She makes textile artwork to explore ideas on identity, communication, and nature. Creating work through the medium of textiles is intentional as they hold histories and stories within them. Using hand-based techniques such as weaving, sewing and silk painting informs her practice as these approaches encapsulate time, labour and physicality.
Jenn Kitagawa gratefully acknowledges support from the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society (JCLS).
Participants
Jenn Kitagawa, LightFormAcknowledgements
