Jasmine England
BA (Hons) Fine Art
As an artist I’ve never felt I fall into one specialism, and my degree show work embodies that variety of the physical, visual and interactive that I'm interested in. My work revolves around the universal experience of worry, acknowledging the little use they possess and casting them away, from thoughts to being held, to then being destroyed. Much worry, in particular my own, stems from lacking control towards subjects or situations, real or hypothetical, therefore my work provides an outlet for myself and others to face and be rid of a tangible version of their anxieties.
For my video piece 'Ridding Myself of My Worried Selves', through makeup I became a vessel for my worries, becoming Mortality, Insignificance and Imperfection. Through immersing myself in this subject matter and becoming the characters, acknowledging them and then smashing them, I felt control over those worries I haven't had before.
The direction of my work has been driven not only by the sharing of a very personal subject matter, but also the encouragement of public participation as a means to bring my work to its proper finalisation. By giving agency to others to depict their own worries to plaster and destroy them, I'm creating a space that showcases both myself and others, going against the white-cube gallery setting’s typical norms of acceptable levels of interaction with work. My work will truly be completed by the audience’s reflections and actions contributing to the smash pile.
By inviting the audience to share in this journey, I hope that within the self reflection and shattering of their own worries they feel the slightest sense of relief that I have also felt through exploring this subject, even if only for a moment.
