Artist Spotlight: Jen O'Connor (Part II)

Jen O’Connor. Photo courtesy of CJ Sommerfeld

In our first chat with Vancouver-based artist Jen O’Connor, she dove into the series of events which initiated her purpose to integrate consumer waste into creative works. It all started with a rejection of what she’d been taught was the first step to making art: purchasing materials. After beginning to source items that were simply around, she was propelled into garbage sculpture and subsequently constructed a public stage where she hosted a TV show-formatted performance titled Trash Talk. 

Following her sculpture and TV show endeavours, O’Connor’s divergent uses for what society refers to as ‘single-use items’ and other discarded materials have evolved into a painting practice where she merges garbage with oil paints on canvas. In part-two of our conversation with O’Connor, she further elucidates on the confluence between her garbage works and consumer culture, as well as why she documents many of her pieces via film. 

AC: Your artist statement acknowledges that society's discarded materials—which you integrate into your works—hold embedded narratives of our consumer culture. Can you elaborate on the stories that pertain to the waste, and the greater narrative that comes together once waste materials are transformed on canvas?

JO: The narratives of consumer culture are embedded in a way that we do not notice them anymore. The most banal object, such as a can, is so commonplace that we take for granted the necessity of cans when there could be alternatives to single-use objects. 

Through the process of smelting the can, its own narrative is betrayed by revealing that it is not made of solely aluminium but also a composite of plastic. The paintings may appear as an optimistic solution for the issue of waste, but this is not the reading I intend to illustrate. I want to depict, rather, the great deal of effort that must be made to reintegrate something as simple as a few pieces of refundable waste, and give them the dignified status as “diverted permanently from the landfill”.  These paintings should raise the problem of reintegration of waste. 

Even in my video work, the detritus does not become a new entity on its own. It simply gets documented through its narrative journey to the landfill. My work aims for proportional representation of waste in the gallery, of which I have barely scratched the surface.  

Jen O’Connor. Photo courtesy of CJ Sommerfeld

AC: Upon completion, you archive many of your works that are too big to store using video documentation. How did you formulate the idea to preserve your larger pieces using this approach?

JO: When I decided to produce works using garbage, I had to abandon my painting practice. Since there was so much material available, I rapidly began to work on a larger scale. These objects were not commodifiable, nor could they be stored easily, so the only hope for them to exist as artworks was through an ephemeral assemblage. In an effort to preserve my work, I chose to document.  

AC: Can you give us some examples of works which you documented via film?

The first body of work that I made entirely out of garbage was called “The Apartment”. It was a replica of my bachelor apartment made entirely out of garbage. After completing this work, I realised that I could also use both my body and others’ as free materials through performance; I then decided to build a theatre in the parking lot made entirely out of waste. This was named the Garbage Conglomerate Theatre and became the stage of Trash Talk.

Following my work through the GCT and my post-graduation art practice has veered towards film and video where I do not make the usage of garbage explicit. Instead I produce short films with a collaborative group named Sacred Projections; we have no funding which leads us to make use of free, found, scavenged and borrowed materials.

AC: What’s next on the horizon for your upcoming works?  

JO: I like to paint, draw, and illustrate tattoos when I am working solo, but I am invested in creative collaborative work at the moment. I believe that collaboration is just as important, and that it can be quite a difficult skill to have people working together towards a goal or a dream. Given the polarized directions in which our society is being pulled, I think that the community working together is of paramount importance, so I’ve been channelling my energy into producing Sacred Projections.

Sacred Projections is an open call to artists where we come together to produce short films on a monthly basis. Any type of collaboration can be difficult, so working together creatively gives us some room for abstraction. We work together to solve problems without the situation needing to be overly stressful. We are all participating because we want to, and everyone brings something to the table.I want to continue creating in this way for the time being. 

Aside from that project, I am still smelting cans and receiving interesting results in doing so. As I continue to smelt, I am collecting these materials for a future series of paintings. I also have a series of painted works in progress, entitled “22”; this series draws upon archetypes, alchemy, astrology, psychology and human behaviour. It will illustrate narratives that are reoccurring in the sphere of human activity. 

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Jen O’Connor

Website | Sacred Projections YouTube | Garbage Conglomerate YouTube

CJ Sommerfeld (she/her) is a Vancouver-based freelance writer with a particular interest in the convergence of language, art and society. When she is not writing, you can find her experimenting with harmonic minor progressions on her keyboard.

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Artist Spotlight: Jen O'Connor (Part I)

Jen O’Connor. Photo courtesy of CJ Sommerfeld

Jen O’Connor loves garbage. Confronting it as something other than society’s discarded materials, she merges this sourced waste with oil paints to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Once coalesced on canvas, her foraged pieces are preserved and a new narrative around their existence is constructed. In questioning the perceived lack of utility that surrounds garbage, O’Connor rejects consumerist culture and its intersection with creation, and instead finds use in these rejected objects. 

After graduating with a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2020, O’Connor continues to create out of her space in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Anticipate a constellation’s worth of beer cans, debris and other seemingly prosaic items metamorphosed into plausible art-making materials in O’Connor’s works. Don’t expect blatant trash attached to canvas, but instead waste transfigured. By exposing her scavenged cans to high temperatures—a process known as smelting—the cans anodize, extinguishing their silvery colour and transforming to one that’s golden and, at times, iridescent.

Also Cool recently sat down with O’Connor to jump inside her world of beer cans and oil paints. In this first-half of our conversation, we dove into her critiques of consumption in the art world, her TV show titled Trash Talk, and sourcing debris from an off-grid island for one of her most recent works — “Smelt Series”.

The Smelt Series, created on Lasqueti Island B.C. Photo courtesy of CJ Sommerfeld

CJ Sommerfeld for Also Cool: Hey Jen, thanks for taking the time to chat with Also Cool! To get things started: you very cleverly integrate waste into your painting works, how did this practice first come about?  

Jen O’Connor: While completing my BFA at Emily Carr, I had some profound realizations about the necessity of consuming products for the making of art. I rejected shopping as the basis for art-making, resolving instead to produce works while buying nothing. This led me away from painting and towards garbage sculpture. I scavenged, found, and borrowed materials, all while also using bodies (mine and others’) through performance. I wanted to know how much I could create without consuming.

This led me to construct an entire theatre in the Easy Park parking lot adjacent to Emily Carr. I then hosted a performance entitled Trash Talk, which was a TV show-formatted performance about waste. I was the host,  and would ask participants to join me onstage to discuss issues related to waste. This became an incubator of ideas for sustainable practices; a forum where ideas, jokes and even a think tank emerged in response to the changes that we wanted to see. This series is available to see on my Garbage Conglomerate YouTube channel. 

Since this work, I have developed two parallel practices. I’ve resumed my painting practice, and have most recently produced a body of work called “The Smelt Series”. This is an effort to combine post-consumer materials with the traditional materials of art-making, such as paint and canvas. I have also continued my work with video, where I document and animate sculptures and sets through reusing, borrowing materials while incorporating collaborators to create moving paintings. 

Also Cool: Your painting practice is self-described as an "analogy to alchemy", one that seeks to derive its redemptive substance from “base matter”. Can you further demystify your work's comparison to medieval chemistry?  To clarify for our readers, can you elaborate on the term base matter with regards to your works?  

Jen: Alchemists thought that at the root of all matter was the supreme substance of gold, and if they could refine them enough, they could transmute all metals into gold. Each alchemist would have a different definition of what would be considered “base matter”, depending on their practice. Some considered ocean water to be “base matter” because it is the largest ratio of substance on earth. Other alchemists would refer to a “base matter” simply as the material they worked with the most.  Personally, I consider my base matter to be garbage or waste — anything that can be acquired for free. When I work with my materials, I seek to transform unwanted garbage into art that has value.  

As we know, iron cannot become gold except for perhaps in a particle accelerator. Many other alchemists encountered the difficulty of what it was they had set out to do, and began their work instead on the metaphysical level. If one could tune into the creativity of God and the universe, this transformation could happen at the level of spiritual realization, and it would give them control over all matter. 

I also work with the spiritual element of creation in my work by developing my intuition. When working with my materials, I leave a lot of room for the matter to express itself through the processes. I like to think that my process is reflected in the work, and hope that viewers  see my paintings as matter expressing itself.

AC: What are some examples of waste materials that we can see in your works? Where do you typically source them? 

JO: My definition of waste is broad. I would argue that materials used in the pursuit of reaching certain standards in painting, for example, also create a lot of waste. During my time as a painter, I created dozens of paintings that weren’t any good; they later became building materials for the awning on my Garbage Conglomerate Theatre.  

Emily Carr was an excellent place to source materials, and their dumpster became a horn of plenty to an artist like me. However, with increasing bureaucracy and legislation, these free rides became  short-lived. ECUAD has since made a great effort to contain their waste under lock and key, so I am no longer able to access it.  

Since graduation, I’ve resumed painting practice. Today, my work blends traditional materials such as canvas and paint with what one might consider “waste”. My favourite material to use is beer cans, since they are light and they can be affixed to either canvas or panel. Not only do I use beer cans, I prefer to have them undergo a process of smelting to allow them to reveal their more interesting properties and express themselves as matter before they are incorporated. The smelting process is where I expose the cans to flames and high temperatures, so that they begin to melt and anodize. Since aluminium has such a low melting point, the cans are promptly removed and often have interesting effects. Oftentimes, the anodizing causes the cans to take on golden properties that are reminiscent of alchemy.  

I also source a lot of debris from an off-grid island where I like to spend a lot of my time. It is difficult to dispose of waste in this environment, so there are a lot of materials for me to use. I curate the most interesting pieces and what would be easily incorporated into my painting practice and find a lot of visually interesting waste to use. 

Check back in to read part 2 of our conversation with Jen O’Connor!

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Jen O’Connor

Website | Sacred Projections YouTube | Garbage Conglomerate YouTube

CJ Sommerfeld (she/her) is a Vancouver-based freelance writer with a particular interest in the convergence of language, art and society. When she is not writing, you can find her experimenting with harmonic minor progressions on her keyboard.

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Artist Spotlight: Nora Kelly

Nora Kelly Band press photo via Nora Kelly

If anything, Nora Kelly is multi-faceted. She's done everything from painting murals in Mexico City to creating editorial work for the NY Times, not to mention playing rock shows in Montreal as Nora Kelly Band and Dish Pit.

We spoke to Nora about her creative practice, advice for other artists, and more.

via Nora Kelly

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: How did you first get into visual arts? 

Nora Kelly: I was a reclusive teenager, and drawing was something I had control over, could pick up and put down whenever I wanted. I think my continued dedication to art is for similar reasons. I need a lot of alone time, and paintings and drawing are great ways to spend one's time.

Also Cool: Have you always practiced with the same mediums, or has that changed over the years?

Nora: First, I was into drawing. I didn't start painting until I was in university. I was probably the worst painter in my class when I started at Concordia. Now I can't get enough of it. 

via Nora Kelly

AC: When did you first start doing murals? What was your experience with the creative scene in Mexico City?

NK: I had always dreamed of being a muralist, but it's kind of a catch-22 getting your foot in the door. No one wants you to paint their wall if you have never done it before, but without any murals to show on your resume, you aren't going to get that first wall. 

When I moved to Mexico City in 2017 and a mural company called Street Art Chilango hired me, I was so excited. At first, I was handing spray paint cans to more experienced artists, but eventually, they gave me my first wall. They are a very prestigious company, working with clients like Vans and Ray-Ban, but after 6 months, I quit because I had always been into the democratic quality of street art. I like that it's accessible to anyone walking by, and I didn't want to be involved in painting glorified ads for large corporations. I went door to door, asking smaller businesses in Mexico City if they wanted a mural and have gotten all my work that way since, even in Canada. 

AC: Do you have any advice for anyone looking to do more professional / commissioned work as a visual artist but doesn't know where to start?

NK: I'm kind of type-A, but my advice would be to get into spreadsheets. Email 20 people or businesses a day and keep a log of who you're spamming. Eventually, you'll get a hit, I guarantee, and it then it only gets easier from there.  

via Nora Kelly

AC: Do you find there's a difference between your commissioned work and the work you make purely for yourself? How do you balance the two?

NK: Definitely. My commissioned work is usually based on pictures and comes out more realistic. When I'm doing something for myself, I tend to work from my imagination and take risks, which keeps the whole process exciting. 

AC: What's your creative process like? 

NK: I like to walk my dog and come up with ideas. Usually, I paint at night because I stay up late, and it gives me something to do while my roommates are asleep. 

via Nora Kelly

AC: Who are some other creatives who inspire you?

NK: The most inspirational people are usually the people closest to me. I have a kind of friendly competition with myself, and seeing the people around me giving it their all makes me want to work harder. In terms of favourite acclaimed painters, I've always been fond of Rousseau, Peter Doig, Hilma af Klint and, of course, Francis Bacon. 

Watch Nora Kelly Band's latest music video for their song "Hymn for Agnostics" below.

Nora Kelly

Website I Instagram

Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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Louise Campion Challenges Corporate Power Dynamics With Her Colourful Paintings

Painting by Louise Campion

We’re all for artists who challenge the patriarchal structures of the corporate world, and Louise Campion is doing just that. She’s a Montreal-based French painter, who’s series "Wondering if men in suits turn me on or piss me off" really struck a chord.

If you’re frustrated with your 9-5, and love bright, bold, colours, you’ll love Louise’s work. We got to chat over email about the series, allyship, and more.

Painting by Louise Campion

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: When did you get into painting? Has your creative practice always been centred in painting, or has it evolved over time?

Louise Campion: I started painting classes at six years old. Around 15, I got more and more into art history and contemporary art. Eventually, I started learning about conceptual art and would choose my mediums depending on the idea I wanted to focus on. But as stimulating as this journey was, I came to realize that I am, first and foremost, a painter. Centring my practice around painting is the most natural way for me to research and create. I am still open to other mediums, but I just know that painting makes the most sense when it comes to my own sensibility.

Also Cool: I love any art form that plays with the absurdity of office culture. What do you think you've learned about yourself by existing in relation to these men in suits and also through making paintings about them?

Louise: To clarify, I am not currently working in an office environment. My dad has worked in an office all of his life and growing up, I was surrounded by a lot of people who did or were aspiring to. I found ways to avoid office jobs, except for that one summer, which was very alienating for me. My observations of the corporate world are made through personal experience, discussions, readings, and research. I keep learning and adjusting my views every day.

I am trying to create an environment for myself that is as free as possible from the corporate mindset, which is, consciously or not, based on an oppressive system. However, I do think we always exist in relation to these "men in suits," whether we admit it or not. In a capitalist society, anything you do or buy would have been in some way regulated by someone behind a desk taking decisions based on a profit. The very mere fact that this is the social structure we've been raised in makes it very difficult to completely detached oneself from it. My sense of safety, comfort, pleasure were programmed to find themselves in the idea that money is central. 

Thus, my answer is that I am on a journey to deconstruct these presets, but it takes time and as important as it is, it is not very comfortable.

Painting by Louise Campion

AC: You often speak of how success and hard work only matter if they are free of oppression and yet are fascinated with white male office culture. Can you break down some of the ways that someone in an office environment can fight against the barriers of oppression that often exist in these spaces?

LC: This is the million-dollar question, right?!

When I talk about contemporary western oppression, I refer to the different systemic issues standing in the way of climate and social justice. It includes white supremacy, patriarchy, classism, heteronormativity, ecocide & pollution, among others… Obviously, most of those issues are deeply engraved in our system. They're tough to counter since they are extremely beneficial to the 1% who are economically governing us right now. How do you stand in the way of the wealthiest people on the planet when said planet functions under capitalism? All the more when you happen to work for these people?

Realize that it is a lot of work: Current systems are profiting from current oppression and won't show you how to fight it. They actually make it very easy to ignore it, even as an oppressed person. You have to go out of your way to teach yourself and make changes happen. I know you and your colleagues are comfortable right now, but others aren't, and you can help with that. This will be a never-ending journey. We're in it for the long run.

Educate yourself to educate others: Through the infinity of resources available out there for free! Books, videos, podcasts, articles, illustrations, graphics, Instagram accounts, TV shows, blogs… Whatever speaks best to your learning mechanisms: it is already there; just look for it and share the knowledge!

Get trained: Attend anti-oppression training. Organize one in your workplace. Professionals will give you and your coworkers concrete tools to implement in your work environment. Ideas to discuss. Changes to make. In Montreal, I know that CoCO (the Centre for Community Organization) offers various workshops on anti-oppression and conflict resolution, and they're very good. I am sure you can find other similar resources.

Implement anti-oppression policies: Make it mandatory to be inclusive. Make it punishable to be oppressive. On the professional level. (CoCO can help to write the policies).

Pay attention to who you give your money, time and energy to (which are all the same things under capitalism): Who do you work for? What do you buy? Where do you spend your weekends? What do you watch on YouTube and Netflix? Where do you get your nails done? Who do you play basketball with? Where do you volunteer?

The corporations that are oppressing people and killing the planet gain their power from money. Money that you can decide not to automatically give them, as a first step towards not condoning oppression. In many instances, your money could go to people and things that are undermined by the current system, hence encouraging a more ethical, kinder economy. Slowly but surely, start paying attention to things like who you buy from, what it's made of, who the money is going to, and more.

Although there is no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism, there are multiple ways to get closer. Do some research. Make it exciting. Love spending the money you gave your time and energy for in the right places.

Learn to differentiate performative allyship from genuine effort: Whatever you do, make sure you're actually helping and not just making yourself feel better. Check yourself. Google things instead of taking an underprivileged person's time to answer your questions. See if you can help an initiative that is already there, instead of creating your own. Question your reflexes because they're based on entitlements and privileges, and it takes time to deconstruct them.

Vote for someone who cares: This one seems a bit obvious, but voting for people (at any scale) who will work towards fighting for those issues might be an idea to consider, haha.

It doesn't have to be perfect, and it doesn't have to be all at once: I once read that it takes around three months for a new habit to become automatic to the human brain. I have started tackling my "bad" habits half a decade ago. I didn't change everything in one day. I implemented a small change, and when it became normal to me, I started tackling another. Five years later, my lifestyle has drastically changed, and I'm excited about improving more and seeing where I'm at in another five years. Improving gradually is better than changing everything and then giving up. One small change is better than none.

Last but not least, you're gonna fuck up: As established earlier, this is a long learning process, and we're all making mistakes. There is so much material to integrate into the journey of inclusivity: Don't give up. When you fuck up, don't beat yourself up forever. Don't apologize endlessly. Just learn your lesson, research a bit more, and move on.

Painting by Louise Campion

AC: How do you balance your practice IRL with your online presence? Does social media affect your creative practice at all?

LC: I am still figuring it out, evolving, adjusting the way I present myself online, as well as the way I use the platform to learn about my peers and field.

On one side, social media (especially Instagram) shows me a lot of art, news from galleries, museums, collectives, artists I follow, critics etc. It keeps me on track with what's happening in the art world and gives me clues on where to look for more. It also allows me to display my practice easily, to reach an audience from my own bed! So it's a very useful tool. Sometimes this idea that I need to stay active online to show that I am productive and professional to my "following" forces me to go to the studio and paint on days that I had trouble finding the motivation.

On the other hand, it can be overwhelming and anxiety-provoking. Seeing what everyone is doing (/only seeing their success) can be very tough because I tend to compare myself a lot. But when I mainly produce from home and rarely have IRL contact with my art community, it's easy to fall into a vicious circle of insecurity towards my own practice.

Ultimately, I am getting better at finding the balance. I have started to see Instagram only as an optional tool that I can use, or not, depending on my energy level and needs. My mindset is now to see others' successes as inspiration instead of paralyzing competition. I've stopped following accounts that bring me down. If it makes me nervous instead of motivated, I'll unfollow or hide their content. It's nothing personal. Art memes pages also help a lot in keeping things real, bring a lot of fun and comfort to the artistic Instagram experience.

Painting by Louise Campion

AC: This is the mandatory quarantine question, but I am actually really interested in how your creative practice has been affected throughout the pandemic.

LC: The beginning of quarantine last year was very beneficial to me. Fall 2019 was right after my graduation. When you've spent the first 20 years of your life in school, it is quite an adjustment to find purpose without academic demands. March to June 2020 gave me space, lowered the pressure. Everyone was stuck at home, so suddenly, it was okay if I was too. I was so lucky I had a studio at home, a close friend as a roommate and an adorable cat. I rested, cleaned, thought about a lot of things, and started producing and applying to things again.

After last summer, my mental and physical health started deteriorating. Lots of projects got cancelled or postponed again. Lockdown got stricter. All of this free time stuck at home became somehow exhausting. Yes, I was still lucky, but expectations were back. I am expected to produce because I am an artist and have nothing else to do, right? But my bubble is so small. I don't see anyone, I don't talk to anyone, galleries were closed again, curfew happened. I miss human contact, miss the energy of a crowd, miss my family, my friends from home, and miss Montreal even though I haven't left it in a year.

It all comes in waves; I see this whole situation as an ocean. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning, but other times I keep myself afloat. Museums reopening was truly the highlight of my winter. I am not as productive as I'd like to be, but still, we are in a global pandemic, so I try to be kind to myself. I always have projects ongoing. Nowadays, I am trying to achieve at least three "productive" things a day so I don't get stuck in a depressive episode but don't overwhelm myself with pressure.

What I'm saying is that it varies a lot, and I'm just trying to keep swimming, haha.

AC: Switching gears, who are some people or artists who have inspired you this year?

LC: My art partner, ex-quarantine mate, and very close friend Tatianna has been huge support this year in various ways. She is a great artist who inspires me daily. My friends Joyce, Akira, and Francois are also strong sources of growth, purpose or just by being themselves. They constantly challenge my views and keep me in check. Chloë and Nina have been important parts of my Montreal support system through COVID. I'm thinking about my friends Chris and Devon, who have been going through challenging situations this past year and are still fighting to become the best version of themselves.

Otherwise, Inès Longevial and Chloe Wise are two women figurative painters I look up to a lot and am inspired by.

Louise in her studio

AC: What are you looking forward to developing with your art this year?

LC: I am excited to change the scale in my paintings. I'll make a bunch of smaller ones and lower the figures' scale simultaneously, which is a challenge to me. I would like to start using more white and skin tones colours in my compositions, but we'll see how I feel when it's actually time to choose the pigments!

I also want to draw more. I am excited about this series finally growing because I started it knowing it would gain its power through numbers. 

AC: Finally, do you have any upcoming projects we can look forward to? If not, is there anything/anyone you want to shout out?

LC: I've been selected for a solo show at the CCGV for the 2021/2022 programming, so I'm looking forward to that. We still don't know about the exact dates since it depends a lot on how the government measures will evolve but keep your eyes on my socials, and I'll let you know as soon as possible!

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Louise Campion

Website I Instagram

Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media specialist, currently based in Montreal.

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