JENNY FOURNIER
Now living and working in coastal Central Queensland on Byellee Country, Jenny Fournier is originally from Aotearoa/NZ. As a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, her arts practice includes sculpting, assemblage, painting, life drawing, illustrating, aerosol stenciling and cyanotype printing. An avid up-cycler, many of her creations utilise both natural and man- made found items and draw on her interests in surrealism and the natural world. Jenny has tutored art to all ages and been part of local public art projects and community events for many years. A favourite community workshop activity is playing the Exquisite Corpse game, invented by the Surrealists, where participants draw either a head, body or lower section and add it to other’s creations with comical and strange results.
Inspired by the playful mix-and- match picture books for children and surrealist drawing games, this interactive installation presents four local Australian native species inhabiting various ecosystems, from the ocean to the hinterland. Each turn of a cube generates four new hybrid creatures. Reflecting on the platypus, once thought to be an elaborate hoax, some of these unusual combinations might not seem so improbable. This installation prompts viewers to consider how species might evolve to survive in their changing environments. The hope is that humans will adapt their lifestyles so that these unique fellow creatures won’t need to undergo drastic changes themselves.
Where do you look for inspiration? What themes do you find most interesting?
When a child, mix and match flip books always intrigued me and then, as an adult, surrealism held a fascination for me. Upon discovering the Exquisite Corpse game, invented by the Surrealists in the early 20th century, these two interests were merged together for me. With the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary so close I chose to use local fauna to make my own giant mix and match game, bringing in ambassadors from four different ecosystems in this beautiful coastal area.
How do you feel when you see people interacting with your sculptures?
I feel delighted witnessing the surprise and laughter of people of all ages as they turn the cubes around to create new, mismatched and nonsensical creatures. This humour is sometimes followed by the dawning realisation that their hybrids could indeed be quite logical in our changing world. Any thought-provoking conversations about evolution and adaptation which may follow grant me a sense of achievement.
Come and see for yourself at SWELL Sculpture Festival, Pacific Parade, Currumbin 6th – 15th September.