Jen Mann is an emerging Canadian artist from Toronto, Ontario, who deals with the subconscious, identity with the interaction with beauty and nature. Her subtle tones lie against stark contrasting pigments that confuse the viewer. The figurative elements in her paintings themselves offer dream-like imagery, with uncomfortable undertones. The way in which Mann uses colour is subtle but simultaneously disorientating and disturbing.

Mann regularly exhibits solo and in group shows throughout Canada and the States. More recently, in 2012, Mann held a show in Bath, in the UK.

In her own words

Would you please introduce yourself and explain how and why you chose to pursue a life in Art?
I don’t think it was something that I can fully explain or understand. Somehow I ended up here, but I guess I had always intended to be doing art. When they ask you in school what you want to be when you grow up, I had always answered “Artist” since as early as I can remember. My Name is Jen Mann, I mainly paint portraits, large scale, in oil. I went to OCAD U in Toronto, Canada, where I received my BFA in 2009, since then I have been steadily working towards developing my work, exploring ideas of existentialism, beauty, identity, and the subconscious.

You mention that the circus and dreams continually influence your painting. How did this come about for you? Are these thoughts always been with you or are they recent conscious choices.
I feel like there is some sort of duality between the circus and dreams. The circus is a place of wonderment magic and exotic things, dreams are as well. In my newest series, I was inspired by this magical quality of the circus, its illusions, and also its strangeness. I associate the circus also with being a kid, the innocence of childhood, and our naive understanding of beauty. I wanted to look at strange photos and turn them into something beautiful. Images I would otherwise never have used went into photoshop and I began to play with their colors, increasing the saturation, and allowing their beauty to surface.

Your choice of colours seem fairly pale. However, used in conjunction with each other they have a strong impact. How does the frequent use of pink effect your work?
The pink wasn’t really planned, it just happened to surface a lot in this new series. Subconsciously I needed the pink in these paintings for some reason or another. I find colors are emotionally contagious and by using these saturated candy colors, the mood of the paintings, has a positive effect on people around them.

Your background seems to heavily have a bias towards Printmaking. Why the switch to Painting or is this a discipline that you’ve always been interested in?
I went through my BFA in printmaking, so that I could learn something that I would not be able to learn otherwise. When I was finished my undergrad I didn’t have a print studio available to me. Also, I was a little sick of making multiples. I was relieved to finally be working directly onto the surface of my image, working straight to the final product… I had always intended to paint, and I found a love for oils in printmaking that translated to painting.

How does a piece of work evolve for you? What stages do you go through to get to a finished image?
I start in my studio with a model and take pictures while sort of just hanging out with them talking, then once I have the photos I go through them and pick out a couple that I think are special in some way, and work with them in photoshop. Once I am happy with how it looks, I prepare a canvas. I use acrylic in with my gesso to color it for a tinted base, then I transfer my image onto the canvas, I paint the surrounding background on in oil. I wait a couple days for that to dry and then work on the rest of the image, top left to bottom right so that my hand can rest on the canvas, allowing better control – then I am finished.

Where do you hope to take your work in the next few years?
I hope to continue along the same path that I am on. Creating work, showing, and building an audience for my work, as well as a building upon my collector base. I hope to have a couple of solo shows outside of Canada in the near future… plans are forming

Jen Mann- Speed Painting from Wolf & Sparrow on Vimeo.

In 2009 Jenn Mann graduated from Toronto OCAD with a BFA in Printmaking. She is a painter currently living and working in Toronto. In the same year she received the award – Best Print in Show from the OCAD Annual Juried Figure show.

All images courtesy of Jenn Mann  |  www.jenmann.com

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