Meet Jennifer Gunlock | Fine Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jennifer Gunlock and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
That’s the key question I ask when artists are seriously considering quitting. I identify someone as an artist when they can’t not do it. When I’m not actively engaged with my creative journey, my life feels incomplete, and I get restless and cagey. Unlike other businesses like running a restaurant, art making is a thing I can do while also taking on other side hustles. There’s flexibility in that. So, if I fail at one creative endeavor, I can start a new one without too much financial loss.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

My artistic journey has not been that classic story of gaining art stardom right out of grad school. It’s more like that cliché tortoise metaphor. With balancing my practice with day jobs and small apartments as studios, my work matured very slowly, and it’s been pretty much invisible for nearly two decades. I feel like I’m just now emerging from my cave and slowly gaining more success in terms of important exhibitions and other opportunities. This slowness and near invisibility allowed my work to mature in a thoughtful way, and for me to alter what my definition of success looks like, thereby allowing me to redesign my career path.

What is getting me excited these days with my practice is that I’m switching back and forth between traditional collage-drawing on panel and digital collage-based video work. I’m entering an exciting chapter in my practice, where I’m thinking about making room-sized video installations that immerse the viewer in my imaginary landscapes.

My intention in my practice is to compel people to take a more mindful look at how they regard the natural world. As we continue to build on top of, and reshape the land we inhabit, I hope the work I do encourages people to bring more intimate and respectful attention to the land, plants and animals around them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
That depends on what they’re interested in. I have nature-loving friends with whom I would take on hikes, like Coldwater Canyon in Studio City, that have sweeping views of the city. Art friends would be taken to the various gallery-dense neighborhoods like Culver City or Downtown. And foodies would help me discover restaurants that I haven’t yet ventured into. Some great touristy free places to visit are the Getty (great views), and Griffith Observatory (views again, plus optional hike!) And the ocean has to show up in the itinerary somewhere, like Venice Beach or, time permitting, Laguna Beach.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I feel blessed in the mentors, colleagues and friends who’ve helped me along my journey. Their appearances in my life remind me that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. My longtime great mentor was the late, and beloved, curator Jay Belloli; and I am happy to still have my grad school committee chair, Marie Thibeault, in my life as a fellow colleague. And another big shoutout goes to my friend, Kristine Schomaker of Shoebox Projects, who is a key networker and motivator in our local art community, and who has helped so many artists, including myself, along their career paths.

Website: https://www.jennifergunlock.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifergunlock

Image Credits
Courtesy of the Artist