Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacquelene Cristina Verna.
Jacquelene Cristina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As an Argentine-American, I was born in Corona, California and have annually stayed in Rosario, Argentina for extended periods of time, visiting family and further exploring my culture and heritage. Luckily, I had many family members that encouraged my artistic process and creative means from a young age; however, since I excelled academically choosing to pursue art as a career as opposed to more traditionally accepted science paths was a tremendous pressure. I attended the University of California, San Diego due to persisting fears of needing to attend a “real college” and please others, although I wish I would have truly explored other options to find what would have been the best fit for me. While at UCSD, I was inspired by one of my teacher’s assistants to explore my cultural heritage and represent lesser-known histories and narratives; as South America is often treated like a forgotten foreign continent and monolith.
I began to research the military coups and many atrocities that Argentina faced in the 60s and 70s that often go unspoken, or are brushed off as fake news, and began to better understand my family and the many apprehensions I had felt growing up. This topic became the focus of my artwork when an esteemed professor asked me if my project “Río de la plata” was based on a fictional narrative. I continue to research, expand, and compare many aspects of the subject to more familiar North American concepts as a means of entry for my current anglo-centric audience.
I do not wish to tell my audience to choose sides, but rather create a sense of skepticism that will hopefully drive people to understand that these atrocities did in fact happen and to come to their own conclusions. I recently graduated with Latin Honors Summa Cum Laude and try to remain very involved with all aspects of the San Diego art community. My most recent exhibition was the “25 and Under Showcase,” a group show at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and I am currently exhibiting at 1805 Gallery’s “Material Zones” Vend Art Exhibition through April 5th, 2020. A full CV of venues and institutions I have exhibited at in the past and a great way to keep updated is to visit my website https://www.jcverna.art and join my mailing list.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There is less laid out when you decide to pursue a creative career, so all the extra marketing, accounting, networking, promoting, technical skill learning, and business management fall on the sole artist. It is very popular to have a negative outlook on artists in Western society as only the very elite are considered valid and the rest are often perceived as not contributing to anything or taking “the easy road,” when in reality artists face the hardship of creating their own systems by which to create and live under.
After a serious spinal injury, I realized that simply following social norms was not a rewarding enough lifestyle for me and that I was the one in total control of my body and perception, resulting in choosing to go to school for studio art. Upon graduating, I have unfortunately started to experience sexism for the first time in my adult life, with many people feigning interest in my art in an attempt to personally get closer to me. Although much of my art is inspired by the challenge of being a minority that isn’t recognized even amongst other minorities, my art has little to do with my own personal narrative or self; resulting in the challenge of constantly being qualified or infantilized as a female artist. For some artists, their gender may be important to understanding the concepts or messages behind their art. However, in my case, I do not define myself as a female artist, rather just another artist on the same playing field as all others.
I chose the alias J. C. Verna to be able to distance my personal identity from my work to further aid in my work being taken seriously, despite being female, and in hopes of being given the same opportunities as people who identify as male in my field.
I would like to pass on the advice that has significantly shaped my perspective on pursuing art in a professional sense: as an artist, you are your own businessman. Much of becoming a professional artist is playing the game, not just making great art. It is important to constantly push yourself forward and to keep your career goals in mind. Network, ask for advice, realize your goals, apply yourself to every opportunity and always advocate for yourself and the work you create.
Tell us about your work – what should we know?
As an interdisciplinary artist, I learn how to manipulate whatever material I deem necessary for the concepts I research and create. I have worked with human hair, live insects, 360 cameras, and even fruit, but I predominantly work with plastics and repurposed objects in sculpture, oil on canvas paintings, and performance.
I feel my current artist statement sums it all up the best:
I am an Argentine-American interdisciplinary artist focusing on the North American separation of death in the 70s and its relationship with the Latin American political turmoil and atrocities of the same time period.
My work is heavily research-based and concerns a historical relationship and convergence between North and South America during a time of the US’ political funding of right-wing parties, military coups and the Dirty War of Argentina. While death, kidnappings, and torture became a reality for many Latin American countries in the late 60s and early 70s, the United States experienced a separation from death; with people passing away outside of the home—in hospitals,—the rising popularity of cremation, and the mass-production of headstones. Following the Golden Age of US capitalism, automobiles, plastic commodities, and commercialized goods became less personalized and the rise of popular culture aided in further polarizing the two sheltered hemispheres. Previously one of the top seven wealthiest countries, Argentina regressed into a state of underdevelopment in the 1970s—stifling its progression beyond the time period.
Through means of craftsmanship and machine-like production—or the lack thereof—I create functional commodities that may be seemingly mass-produced and marketed in an alternate fictional reality where different cultures are more predominant, calling upon kitsch, working-class culture, and nostalgia. I am heavily inspired by Latin American conceptual artists of the time period, including Graciela Carnevale, León Ferrari, and Oscar Bony. My aim is to reference and critique symbols, ideas, and means of production of the early conceptual movement—through varying degrees of difference and separation—in the educational environment of a gallery space.
Pricing:
- $20 | 5″ x 5″ Limited Watercolor Paper Giclée Print
- $80 | 4″ x 4″ x 1/8″ Oil on Canvas Originals | Commission
- $60 | 4″ x 4″ x 1/8″ Oil on Canvas Originals | Available at the Porto Vista Hotel Lobby
- $10 | Espèces Perdues WTCHCVLT Album and Art Print
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jcverna.art
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jcverna.art/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/jcvernaart
Image Credit:
Michael Fee
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