Description
Open Doors Gallery | Artist
Jennifer Latour is a self taught artist based in Vancouver, Canada. Latour has built a career working internationally in special effects makeup for film and television since 2003 and began practicing photography in 2006. Her love for photography, cinema, sculpture, and creating characters runs through all her work, and has heavily influenced her Bound Species series.
In an era of AI and sophisticated digital tools, one of the most impressive elements of Jennifer’s practice is that each species is created by hand. Temporary organic sculptures which she then photographs either in her studio or sometimes even releasing her creations back into the wild.
Artist Statement |
Bound Species draws comparisons to the work of past masters such as Karl Blossfeldt whose early depictions of locally found specimens continue to inspire artists and designers around the world, celebrating nature’s patterns, structures and intricate beauty. Also more contemporary conceptual artists like Joan Fontcuberta whose playful interventions and creations with wildlife and fauna explore similar themes.
Jennifer Latour began creating her species in her studio during the first lockdown back in 2020. She uses her skills as a special effects makeup artist to construct ‘new species’ of plants from locally sourced fresh flowers and plants. Each piece is its own delicate and surreal creature, a beautiful Frankenstein of sorts.
Wild Species expands upon the surreal beauty found in each new species Jennifer creates. This time matching a mythological floral sculpture with a natural open air environment. There is a sense of optimism and hope reflected in each image, as Jennifer encourages a greater intimacy with the natural world. Her works inhabit themes of renewal, resilience and a belief in nature’s ability to adapt in extraordinary and unexpected ways. As well as pointing to humanity’s urgent need to step up as guardians of our extraordinary landscapes and ecosystems.
While each piece has a unique character and stands on its own, the series as a whole is evocative of the interconnectedness found in nature, and serves as a reminder that all creatures are bound simultaneously by both their similarities and their differences.
All print enquiries:
tom@opendoors.gallery
+44 (0)7769922824
