Jessica Renzelman was born in a suburb outside of Kansas City, MO. She graduated with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2017 and currently lives in Los Angeles, CA. Her work continues to be heavily influenced by her Midwestern roots and childhood spent in rural Missouri. She both creates her own photographs and also collects them from various archives to investigate memory, including her own memories of the Midwest, the memories of strangers found in amateur snapshot photography and family films, the memory of outdated technology or photo-processes, and a critique of the unreliable nature of memory itself. She works within a variety of mediums: still and moving image, digital and film, alternative processes, sound, text, and book…however, a strong emphasis on the history of photography and archives always remains at the forefront. Recently her work has evolved into installations primarily utilizing photography, that function as spaces for visitors to interact with fabricated archives. After graduating from RISD with Honors, she was an artist-in-residence at Otis College of Art and Design, and has participated in shows/publications in Providence (RI), NYC, LA, and the UK.
On This Road Are You Sorrow Bound, Found Photo printed as Gum Bichromate Print
I’ve Got a Beautiful Feelin’, Archival Inkjet Print
God Had His Hand on Both of Them, Found Photo & Bible Study Notes – Archival Inkjet Print
Somewhere Between Now & Never
In Somewhere Between Now & Never, I use my own photographs and found images to construct an open, non-linear pseudo-documentary narrative based off of the Midwest within an institutional, true-crime-meets-museum-archive installation. It exists somewhere between a fictional and real place, influenced but not entirely created within the Midwest. The non-linear story takes place sometime between now, the past and never. Photographs are created or collected within and outside of Missouri, intentionally using a variety of technologies & processes (digital, black & white, gum bichromate, etc), spanning decades of photographic evolution and histories. Viewers are invited to wander through these photographs, alongside video, text and audio to investigate the temporality, isolation, and religion of the Midwest, along with the multifaceted nature of memory and archives. Images of banal, everyday things become evidence, with destruction and loss lying just outside the frame. Viewers are encouraged to piece together their own narratives and conclusions from the disparate elements.
Like Autumn Leaves We Fade, Wither & Fall, Archival Inkjet Print
Back of Kodak Paper, Found Photo – Archival Inkjet Print
Ashes to the Earth, Archival Inkjet Print
Untitle Figure No. 1, Found Negative printed as Silver Gelatin Print
The Sun Will Rise in the Morning, Found Slide printed as Gum Bichromate Print
Farewell, Archival Inkjet Print
No Looking Back No Matter What, Archival Inkjet Print
Untitled Figure No. 2, Found Negative printed as Silver Gelatin Print
Praying for You, Found Greeting Card printed as Gum Bichromate Print
To view more of Jessica Renzelman’s work please visit her website.