Rolando: OK, Jennie, let me put you on the hot seat for a moment. You decry how modern commercial society makes us feel uncomfortable with the imperfect shape of our bodies constantly reminding us how fat we are and so forth. However the majority of the women in your paintings have awesome bodies. Maybe a woman would look at your paintings and say, "I wish I looked like that." Do you think you are contributing to the negative stereotype by painting mostly women with beautiful shapes?
Jennie: I try to explore other body types but no matter what shape my model is they almost always end up a similar shape. A gallery owner once told me that my works were fantastic! The figures are just like something out of playboy, that I don't paint like a woman at all! That gave me a massive block for a while, I had a hard time getting past what he had said as it was everything I wanted to avoid. My husband, Liam, answered this for me in the end. My pieces are almost always depicting my own figure. In different stages to be sure, but he told me I keep returning to my own body and exploring that, the shapes and proportions are always the same because they are familiar to me. As I have a hate/hate relationship with my figure you can imagine how that gave me pause. I have a condition known as body dysmorphic disorder, something that prevents me from seeing my own figure as it truly is. No matter what size I am I see the same thing. Fat! Even when I had a waist size as low as 17 inches. This revelation from Liam has really helped to me move past this issue and to start appreciating what I have, clearly some part of my brain knew and just had to educate my eyes! Lately, I have been exploring other body types and I look forward to branching out further, I see it as a sign of growth in my own personal development, perhaps I am becoming less obsessed!
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Jennie: I try to explore other body types but no matter what shape my model is they almost always end up a similar shape. A gallery owner once told me that my works were fantastic! The figures are just like something out of playboy, that I don't paint like a woman at all! That gave me a massive block for a while, I had a hard time getting past what he had said as it was everything I wanted to avoid. My husband, Liam, answered this for me in the end. My pieces are almost always depicting my own figure. In different stages to be sure, but he told me I keep returning to my own body and exploring that, the shapes and proportions are always the same because they are familiar to me. As I have a hate/hate relationship with my figure you can imagine how that gave me pause. I have a condition known as body dysmorphic disorder, something that prevents me from seeing my own figure as it truly is. No matter what size I am I see the same thing. Fat! Even when I had a waist size as low as 17 inches. This revelation from Liam has really helped to me move past this issue and to start appreciating what I have, clearly some part of my brain knew and just had to educate my eyes! Lately, I have been exploring other body types and I look forward to branching out further, I see it as a sign of growth in my own personal development, perhaps I am becoming less obsessed!
Go to Next Question Go to Previous Question Go to First Question
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