Meet Jenna Fournier | Artist & Musician

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

Hi Jenna, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Balance for me is embracing seasons that seem wildly OUT of balance sometimes, rather than aiming for every day to look well-rounded and the same. Creative output comes in cycles, and while I do aim to maintain routine discipline, there are times where I know as intuitively as I know which chord to move to that I need to “step away from the canvas.” This might mean to get out and seek community, travel, experiment with new mediums, study another culture or subject of interest, or just dive into a novel or movie or art museum for inspiration. The other side of that coin is submitting to the call of the muses. I get tunnel visioned on an idea or project and shut out everything around me to work and fuel the creative spark, which can include neglecting things as small as laundry or as large as relationships and general self-care. Personally I’ve found that if I don’t make time to be fully submerged in art, I become resentful to the things that pull me away from it. I’ve come to believe that to give myself permission to prioritize the work I am passionate about is to show myself love, and is actually serving others in a way as well, and that anyone around me who truly knows me and loves me will understand this.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am an artist and musician. I’ve been playing in a shoegaze/dream-pop/alternative rock band called NIIGHTS since 2010, and in the last few years have been recording and producing my solo music from home. I’ve toured around North America and Japan several times, and exhibited paintings in galleries across the US.

My work has been described as many things: surreal, expressionist, and evocative. I’ve also heard primitivism, outsider, and dark. But, if I could choose only one word to describe my art and music, it might be survival. I realize this describes neither technique nor aesthetics, but it does sum up the impetus behind nearly two decades of songwriting and oil paintings. Much of my work is rich in symbolism and crafted with intentional metaphor. As a trauma survivor and someone who struggles with mental health, creating has acted as a form of both escapism and self-therapy, reflecting the inner world of my journey over the years.

When I look back at my earliest paintings, I see a series of unintentional self-portraits; melancholy women with expressions of detachment, anxiety, or longing. They are usually in fantastical places and often surrounded with imagery such as spider webs, masks, cages, trees forming patterns like shattered glass, and other elements that suggest a dissociative state of mind.
As I grew to understand the impact of the events I had survived, I began to reconnect wires and deprogram unhealthy thinking patterns. It was then that I painted “Phoenix,” the majestic mythical creature who rises from the ashes, and “La Loba,” the woman of ancient legends who sings over wolf bones until they rattle back to life. Butterflies continue to be prevalent across my inventory with renewed symbolism: metamorphosis; rebirth. This theme repeats itself in depictions of roots, bones, and other peculiar ways; a subconscious attempt to manifest my own transformation through visualization. Each painting is a snapshot of my own healing journey, which is also archived lyrically and sonically in the music I’ve released over the years.
I know my work connects to those with similar experiences and creates a sense of belonging, because people often feel comfortable sharing their own stories with me when they don’t know me personally. It has been a catalyst for cathartic conversations many times, which in turn encourages me to keep sharing, always striving to do so more openly and more truthfully. I am the most excited for the music I am producing at home, which touches on themes I’ve only been able to write about in cryptic ways until now. It has been a lot of time and energy to learn the technical skills, but it has opened new doors in my mind for my imagination to wander through, and I love the idea of experimental “hand-made” music that is as intimate to me as a canvas touched only by my own brush strokes. Eventually I hope to merge both music and visual art on stage with DIY visuals and projected animation.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I like going to the lake and the metro-parks. I also make a point to visit the art museum and botanical gardens to see the butterflies at least once a year. Cleveland has a lot of good places to eat but some of my favorites are Map of Thailand, India Garden, Cleveland Vegan, Ty Fun, and Momocho (mod-Mexican.) There is a charming cocktail bar I always take out-of-towners to called Spotted Owl that is built into the basement of an old church I believe, with beautiful stained glass and inventive drink-offerings. We’d also have to see a show at one of Cleveland’s iconic venues, or catch a free summer concert at the Rock Hall.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In 2020 I joined Patreon with very small expectations, just hoping to connect on a bit of a deeper level with the people who truly appreciate what I do, while opening a door for them to contribute to the sustainability of my work at large. What I’ve learned is that having this support platform is so much greater than a little extra cash flow for supplies. I feel so encouraged knowing there is a handful of people who believe in me enough to invest in me, and that is invaluable.

I have a wonderful mother, who will forever hang my scribbles on the fridge with a smile, and help me re-center on what matters in life when I do get out of balance. I have a father who raised me to believe I could do anything I put my mind to. There was a time when he was unemployed, and the church was donating meals to our family, yet he came home one day with a Casio Privia (digital piano) for me. I felt for the first time that he didn’t view me as the fuck-up I saw myself as, but that he believed in me and supported my dreams, and that maybe they weren’t delusional after-all.

I also have to shout-out my bandmates, NIIGHTS, who sharpen me as a player and make me proud to step on a stage beside them, and my dear friend Benjamin, a brilliant sci-fi fantasy author, who has always tried to help me see my own value and ‘harness my magic powers.’

There are so many others who have kept me going along the way with their support, appreciation, and encouragement, and so many artists – dead and alive, local and world famous -who have inspired and empowered me with their words, creativity, and talents. If I have any conventional success in this life, it is theirs as well.

Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JennaFournier

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kid.tigrrr

Twitter: https://twitter.com/niightstheband

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NiightsBand/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/NIGHTStheBAND

Other: http://niightsband.com/

Image Credits
Jarrod Berger Amber Patrick