Jenna Faye Powell

Jenna Faye Powell investigates interconnected experiences of home, solace, and environmentalism through her multi-disciplinary artistic practice. Over the past 5 years, her work and research has particularly centred around the fictional and non-fictional sides of the climate crisis. Examining popular culture’s varying interpretations of ‘eco-anxiety’, Powell re-positions cinematic tropes found in bombastic apocalyptic blockbusters to advance a contrasting position of climate optimism termed as dark euphoria. 

Coined by science-fiction author, Bruce Sterling, dark euphoria defines a perspective that is at once filled with both doom and hope for the future. As demonstrated by her Smokestack Published Project, Quiet in the Cup, Powell has introduced lava lamps as a recurring symbol for the thematic range of dark euphoria: an object to represent interpersonal sanctuary and survival in the face of imminent disaster; a decorative vessel associated with such a naturally destructive force as lava, produced for the experience of temporary peace and happiness. The pseudo-psychedelic motif evoked by lava lamps also reminds Powell of the object’s resurgence in popularity when she was a carefree, suburban teenager. Leaning into nostalgia, Powell aims to evoke feelings of blissful ignorance and its perils. In that vein, Powell’s practice is underscored by feelings of ineffectuality and futility in making artwork about the environmental crisis, and she looks to practical ways to reduce one’s carbon footprint within both her practice and lifestyle.

Jenna Faye Powell holds an MFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and a BFA from the University of Western Ontario. Her work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally including presentations at Patel Brown, Toronto, ON; Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON; Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS; The Rooms Provincial Gallery, St. John’s, NL; and Ljós, SÍM House Gallery in Reykjavik, Iceland, among others. Powell has received numerous regional and provincial grants and awards. In addition to her professional artistic practice, she is also an active arts administrator and writer.