Jennifer Elizabeth McNeil

Winner
RGI Graduate Award, FUTUREPROOF 2021: Selected Artists
Working in a variety of mediums, influenced by photographer Jo Spence’s concept of ‘Phototherapy’, I examine my surroundings and personal history. On a cathartic journey, confined by Covid-19, I wander the territories of where I live – these places I have haunted since the age of 11. Pushed ever further to the boundaries of these spaces, in my search for solitude, the dichotomy of freedom versus danger is ever present.
Through the lens I explore themes of time, memory, loss and the uncanny. My work has an ominous edge. Leaving the confines of society, venturing to the forest, I escape to create windows into mysterious, hidden worlds. Using a hybrid mix of media, producing a home-made aesthetic, I give life to a playfulness to balance the darkness.

Family Album
The Unknown Land
Here process is as important as the final images. These 35mm film images are developed in a sustainable, caffenol solution for 70 minutes and then scanned and printed in make-shift ways at home.