About…
Adventures in Understanding
My ultimate goal is to create contemporary introductory guides to propaganda tactics aimed at teenagers and twenty somethings who are unaware that the breadth and depth of their thinking is being actively narrowed and channelled by actors furthering the agendas of governments and corporations. It’s a bit of a bummer really, so I tend to rely on humour, bold graphics and nineties nostalgia to make the bitter pill easier to swallow. I’m currently working on a zine that is a spin-off of 1990’s teen magazine to this end.
In the meantime I find myself preoccupied by the widening canyon of understanding between people with diverging political beliefs. It freaks me out how people live side by side within parallel echo chambers, disdainful and repelled by their counterparts. This is too unbearable and dangerous to be allowed to continue, so I spend a lot of time thinking about strategies to encourage people to get curious about others with dissimilar beliefs from their own. It’s been my experience that compassion follows curiosity.
Two of the projects that I’m working on are dedicated to provoking self-reflection that inspires curiosity about other people and the world around us. One project is a series of reflection journals overflowing with open-ended questions and journaling prompts to help us get more clear about what we want, need and what might we need to change to live more in alignment with our values. The second project is a card deck containing open-ended reflection questions that can be used for personal contemplation or as conversation starters.
Adventures in Generative Art
A common thread in my work is the use of striking imagery. I have a background in visual arts, with the most experience in pencil drawing, ink based illustration, oil pastels, photography and digital collage. Most recently I became utterly fascinated with generative art and have a freaking ball generating artwork for my journals, Substack articles and other personal projects. You can find more about my generative art projects here. And if you’re seeking visuals for your own articles, please get in touch as I would love to collaborate! 🤍
Jenna
This photo is of me and my beautiful dog Boone taken at Maria im Stein in Ueberlingen, Germany.
While I’ve lived in Germany with my husband for the last decade, I was born in Canada and raised in Bermuda. My decision to move to Germany was probably one of the most impactful of my life and is something with which I’m still coming to terms. Stubbornly, I have been resisting full integration into German society and clutching to my North American, anglicized roots. It’s an awkward predicament as my husband and I have no current plans to move either back to Canada or to Bermuda.
I’m educated in sociocultural Anthropology and holistic nutrition, and presently chipping away at a certification in Canine Nutrition. Behaviour analysis and interpreting human body language is another area of personal self-study. The red thread of my meandering educational path is a strong anti-establishment sentiment. Anthropology honed my proficiency in media literacy and critical thinking, while holistic nutrition provided sorely needed alternatives to the standard American diet and pharmaceutical-driven conventional medicine. During the pandemic, my husband and I committed ourselves to learning behavioural analysis as a means to steel ourselves against the hurricane force winds of propaganda and Group Think. Thank God for the work of the Behavior Panel, Chase Hughes and the Behavioral Arts. I will be forever grateful for the ongoing education provided by these sources and the empowerment that they offer.
That’s all for now!
Much love and thanks for reading!
