Artist Spotlight: January, 2024

Jennifer Okumura

Demers is an award-winning, certified tai chi and qi gong instructor.

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Tell us a little about your background

I am a hapa* who grew up in Philadelphia. I attended Syracuse University and received my MFA from Boston University. Art and being an artist are therapy for me physically, psychologically, and spiritually.

My work now reflects my dual Buddhist-Catholic heritage. Mixed, like growing up the child of Asian and Caucasian parents, my 2D artwork (primarily oil on canvas and wood) reflects what is beautiful and sometimes misconceived in both cultures. My use of color and creative texture lend harmoniously to the natural world—I grew up with an environmental engineer parent—and my heritage influences it.

I can only reveal my thoughts and fears to my mama, brother, and a small group of creatives. During holidays, my Asian relatives do not want to hear about my art-making, so I say nothing. This is in no way a reflection of their love towards me, as I cannot see myself doing anything else. Art-making itself—the urge to create—is personal. Strong work speaks with a clear, rare voice. Yet art without a viewer is an inner monologue. Basically, the circle is not complete. Luckily, I am surrounded by a few honest critics and people who inspire and stimulate in their own lives.

I have a comprehensive knowledge of the art market, modern art, and contemporary art, with extensive fine art experiences as an Operations Manager; Fine Art Consultant; Design Associate; Adjunct Educator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Co-Founder of art advising group Invoke Contemporary with Diana Stelin. I sit on the board as President and founding Exhibition Chair for the National Association of Women Artists, Inc., Massachusetts chapter (NAWAMA), and am a former member of the Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC) Board of Directors.

When did you know you were an artist?

My first memory in the Arts was creating on a wall of large white or brown paper held up by tape. My artistic and unconventional mama would say, “Wow me.” I thought this was the norm in everyone’s home. Once I reached school age, I realized it was unconventional, but inspiring and outré at times. My mother has always been my creative inspiration, a safe and offbeat person. We all need a person who believes you are an artist so you can genuinely believe you are one, too.

“You don’t decide to be an artist,” the 105-year-old Cuban-American painter Carmen Herrera has said, “Art gets inside of you. It’s like falling in love.”

Was there a pivotal moment for you?

I was 16 years old, and a visiting commercial artist in my junior year of high school encouraged me to take classes at a local college, Moore College of Art and Design. He helped me apply for a scholarship, which led me to take painting and figure drawing classes in my junior and senior years. He said my thirst for knowing more about the human form could only be achieved in these classes. Outside of school, I spent hours exploring the 1300 Chestnut Street murals, sketching at the Rodin Museum, and drawing in the Arms and Armor room at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I sketched anyone who would let me and sometimes people I saw at a distance. I still remember the glares and fingers of unwilling subjects.

Where do you find inspiration?

Conflict, balance, and harmony.

My dual heritage is reflected in my work, where I frequently explore the relationship between humans, nature, and objects. My art is an objective homage to my Eastern and Western traditions, and the raw architecture and sounds of the city. I let my art speak conceptually and emotionally through color, texture, space, and time.

I hope to continue drawing, exchanging, and growing with the viewer’s gaze. Over time, a powerful work of art continues the discovery process and builds one’s deeper conversation with the piece while answering, “Is it okay to engage longer?” In this engagement, as practicing artists, we are in tune with the activity of past and present, who push the envelope to the maximum of what is defined as art.

My face subjects are familiar but not specific faces of people I know. With that said, I love the poem Ars Poeticaby Jorge Luis Borges, especially the line, “Art must be like that mirror, that reveals to us this face of ours.” I hope my works reveal this essence, as this line is painted on the wall of my studio, and not all is revealed yet.

What is your favorite medium?

Oils are my medium of choice, but music is critical as I am a creature of habit! My personality keeps me listening to the same type of music as I create a piece or a series. When I paint, I sit on the ground or on a pillow, or I stand. I never sit on a chair as I feel too constrained.When I need a break, I go outside, which I am grateful for as nature or the city revitalizes me.

By creating art and finishing ongoing projects while experiencing the joys of life—a hopeful outlook—I have achieved some balance. My balance consists of always learning, experiencing, and pushing myself—I want to be mind-blown and leave this world a little better. On the evening of March 29, three days after my birthday, artist Kiki Smith gave a mesmerizing and down-to-earth talk at the College of Fine Art’s second annual Tim Hamill Visiting Artist Lecture. She has always inspired me with her fanciful and poised demeanor, saying, “All you are in the end is what you make,” and “I think a lot of making art is listening to yourself.” This is how I want to be perceived in art and life: by listening to yourself, you are never limited. It is your vision.

Can you describe your process?