nunu meets: Angelina Jesson
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WE’LL BE INTERVIEWING A HANDFUL OF INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS, STARTING IN LONDON. THESE INTERVIEWS WON’T BE LONG READS, JUST A LITTLE 5-10 MINUTE DOSE OF DAILY STORYTELLING THAT PERHAPS, MIGHT SPARK SOME CREATIVITY, THOUGHT OR SELF-REFLECTION. WE HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING FROM EACH INDIVIDUAL AND CAN NOT WAIT TO SHARE THEIR STORIES WITH YOU.
Hey, my name’s Angelina Jesson and I’m a multimedia artist and model. I mainly focus on film, creating worlds which blur the lines between reality and fantasy.
nunu: What was your moment of manifestation?
Angelina: I don’t think there ever was one particular moment in time which made me realise I wanted to be an artist. More like a sequence of events which lead me to art. I’d been an actress as a child and really fell in love with abstract theatre, film and set/ costume design. Growing up, my mum would take me to art shows and museums, but I just wasn’t having it, there was nothing more boring to me as a nine year old then standing in front of a painting. Matthew Barney had this massive exhibition at the Guggenheim museum in NY, I was eleven, his film and the accompanying sculptures he made which looked like they’d spilled out from one of his films into the museum, changed my whole perspective on art. He took the role of artist, director, set designer, costume maker and performer. That excited me. He created a whole universe and it was beautiful. Slowly I started connecting the dots between all these things I loved, art was away for me to bring everything together and to constantly learn and evolve. When I’m working on a concept, I usually have an idea and then have to teach myself how to execute it.
nunu: Can you tell us a time when you felt most happy or proud of yourself?
Angelina: I’m the happiest when I’m making & constructing a universe for an audience to see or be apart of. I love that everything matters and everything can have meaning. I love that there are no rules. There’s nothing more rewarding than creating an idea and seeing it come to life.
I was recently commissioned by Leeds Museum and WYQS, to create an art film inspired by the queer experience in West Yorkshire. We premiered last month at the Everyman cinema in Leeds. That feeling when I saw something I’d been working on for a year in its final form was incredible, actual butterflies in my stomach.
nunu: and finally who or what inspires you?
Angelina: I’m most inspired by people and their stories, when you’re willing to pay attention, the real world is actually much stranger than fantasy and I love that realisation.
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