Young Artist of the Week: Zoe Jaremus, on female forms and farms

Touted as a modern day Caspar David Friedrich, with her most recent series evoking the starkly existential image of individuals lost amidst barren natural landscapes, this Concordia MFA candidate has a knack for photography in its purest form. Jaremus populates the space of expansive and imposing natural compositions with under-dressed and ill-equipped young women whose blank, eerily unperturbed and, seemingly at times, even possessed expressions and physical dispositions speak volumes about humans, nature and human nature. A focus on lone female subjects, at once helplessly objectified and defiantely self-assertive,  and beautiful yet impending natural settings prevail in her striking work.

 

Zoe Jaremus, Somewhere to Hide, 2011, Chromogenic Print, 38" x 38"

 

My current obsession :
Audiobooks

 

My favourite place :
A warm bed on a cold morning

 

Can everyone make art?
Yes, but not everyone can do it well.

 

Something timeless :
Fairytales

 

Most overrated artist :
Damien Hirst (And even saying that, there are still things he’s done that I like)

 

 

Most underrated artist :
Erwin Wurm (not sure if he’s that underrated, but he’s one of my favourites)

 

I wish I knew :
What’s next

 

I wish I didn’t know :
What’s next (ha!)

 

Art and the internet : Two peas in a pod or unlikely bedfellows?
Peas in a pod, for better or for worse

 

Zoe Jaremus, Untitled (Ice Lake), 2011, Chromogenic Print, 38" x 38"

 

One day with a historical figure : who do you choose and what do you do?
A drunken picnic with Salvador Dali

 

Can art go too far?
Yes

 

Best place to see art in Montreal :
Belgo Building

 

My strength :
My willingness to fail

 

My weakness :
My addiction to television

 

 
Zoe Jaremus, Untitled (Birch Trees), 2011, Chromogenic Print, 38" x 38"

 

Best new trend in art :
More successful female artists!

 

Most inspiring aspect of Montreal :
The amazing energy this city has in the summer

 

(My) Art is :
Something that gets me through the day

 

Words to live by :
"Ever tried.  Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." – Samuel Beckett

 

Zoe Jaremus, Ice Rocks, 2011, Chromogenic Print, 38" x 38"

 

Zoe Jaremus’ Into the Wild series is on display as part of Collision 7 until April 9
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