Markia Jemma

Upon becoming a parent at the age of 40 - I find myself in the wonderful position of witnessing spontaneous creative exploration that is as yet unsullied by the expectations of others. I look forward to discovering how this experience will affect my own art practice.

I tend to work with images that are commonplace or ordinary, to point out the underlying belief system that drives our daily decisions & cultural responses; using appropriate media & technology to express ideas in a way that best supports the expression of these ideas.

Marika Jemma joined the EBA in Feb 98. A subversive odd-jobber, Marika has been a carpenter, a landscaper, and a donut jockey to support her art habit, eventually middle-age-spreading her way into a desk job in media sales. Graduating from Camosun College, VisArts diploma in hand, Marika joined Xchanges Gallery Studio CoOp in 1991. After a successful solo show in 1993, she traveled to Ottawa in her 1973 Toyota and in the atypical chaotic manner of those who fell into the abyss between the Boomers & GenXers, Marika conceived an interest in film/video making in 1996. Balancing on the lip of this abyss, Marika continues to struggle towards self-expression in the mediums of installation, painting & filmmaking.