A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.
SAIC faculty member Jess Atieno Ounga.

Jess Atieno Ounga

Lecturer

Bio

Jess Atieno’s (she/her) practice is informed by studies on African modernisms and visual culture from a post- colonial perspective. Within this, she has focused her research on photographic archives, guided by artistic gestures that centre decolonized interpretations of history. She has exhibited internationally including at the 1:54 and Armory Art Fairs, Lagos Biennial, Bamako Biennial, Savvy Contemporary and The World Trade Center. Atieno's has been awarded residencies including the Arts and Public Life and Jackman GoldWasser, and has her work in prestigious collections including The Rockefeller Collection, A.Taubman Foundation, African Foundation, The African Arts Trust and Red Hill Art Collection.

Atieno is also the founder of Nairobi Print Project that includes a journal and podcast dedicated to open access scholarship and conversation on art and curatorial practice in Africa and the Black Diaspora.

Publications: 

Of Ghostly Silences and Constant Yearnings
Hardbook
Includes text contributions by Jess Atieno, Delphine Lopez, Dawit L. Petros, 2023
Publisher: Editions Cécile Fakhoury.
ISBN: 978-2-9542653-8-4
Dimensions: 26,5 x 21 cm
Pages: 71

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

This course demonstrates a wide range of screenprinting processes on fabric and alternative substrates, including textile inks, fiber reactive dyes, resist and discharge techniques, and heat transfers using foils and disperse dyes. Students will work with hand-drawn, computer-generated, and photographic images to explore screenprinting techniques and concepts such as monoprinting, multiples, color relationships, composition, and basic repeat patterns. Interdisciplinary and experimental approaches to the printed surface are encouraged as students develop their personal research and practice. The course is supplemented by lectures, readings, and visits to the AIC, artist studios, and galleries. Students present finished and in-progress work in individual and group critiques throughout the semester.

Class Number

1400

Credits

3

Description

In this multi-level class, students learn to print on fabric using textile pigments and fiber-reactive dyes through both hand-painting and printing processes. Techniques include screen printing (using stencils and photo-emulsion), stamp printing, and direct application methods. Intermediate and advanced students develop individual artistic directions while exploring more complex technical processes and conceptual frameworks. Studio exploration is supported and augmented through research, discussions, critiques, presentations, readings, and field trips.

Class Number

1404

Credits

3

Description

This professional practice course that focuses on preparing for all things life after school. As scaffolding throughout the course we will explore the text, How to be an artist at night by Raqs media collective to explore a range of questions and themes in art practice at the intersection of contemporary life. What constitutes an education for the real world? How do we grow a community that supports and is in conversation with our work? What are the professional skills we need to sustain our practice outside the studio? How do we write about, talk about and present our work? What are the practices of self care we can cultivate to fuel our creativity?

Other readings will include teaching to transgress- Bell Hooks, The Artist's Guide: How to make a living doing what you love- Jackie Battenfield, The Social Production of Art- Janet Wolff. We will also watch and respond to short films. Course work will vary but will typically include writing an artist statement, bio and exhibition proposal.

Class Number

1586

Credits

3

Description

This course provides an interdisciplinary forum for in-depth critiques and exploration of students' individual directions within the context of contemporary art. This is a team-taught class and will utilize both instructors for critiques and group activities. Emphasis is on individual studio practice and the development of a more cohesive body of work within a faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer learning structure. Technical and conceptual input will be provided on a tutorial basis. Group discussions, readings, field trips to current exhibitions, and visiting lecturers augment this class. Professional practices will focus on the creation and display of discrete objects and/or installation work for the BFA Exhibition, supported by developing or refining a professional resume and an artist statement. Documentation of individual work for inclusion on the Fiber & Material Studies web page is also required. The print, dye, sewing, and mixed media facilities of the department are available to enrolled students to use. This class is for a minimum of 6 credit hours and is held weekly over a two-day period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open to Juniors and Seniors with instructor permission and signature. Course work varies but typically includes the production of major studio projects for critique, student presentations, professional development assignments, documentation of work, and the installation of work in the class display case and an open studio event.

Class Number

1576

Credits

6

Description

This course provides an interdisciplinary forum for in-depth critiques and exploration of students' individual directions within the context of contemporary art. This is a team-taught class and will utilize both instructors for critiques and group activities. Emphasis is on individual studio practice and the development of a more cohesive body of work within a faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer learning structure. Technical and conceptual input will be provided on a tutorial basis. Group discussions, readings, field trips to current exhibitions, and visiting lecturers augment this class. Professional practices will focus on the creation and display of discrete objects and/or installation work for the BFA Exhibition, supported by developing or refining a professional resume and an artist statement. Documentation of individual work for inclusion on the Fiber & Material Studies web page is also required. The print, dye, sewing, and mixed media facilities of the department are available to enrolled students to use. This class is for a minimum of 6 credit hours and is held weekly over a two-day period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open to Juniors and Seniors with instructor permission and signature.

Course work varies but typically includes the production of major studio projects for critique, student presentations, professional development assignments, documentation of work, and the installation of work in the class display case and an open studio event.

Class Number

1339

Credits

6

Description

Taken every semester across the Graduate Division, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Class Number

1221

Credits

3