A Dark & Light Amalgam
AJ Shenefelt’s work embodies a complex reckoning with the space that permeates discourses long thought to be discrete — life’s journeys of childhood, body politics, trauma, sexuality, and artistic inquiry. Their art steps over the line of which they speak, even as that volatile, ghostlike line fills the soul of their images to the breaking point. AJ — like their set designs & backgrounds — is a hybrid, an indefinable combination of public and private personae whose camera was not a window, but rather a hall of mirrors that begat a myriad of reflections of yourself.
Shenefelt invites us to explore exactly this indeterminacy. They create a dichotomy between the gothic and idyllic — the dark and the light in life as well. Their sets squeeze us into a world that is at once within and beyond the body; we experience a mixture of excruciating pain and boundless emotions as seams are exposed and the weight of the indefinite bears down upon us. We come ever closer to the intersection of desire, identity, and the formal qualities of the art object. Like the crevices forced open by AJ’s scene, the work expands in response to the viewer’s own longing for completeness, for unencumbered access to our identity. A simultaneously celebratory and sorrowful air fills the space to an examination of the unforeseen and, at times, paradoxical possibilities of their art.
Pronouns
Marina: she/her/ella
AJ Shenefelt: they/them
Let’s Do It Interview Series with AJ Shenefelt
Marina: How would you describe your artwork to others?
Shenefelt: Hmmm…I think the first thing that comes to mind when I look at my own work is the use of bright colors and a strong connection to nature. I love how vibrant and moody the sky, plants, water, and landscapes can be, so I try to reflect and exaggerate that in all of the different types of projects I work on — whether it’s a stop motion set or a digital painting.
Marina: Why did you create your artwork with this particular art media(s)?
Shenefelt: I use a bunch of different art media because I want to learn how to do as many things as I can! And I think each material is another tool you can use to solve the creative problem of “how do I turn this weird idea in my head into a real, physical thing?”. I like being hands-on with my work, so for stop-motion projects, I enjoy using a combination of techniques/ materials that let me experiment and get messy in the process (paper mache, found objects, wood, clay, wire, felt, paper cut-out).
Marina: How has your life experiences influenced your art/art aesthetics?
Shenefelt: As a trans, queer, and disabled white person, I think that my lived experience and relationship to identity, community, privilege, and society are at the forefront of informing the creative decisions I make (and questions I ask) — especially when it comes to designing characters and writing. I want to tell stories and express complex emotions that I wish I could have seen growing up, and challenge the ways that art & entertainment media continue to be harmful to marginalized people. I can only speak from my individual perspective, which is always in a state of growth, and the stranger things that I’ve gone through on this planet continue to be a huge source of inspiration for the ideas I turn into art.
Marina: How have other artists or art genres influenced your work?
Shenefelt: Growing up my brother and I were obsessed with TV and movies, so we would often try to recreate them at home by playing around the house and (at some point) running off with my mom’s camcorder to make weird films that usually had something to do with cranky older adults and crows. After deciding to pursue art full-time in my early 20’s, I became a lot more influenced by painters, illustrators, and fabricators that I started following online, which has probably had the biggest impact on inspiring the way I use color, texture, and materials in my own work. Some of my favorite artists to follow are Andrew Hem, Christina Quarles, Rob Sato, ggggrimes, and Damien James Webb.
Marina: What did you have to develop, try or learn to create this artwork?
Shenefelt: I never took art classes growing up or thought of myself as an artist until I took a stop-motion community college course for fun one summer. I fell totally and madly in love with it! Afterward, I changed my major, planned to leave my job in healthcare, eventually moved to Los Angeles, and put all of my energy into learning as much about art and animation as I could. I’m grateful that the program I transferred into at Cal State LA is one that trains students to develop skills in different mediums instead of specializing in one thing because I was able to spend my time there getting hands-on experience with a multitude of animation methods simultaneously. I also became close with my classmates, and we worked on personal projects together throughout the undergraduate degree that prepared me for the work I want to be making now.
Marina: What is your relationship with your art?
Shenefelt: I don’t currently make stable money off of my art or like to use social media very much, so my relationship to art right now remains very personal. I want to make independent animated films with other creators who share similar intentions with their work and continue learning how to express myself with animation, painting, and sculpture.
Please check out their Instagram or the website below to see more:
https://ajshenefelt.pb.online/
Instagram: @lucidwaking
