Jennifer Funnell

7th june 2025

I wrote a manifesto for my art practice (of right now) because I was inspired by another artist on my studio residency program at the BAI. I’ve put it up on my website but also decided to share it here! I can’t speak for future me, so this is the manifesto for right now in this very moment. Thanks for reading as always, it’s great to have a place to share my mind! – Jenny

The flash of time does not wait,

It instead introduces us to new people, new things, new tastes and new looks. 

The feelings though, those ephemeral feelings, seem to revisit us. 

They come for a moment, and you can recognise how your face might look or how tightly you grasp your own hands together.

In my paintings, and in my words, these moments are what I am fishing for, hoping for a catch with my colours and how early or late I arrive to conversations we all need to have.

I decided to try something new. 

Instead of just capturing space and reflecting the people who may reside within it, i want to now translate the feelings of those people in the room. 

It’s like that time I took my friend to a concert, and the lights hit us and we could see the smoke in the air. Or when another friend pointed at the moon. Or when mum and I had shots of amaretto with red wine and got a bit plastered. Or the many faces and names I’ve arm-wrestled on a whim, all beautifully unique. Or when someone saw me for me, and laughed at that silly face I’d pulled. Or when I said “see you later” to a childhood friend who I now haven’t seen in years.

Though I am young and have a lot to learn, and I say that very honestly, I think I still can sit here and write my manifesto for today:

My aim is to capture feelings,

And to feel in my own life.

My aim is to see the wonder in the room,

And to tell someone about it.

My aim is to trust I can,

And to forgive.

My aim is to love many spaces,

And to write their stories. 

My aim is to go with it,

And notice when it’s a beautiful night. 

My aim is to be embarrassed often,

And to forget and be embarrassed again. 

I’m going to try new things, meet new people, reconnect, let go, become something else.

Here are the works I have started during my residency here in Berlin, in this new period of me.