Born in San Jose, CA in 1982 in an incredibly artistic, theatric, poetic, and musically talented family. She started drawing at the early age of five. Art continued to play the role of her voice through out childhood and in high school where she won the Medal for Fine Arts at Notre Dame High in 2001, an all girl’s school in Down Town San Jose. Since then she has had her work displayed in county fairs and Villa Montalvo Art Gallery.

2001-2003 she studied art and film and De Anza College in Cupertino and then graduated from Santa Clara University in 2006 with a double major in Theatre and Studio Art and a minor in Communications with an emphasis in film. There, she won the Medallion for Scenic Design. While at Santa Clara University she was the leader of the queer organization, GALA (which serves as a support group) member of, GASPED (Gay and Straight Alliance), which promoted queer activism and outreach, and a member of FU (Feminist United). Through FU, GASPED, and GALA she created two important photography exhibits, This Is What a Feminist Looks Like, and Portraits of America – Land of the Free…? And a painting and mix-media exhibit, The Spectral Table Setting.

After college she worked as a set designer, scenic artist, and make-up artist for theatre and film across the Bay Area including Theatre Rhinoceros, Renegade Theatre Experiment, and Children’s Musical Theatre of San Jose. In October 2006 she started traveling around the world to places such as England, Russia, Fiji, and Australia. She is currently living in San Francisco as an Artist and Filmmaker. Her latest films are Twisted Lipstick, (a comedic short about Sarah Palin in the Twilight Zone), and Love is Free, (a short Documentary about Gay Marriage after the passing of Proposition 8). Both films premiered in San Francisco at the Garage Theatre in 2008. She is also an active member of QGTP (Queer Girl Theatre Project) and is in the process of completing her first graphic novel due in June.

When I begin a painting or drawing I usually start with an eye, eyebrow, or lips instead of a full circle to begin the face. In photography I ask my subjects to think of an emotion within them before snapping a shot. It is the raw emotion and elements within that I look for before I begin a work of art because that is my inspiration. By looking inside I can begin to understand the elements that surround it. It enables me to tackle the complexities of feminism, female sexuality, and the inequalities within world socialization. 

My subjects are predominantly figurative and hold an air of gracefulness, but through twisted wavy lines they show off their complexities. They echo a gilded age of many time periods past, but they are by no mean accurately historical, they only mean to hint at the cycle and recycle of time and social evolution. My Russian and French heritage and fascination with Asian and Polynesian cultures also find their way into my work. Through mixing the past, futuristic fantasy, and fairy tales I try to bring new meanings to our modern story – will there be a happily ever after? Fairy tales are not always what they seem and neither is the secret of love, sex, sexuality, gender, and life.

I work in a variety of mediums including acrylic, oil, watercolor, charcoal & pencil, ink & pen, black & white and color photography, and film.

~ Jennifer Jigour

Outlining a new painting in Fremantle, Australia in 2008.

Self-Portrait. Trying really hard to look like a

Russian Secret Agent in 2004.