The first time I was exposed to Jennifer Strunge I freaked out. I couldn't stop staring at the monsters and wondering who is this Jennifer person and will she be my friend? Her work is very inspiring as she takes monster making and sewing to a totally different level. Her inflatable monsters are too good to be true, her monsters for exhibits and sale have so much personality that you could easily be fooled into believing that when they are done they sit around and yap it up with Jennifer in her studio. Perhaps some drink whiskey, they definitely tell good jokes and you will want to invite them over for a nice dinner and good conversation. In a perfect world, this would all be very possible. Thank goodness we have Jennifer in the world.
S- I was reading about you in American Style and they quote you saying you have been "a practicing artists and puppeteer since preschool". Do you remember some of your "early" pieces you worked on at such a young age? Any favorites?
JS-Ah yes...as far back as I can remember I was making things from scraps and trash, and more often than not, they turned into characters of sorts with names and stories of their own. Mr. Weiner was a very early memorable one, he was basically a three foot strip of foam padding that I drew eyeballs and a mouth on...but as simple as he was, he provided many days of fun, until one day I brought him into the local pool, and he was never the same! I made some pretty rad sock puppets back in the day too! My mom was a school teacher, and also used to take me to this place that sold factory salvage things by the pound, so there was always tons of weird stuff around to be used for creations.
S- You were in the fiber arts program at MICA. As a trained artist, did you feel that your schooling was supportive to your kind of work?
JS- MICA was a great experience for me as an artist. It allowed me to experiment with so many different mediums and interact with tons of people with totally different views. I found the fiber department conducive to the kind of work I was drawn to making...things that were tedious, time-intensive and repetitive. My senior year I started making these three dimensional quilts, and eventually giant monster puppets, it was something that no one else was doing at the time, and I got fantastic feedback and support.
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