Jennifer Jones

Jennifer makes work around themes of nostalgia, family memories and the domestic. Alongside her personal practice, Jennifer founded 'Grafters Collective', a support network for artists from working-class backgrounds and/or who have faced barriers to the art world.

I worked in Haringey for a year as I was awarded a studio at Sarabande (the Lee Alexander McQueen) Foundation’s building in Tottenham. I also lived in the Turnpike Lane area for a brief period a few years ago.

Haringey has influenced me by prompting ongoing reflection about my place within the areas I move through as an artist. I come from a family of working-class East Londoners but grew up in Essex as, before I was born, my parents were priced out of their area. I returned to London for university (this being an upwardly mobile move for my family) and lived in a house share off Green Lanes. That personal context brought up layered feelings as I felt like both a Londoner and a newcomer. It led me to question when participation in a neighbourhood’s creative life might also intersect with processes like gentrification, and what responsibility I hold within that.

More recently, whilst making art from my studio in Tottenham at Sarabande Foundation, I came across many grassroots organisations and local creatives. From observing how creatives in Haringey collaborate, coexist, or sometimes operate in isolation I learnt and reflected a lot on the complexities of class, exclusivity, and gentrification within the arts. Whilst making in Haringey I was also exposed to the many ways in which Londoners are working against these systems. These dynamics, which I see mirrored across many London boroughs, have profoundly influenced my approach to the work I do with Grafters Collective, which is a support network I formed in 2024 for artists from working-class backgrounds.

I define a rebel as someone who’s not afraid to act in ways that might challenge the status quo. A rebel is someone who says what needs to be said, and addresses issues head on, even if it’s uncomfortable. A rebel is someone who makes decisions based on what’s right or authentic to their truth, not based on what’s easiest or trouble-free.

The best career advice I’ve received is to not be afraid of making bad work. I’d often find myself stuck only thinking of ideas and then talking myself out of them before ever acting on them. This advice helped free me up and, with this attitude, I’m able to make through ideas instead of go around in circles within my own head. Just starting, without a fear of whether it will be “good” or not and turning thoughts into something real inevitably has knock on effects, leading to outcomes I’d never have imagined if I didn’t just get going.

I feel at my most powerful when I’ve carved out time for myself to rest and reflect. I have a constant self inflicted impulse to be productive at all times. I’ve recently been working on re-adjusting my priorities to value moments of rest and recovery. I’ve been finding that scheduling rest into my week has made me feel more powerful in all areas of my life.

A dream contribution to Haringey’s year as the London Borough of Culture would be to run a residency providing artists from working-class backgrounds, or those who have faced barriers to the art world or who are struggling financially, with free studio space and funding. Having the time and space to develop a practice, to create, and to connect with other artists in an environment separate from daily pressures is incredibly rare in London. I believe introducing this would have a profound impact, enabling more people to continue making work that enriches Haringey’s creative scene.

I’m not sure if it would class as a hidden gem as lots of people probably already know about it but there was a brilliant wood workshop and supplier down the road from my studio with Sarabande called DW General Wood Machinists. They’re a family run business, always so friendly and helpful in there and they have a section of scrap wood for reduced prices where I’d always find great parts to make plinths from!

I would spotlight Beth Seeboo. I knew of Beth through an art residency called Associate Studio Program with UAL and Acme, which I’d been a part of and reached out to her when I was forming Grafters Collective. Since then, we have worked closely on initiatives for the group as she now acts as our Operations and Outreach Coordinator. She comes to everything with an attitude of collaboration, is so generous with her time and efforts and genuinely cares about building and fostering communities. Her contributions to Grafters Collective have been essential for its momentum, as she works so hard for the benefit of the group.

Beth grew up in Haringey and continues to live in the borough. As well as her work with Grafters Collective, she is a Youth Worker at Roundhouse, an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins and maintains her own art practice. Her art looks into ideas of hyper-productivity, abjection and labour in relation to the body. I'd also recommend all of the residents at Sarabande Foundation's Tottenham studios. There is such an eclectic and interesting cohort of artists selected for the residency this year including Bisila Noha, Ella Lynch, Rizza Zahid, Jet McQuiston and Yijia Wu amongst others!