jennifer lum

artist statement

Jen grew up in the Audubon district of New Orleans, a city full of color, rhythm, and celebration. Surrounded by a culture that embraces self-expression, she found an early love for the way people show who they are.

Her work explores the details of the human form —especially the face— and how emotion comes to life through expression. Much like the energy of her hometown, her pieces play with vibrant color and texture, capturing moments that feel alive and joyful.

For Jen, creating is deeply personal. Her art is a way to hold space for expression, connection, and shared joy.

biography

Jen has been deeply active and connected with her body since childhood, cultivating a finely tuned and refined intuitive awareness of the intricate human body-mind connection. This profound understanding she now shares and actively practices with others through her thoughtfully designed yoga classes. Born and raised in the one-and-only culturally rich New Orleans— a city renowned for its vibrancy, bold colors, joyful celebrations, and emotional depth—these vibrant qualities are deeply embedded and vividly reflected in the essence of her artwork.

As the daughter of an artist and an engineer, Jen’s upbringing embraced both creativity and precision. A former gold-medal national acrobatic gymnastics champion and professionally trained dancer with distinguished companies such as Newcomb Dance Company, NOBT, Alvin Ailey ADT, and DNA Dance, she brings an exceptional breadth of experience to her practice. She is also a Certified Hatha yoga instructor, having completed her 200-hour certification at Yoga Tree in the spring of 2011.

Jen’s work has been exhibited across various respected galleries, venues, concerts, and festivals in cities including New Orleans, New York, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and now San Francisco, where she currently resides. Despite her broad accomplishments, she shows no intention of slowing her passionate creative momentum anytime soon. Jen holds dual Bachelor of Science degrees in political science (with a focus on international relations), French, and visual arts from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Her professional background spans visual and performing arts, yoga instruction, civic engagement, and creative business development initiatives aimed at supporting civic start-ups in San Francisco. Alongside these efforts, she continues to pursue independent artistic projects in multimedia and performing arts. Currently, Jen is expanding her horizons by exploring the role of technology within her artistic practice. She aspires to deepen her understanding of UX design and discover how to seamlessly choreograph the elements of art, science, and technology to enhance, enrich, and simplify everyday life.

At Jen’s core is the belief that the true power of art, dance, and movement lies in their ability to communicate. She perceives art as a universal language—one that transcends barriers and connects us profoundly to ourselves and to one another, ultimately guiding us toward an evolved emotional state of being.