Jess Bass

This month at EBF, Jess Bass studied the material and conceptual language of Shrinky Dinks. Fascinated by the product’s 1990’s slogan, “if you can think it, you can shrink it,” Jess explored the potential gendered repression of thought produced for girls, the intimacy and durability of an image and memory that can be held in the hand, the chance encounter with an object in transformation, and the overall aesthetics of cuteness the material reveals. Within Jess’ practice, she uses childhood tropes to renegotiate how norms, morals and the physical body are socialized; and activates play as both a process and aesthetic to create mimetic installations and performances. Her work has been exhibited at SPRING/BREAK Art Show (2022, 2020), Hyde Park Art Center (2022), PLAY/GROUND (2022), Comfort Station (2023, 2020), The Plan, (2023), Terrain Biennial (2021), SITE Gallery (2020), and Detroit Art Week (2019); and featured in The New York Times, Hyperallergic, ArtNews, PASTE, Fader and MTV. Bass holds an MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.