Overview

Jake Kimble is a multidisciplinary Chipewyan (Dëne Sųłıné) artist and curator from Treaty 8 territory in the Northwest Territories whose practice revolves around acts of self-care, self-repair, and gender-based ideological refusal. Using a funny bone as a tool, Kimble excavates themes of existentialism, narcissism, and the strange. By acting as the protagonist in their own visual storytelling and documented ceremony, we are invited as an audience to examine the absurdities that exist within the everyday in order to exhale, unclench, and even chuckle in the spaces where laughter is often lost.

 

Jake Kimble currently works on the stolen territory of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations and most recently attained a BFA in Photography from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. They have completed residencies at the Burrard Art Foundation, Vancouver, and the Banff Centre for Arts + Creativity, Alberta, and was the co-curator of the 2024 Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA). Kimble’s work was featured on the King and Shaw Street billboards for the 2023 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, and was included in a group exhibition at Audain Art Museum alongside Adad Hannah, Michelle Sound, and Jin-me Yoon for the 2024 Capture Photography Festival. Kimble's work has been exhibited in various group and solo exhibitions across Canada, and can be found in notable collections such as the TD and Scotiabank Collection.

Works
Video
The transfer of knowledge is vital to Indigenous continuance. Colonial narratives imposed on Indigenous peoples flatten individuals and communities into particular clichés - stoic and solemn, strong and silent - that never truly acknowledge their bellies full of laughter and eyes full of joy. In this dialogue between the artist and his grandmother, language lessons filled with joy and affection reveal the importance of kinship in the journey to fully know oneself. “The things I learn from my grandmother’s giggle can never be taught inside a classroom.” - Jake Kimble. This film was created as part of the Response: Resonance program at the Polygon Gallery, 2023.
Enquire

Send me more information on Jake Kimble

Please fill in the fields marked with an asterisk
Receive newsletters *

* denotes required fields

In order to respond to your enquiry, we will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.