SOME HERSTORY...

 

 

     Born in California May 1987, Jennaé Bennett aka Je Noodle, has been creating visual work since a very young age.

 

    At the age of four, she experienced a short-term loss of vision from the removal of a hemangioma between her eyes, which in turn triggered a passion for manifesting imagery from her imagination.

Already infatuated with art supplies, the purpose of the tools became medicinal and served as keys to a colorful future.  

 

    As a visual artist, imagination activist, musician, and poet she has worked with many different mediums. Due to being extremely passionate about traveling and performing live art during music events, a majority of her visual work consists of acrylic paint on canvas/recycled instruments/drumheads and hand drawn illustrations/poster art. 

  

    Her live art performances or "experiments", are of an improvised nature.  The imagery evolves straight from the energy and sounds that surround her while the event is taking place. The process is based off the idea of sound → color synesthesia. As music is considered an audio therapy, she is hoping to bring a type of visual therapy for those experiencing the development of the piece, allowing the viewers to tap in, activate their imagination, and escape from daily stressors. 

 

     At the age of 16, Jennaé began these "live experiments" with friends bands as a type of art therapy in hopes to alleviate her vertigo symptoms occurring from her brain injury, as well as access the subconscious for deeper visions.

 

    She later received her Bachelor of Arts at UC Santa Cruz in pursuit of an Art Therapy license, in hopes to help others cope with trauma. While at UCSC, Jennaé soon realized that her public "live art experiments" had already begun functioning as a form of art therapy and healing tool for others involved in the happenings of these creations. In further developing this concept, she decided to put a hold on her Art Therapy Masters degree and shift her focus to dedicating all her time performing and creating art that would inspire and present the idea of infinite possibilities of healing trauma through creative expression. 

 

    Her growing passion towards connecting with others and being involved in the community ultimately lead to many collaborations with other artivists: Stanley Mouse, Zane Kesey and the Paintsters, Collective Manifestation, Laurus Myth, etc. 

 

    Working with an array of artists, events, and musical acts for over a decade, she has also had the privilege of painting live to many different genres of music, which showcased many styles of art.  Sometimes, she would join on tours and paint/illustrate multiple shows with the same group, allowing for the improvised work to become series of art with bands such as Moonalice, David Nelson Band, The Everyone Orchestra, Lee Ranaldo and the Dust, Thurston Moore Band, Mededski Martin and Wood, Insects Vs Robots, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Syd Arthur, Dusty Green Bones Band, Peter Rowan, EOTO, Baby Gramps, Great American Taxi, etc. She has also done art with nonprofits such as The Seva Foundation , The Bridge School , Food Not Bombs DTLA, Shelter the Song, and Feed LA for their benefit events. 

 

    In 2011 Jennaé decided to take a hiatus from the extensive live painting and began working on a children's book called "Seek the Freek". Started from a random character she created in her sketchbook named "Seek", the doodle sparked a whole elaborate story. A story of a Freek named Seek, who wants to resolve the environmental and emotional devastation that had taken over the universe, finding other Freeks along the way to help solve the mystery of misery. Seek's character and mission did not stray too far from Jennaé's own perceptions of the world she was facing. From paper to the real world, Seek the Freek took on a life of it's own. 

    

    Within a year of its birth, the name "Seek the Freek" had taken on a second identity, becoming a collaboration project of musicians, poets, and visual artists through performance based happenings. It's motivation based in seeking out the "Freeks" in society while attempting to create a space for open expression and provide happenings for people from different walks of life to interact and connect. Projecting the idea that art can heal and provide purpose in many lives, the project hopes to eventually gather a large network of creative people interested in forward thinking involving eco-activism, community, and the breaking down of segregation within all systems. The written story of Seek the Freek now exceeds into an active presence in the world today through this collaborative project that has only just begun. 

   

   Since 2012, Jennaé has been writing, collaborating, and illustrating posters for the live Seek the Freek . In 2018, she took a hiatus from orchestrating STF happenings in order to finish recordings and video art for her solo project TeloMirror. 

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   Currently, Jennaé resides in the Bay Area working on various personal "Noodle ARTifacts" projects and with Mouse Studios. Due to the nature of the pandemic and being immunocompromised, she unfortunately had to refrain from live performances the past couple years. However, her projects continue behind the scenes, and she plans to launch a new expansive digital space to share these Noodle ARTifacts on a larger global cyber community. 

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"Stay Tooned" - Je Noodle 2021