Grab your copy of Corey’s new book, Design Remix.
Ellen caught up with artist and interior designer Corey Damen Jenkins at the Spring 2021 High Point Furniture Market to chat about Corey’s new art collections at Left Bank Art. The first series focuses on interior architecture. The second, titled ‘Mouths Wide Open,’ reflects a personal interpretation of the unspoken language and emotions expressed through our mouths.
According to designer Corey Damen Jenkins, some of the people featured in the ‘Mouths Wide Open’ series are people he knows. Corey says some of the people depicted in his art are made up.. Corey credits the COVID-19 pandemic and the use of face masks as inspiration for the collection. While wearing face masks, the mouth is hidden and the expressions typically shown by mouths are missing. The Mouths Wide Open collection displays just how critical our mouths are in reflecting emotion.
“During the pandemic, you don’t see people’s mouths,” Corey says. “I miss that. I miss smiling and yelling and anger and crying and fear and all the different emotions that come from the the expressions of our mouths.”
From people listening to music and smiling to people crying out for help, the collection depicts a variety of emotions. In addition to a variety of emotions, the collection captures humans of all ages, races and ethnicities.
“The main thing for me is just making sure that everyone was represented well in the collection,” Corey says. You can’t represent every single nuance of humanity. But, you can get a good portion of our human family.”
Learn more about Corey Damen Jenkins, and check out more interviews from The Home
