Jess Dobkin’s performances, artist’s talks and workshops are presented at museums, galleries, theatres, universities and community centers throughout North America. She creates innovative live and video solo performances, as well as multiple artist productions.

Her creative endeavors have received wide support and recognition, including repeated funding
from the Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art and the Astraea Foundation, and awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council. Her work has toured North America, and has been presented at renowned avant-garde venues in New York, including P.S.122, The Kitchen, LaMama, Dixon Place, Judson Memorial Church, and the WOW Cafe. In Toronto, her work has been presented at the Rhubarb! Festival, SPIN Gallery, the Inside/Out Festival, YYZ, the Hysteria Festival, and other venues.

Jess has performed, lectured and conducted performance workshops at numerous universities including Yale University, Cornell University, Columbia University, New York University, Brown University, Swarthmore College, McGill University, RISD, Rutgers University, SUNY Buffalo, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Irvine, Bard College, and Barnard College.

She lives in Toronto.

Artist’s Statement

I use my body as a reference point in my artistic practice, actively exploring its metaphorical perimeters through narrative and experimental forms. My work addresses current social and cultural issues and approaches to artmaking. I juxtapose raw emotion with offbeat humor, a technique designed to deliberately trigger a sense of irony and unease in the viewer.

I am interested in forming opportunities for audiences and performers to create, explore and
experiment with personal, cultural and communal identities. My recent projects create fantastic environments where standard social confines are challenged, boundaries are playfully transgressed, and where I can take the risks necessary to fully express myself.