Jessica Segall succinctly describes her practice as one that “plays with both the risk of engaging with the environment and the vulnerability of the environment itself.” Her work has brought her to medicinal bathing in crude oil in Azerbaijan, the empty acres of Solar Energy Zones in the US, and beyond the Arctic Circle to the world’s largest seed bank. Considerations of the ecological are profound as Segall’s works involve a re-thinking and re-engineering of natural resources; whether the use of vegetation for illumination or ‘returning’ the materiality of gold to fluid and fertile states and in opposition to extraction and capitalist value. (un)common intimacy sees the artist engage with large predators in US states that allow private ownership. Styled with a hyper-feminine appearance, the work evokes a gentle, contemplative relationship between human and animal – against the spectacle of control and entertainment to which these creatures are usually subject.

BAB 2024 acknowledges Lighton International Artists Exchange Program for their support with the participation of this artist.