My Life As A Human On Planet Earth
About
MARIKA JEMMA: BIOGRAPHY
Born 1963 in West Toronto, enduring a nondescript Catholic childhood and surviving the banality of a whitewashed suburban existence in the pursuit of modest personal debt, Marika left home at 17 to experience the joys of minimum wage, public transportation and a series of rooming houses in various dissociated communities in southern Ontario.
An independent learner, Marika has explored the public libraries of most of the major cities in Canada.
On a rainy day in 1982, Marika moved to Vancouver Island where she spent the next 11 years pursuing a series of odd-jobs (including theatrical production, sound and lighting), training as a carpenter and finally graduating from art school in 1991.
In 1993, Marika drove back across the country in a 1973 Toyota Corolla, dropped the muffler on a raised railway bed in southern Saskatchewan and ran out of gas in Ottawa and has been there ever since.
Artistic History
Qualifications and Experience
Instructor, Visual Arts
July 1998 - Present
Marika Jemma has been teaching with the Ottawa School of Art's Children & Teen Department for many years and she remains passionate about supporting the creativity of young people. Marika is also on staff at OSA in the capacity of Online Campus Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator.
Expressive Arts Therapy & Yoga Teacher
September 2012 - Present
Marika Jemma is a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher and holds a certificate from the Prairie Institute in Expressive Arts Therapy. Both of these complementary practices have a strong influence on the course content and approach to teaching visual arts, especially with vulnerable populations.
Visual Arts Diploma
September 1989 - June 1991
Camosun College, Victoria B.C. has one of the best foundation programs for visual arts in the country. The pedagogy is contemporary, and conceptual and includes advanced courses in performance art and film as well as ceramics, photography, animation, sculpture, drawing and painting.