about me :)

Jem Landwerlen is an illustrator and social practice artist raised in and working out of Indianapolis, IN. They’re a Pisces who enjoys long walks in unfamiliar forests and bad jokes. Like, really bad jokes. Ask them about the life cycle of the Pacific Salmon!

about my work

Jem’s illustrations are often dreamy and slightly surreal, dealing with themes of both connection and separation. They depict the relationship between our own sense of self and the world around us, as well as that between the self and the body, including feelings of dissociation and grief.

Their social practice focuses on communities of experience and identity, with an emphasis on the preservation of marginalized histories, especially the LGBT+ community in the Midwest. Their work also explores what it means to visibly queer in unsafe spaces, which can be simultaneously a position of power and one of vulnerability.