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Jesse Kanda is a visual artist and animator known for his paradigm-shifting creative partnerships with Arca, FKA Twigs, Björk, as well as his own musical work under his Doon Kanda moniker.

Back in 2013, then relatively unknown FKA twigs released a music video directed and animated by Jesse Kanda called “How’s That”. Headless floating bodies melted into each other to the pulse of the music, contorting and expanding into alien forms. At once erotic, heart-aching and sci-fi, this video and a long list of successive works by Kanda would inspire a new generation of young artists through his expression of raw vulnerability and ingenuity through digital art.

Being vulnerable can be scary. Sometimes it’s hard to even find the words to express how you’re feeling but there’s usually a piece of art or a song you can find to depict those emotions. Sometimes it might even feel like the piece is explaining it better to you than you ever could. Art transports you and can make you feel better for those few minutes that you are experiencing it. Knowing that another person has felt the same way you do is helpful to some because it helps put a description to those indescribable feelings. You may even find yourself reflecting and learning about your own feelings through them. The vulnerability that artists present in their art is a privilege we shouldn’t take for granted.

Most of us spend our lives trying to avoid being emotionally exposed, thanks to the belief that vulnerability equals weakness. Vulnerability equals uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. Vulnerability is like having a secret passageway into people’s inner worlds, into the complex parts of psychology and the truths we all try to hide from one another. Those areas often turn out to be the most creatively fertile and compelling.

Jesse Kanda’s modern surrealist works tap into this vulnerability deep in the subconscious. His body of work titled “Labyrinth” from 2019 included 13 pieces of music and 10 artworks – the title suggesting the inner-search for this raw vulnerability. His visual work is crystal-clear – nothing to hide – completely exposed. His music weaves through the surfaces of his sculptures, touching them with life and dance.

In his iconic video for FKA twigs ‘Water Me’ (2013), he depicts her as a bobbing head. She produces a single tear drop which falls on herself, making her grow. This visual poetry is evident throughout all of his work. In his video for Björk ‘Mouth Mantra‘, Kanda takes the viewer literally inside Björk’s mouth, showing one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body – only in a beautiful and tasteful way that doesn’t make you question it. Other works explore sexuality, trauma, shame, our relationships with each other, animals, the environment and so on.