Step inside the mind of a visual creator whose clients include Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj.
The mystery and wonder of the human mind have long inspired Equinox member and visual creator Jenna Marsh. As a film director, photographer, and creative director, she invites others to journey with her to the otherworldly realms that occupy her thoughts and dreams. And journey with her you likely already have: Marsh’s artistic leadership has helped define some of our time’s most iconic musicians' visual outputs, including Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, and Tame Impala.
Whether Marsh is creating album art (such as Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint) or directing a music video, her work often straddles the precarious line between nightmares and dreams. This ability to hold space for both horror and delight comes from a deep fascination with human psychology. In Marsh’s world, there’s room for every emotion — even ones others would deem unwelcome.
“I think you can't escape psychology,” explains Marsh. “It's like exploring dark and light — and those being different sides of the same coin.”
Her work is not the first place that she’s explored this idea. Before launching her career as an artist, Marsh was a student of neuroscience. Her curiosity, however, eventually led her down a different path. She dropped out to immerse herself in New York City’s thriving art scene instead. It was a risk, but it paid off: Marsh went on to attend the Rhode Island School of Design. It wasn’t long before she was collaborating with Kanye West’s creative team — and then Beyoncé. Her desire to deep-dive into our collective psyche guided her every step.
Today, this desire manifests in Marsh creating complex narratives and characters in her work — even when working with celebrities with prominent identities. “Even if I'm working with a music artist or celebrity, in a way, I'm still crafting them as a character into their own campaign or their own video,” she says.
Today, this desire manifests in Marsh creating complex narratives and characters in her work — even when working with celebrities with prominent identities. “Even if I'm working with a music artist or celebrity, in a way, I'm still crafting them as a character into their own campaign or their own video,” she says.
By deciding to show up as a storyteller first and foremost, Marsh bypasses fixed ideas. For Marsh, this approach is instinctual. Never one to be satisfied with the surface level of reality, Marsh is the sort of creator who always asks herself hard questions. Over and over, she asks, “What lies underneath?”
You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Accessing this deeper layer of knowing where symbolism and the subconscious rule takes careful intention, Marsh has found.
“I like to do this process where I will try to separate my logical mind from my imagination and let my imagination run wild without touching it too much,” she says. “Everything I come up with visually, I’ll jot down on a page. I’ll find references to match what’s in my mind — even if it’s not coherent.”
For Marsh, the key is giving herself license to bring forth whatever comes up. It helps her get in touch with the “child-like” self that exists within her core.
“I have to step back from it in a way and just let that part of myself create and be free,” she says. Then, after letting the ideas settle, she returns with one of her favorite questions: “What’s the narrative?” Marsh explains that “it’s not necessarily comfortable every time.”
Like countless others before her, Marsh has learned to court the uncomfortable in the name of growth, whether it means sitting with difficult emotions or willingly experiencing the unknown.
Lately, this has manifested in Marsh immersing herself in dance.
"I'm definitely someone who gives 110% into everything I'm doing,” she says. “I started [dancing] because I work with a lot of choreographers in my music videos, and it was something I wanted to explore firsthand."
Marsh says that her curiosity led her to unexpected catharsis as well as self-regulation. “It's like you're doing all these motions that aren't necessarily comfortable,” she shares. “But it's the same, for me, as my career. It's finding this comfort in the discomfort and just doing it.”
Part of being a natural risk taker means looking toward the future and asking, “what’s next?” without the constraints of fear or expectation. This is the turning point that Marsh finds herself in right now.
“I'm very grateful for the trajectory of my career so far,” she says. “But what's most exciting to me in this next chapter is creating what's in my own mind without an artist or brands.” Currently, she’s working on a short film. “I am really excited to just deliver my own voice and style outside of my commercial work.”
Standing at this precipice, Marsh probes her mind with the hard questions once again: “What is it that I actually want to say?” she muses. “What's the message I want to get out? I'm excited to just explore that and put that out into the world.”
As Marsh journeys within to find her answers, one thing is certain — she won’t shy away from complexity: “You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone.”