Jenkins became widely known in 2013,[2] when her performance workCasting Off My Womb caused interest online for what was referred to as "vaginal knitting".[3][4] Jenkins described the work as "in which I usedskeins of wool lodged in my vaginal tunnel to knit a long passage, marking one fullmenstrual cycle",[3] where she pared "concepts about body parts and activities related to women back to their most elemental."[3] The work attracted abuse from online commentators,[5][3][6] and inspired a follow-up workProgrammed to Reproduce in 2016.[5]
In 2019, Jenkins performed two works with her child Ottilie. InDrawn and Halved, performed at the Lapsody Festival in Helsinki, she created art with clay with one hand while caring for her child with her other. InThe Artist Is Distracted, she extended the idea and included audience participation, with the audience invited to sit with Jenkins and her child who was then 17 months old.[7]
In 2020, Jenkins announced plans toself-inseminate herself as part of an artwork titledImmaculate.[8] The work was supported by funding from South Australia'sVitalstatistix and theAustralia Council,[8] but funding was cancelled after criticism towards the work.[9] Initially, the funding was suspended while the Australia Council sought legal advice, but was officially rescinded soon after, with Australia Council CEOAdrian Collette writing to Jenkins that they "cannot be party to any act that could result in bringing a new life into the world...The possible current and longer-term consequences for the child, the child’s parent and the child’s donor are inappropriate for a corporate government entity to accept."[9] In a public statement, they denied cancelling the funding due to negative media coverage.[10]
Jenkins sued the Australia Council in 2021, and clarified that the artwork was a documentation of the process of self-insemination, and not the creation of a child, as she felt had been insinuated by the Australia Council.[11] Previous to the controversy, Jenkins said she planned toconceive when she decided to turn it into an artwork.[8] The case went to theFederal Court of Australia,[12] but was settled out of court in 2023.[13] As part of the settlement, Jenkins was awarded a six-figure sum and publicly apologised to.[14][15]
Outside of her solo work, Jenkins is cofounder withRayna Fahey of thecraftivism group Craft Cartel which blends craft and activism.[16] They were featured in the 2010 documentaryMaking It Handmade![17]
