Jess Bush

Jess Bush
A candid bust photo of a young white woman, wearing a dark blouse; she has blonde hair, is smiling to the camera's left, and is holding a microphone.
Bush in November 2022
Born (1992-03-26) 26 March 1992 (age 32)
NationalityAustralian
Occupations
Years active2011–present
AwardsMuswellbrook Art Prize (2017)

Jess Bush (born 26 March 1992) is an Australian actor, model, reality television personality, and visual artist. Her television work includes competing on the seventh season of the reality TV series Australia's Next Top Model, and playing Nurse Christine Chapel on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Personal life

Jess Bush was born on 26 March 1992,[1] and is from Keperra, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia.[2] In speaking with The Daily Beast in mid-2023 about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' LGBTQ+ representation—and her portrayal of a bisexual character—Bush unhesitatingly told the interviewer, "I'm queer".[3]

Visual arts career

Originally a visual artist from childhood through her mid-20s,[4] Bush began selling her pieces professionally at age 19. She is also a jewellery designer, and some of her pieces appear on Strange New Worlds.[5] In April 2017, Bush's studio was in Sydney's "infamous Hibernian House", she had recently returned from painting two commissioned murals in New York City, and she had received 2017's Muswellbrook Art Prize—New South Wales' second biggest art prize.[6]

Bee Totem

In 2019, Bush began developing and exhibiting her ongoing Bee Totem series. She collects dead honey bees from beekeepers, preserves them in spheres of crystal resin, and attaches fine jewellery chains. Her exhibitions collaborate with projection artists and sound designers to hang the many preserved bees at different heights to create shapes and experiences in three-dimensional space.[5]

For herself, Bee Totem is about recognizing and emphasizing the importance of the bees that, not only make the human world livable, but then "live by the thousands and die quietly by the thousands." The individual preserved bee in the sphere is amplified and magnified, showing its intelligence and beauty; it causes the observer to "pause and think about the moment that it died, because its frozen in that moment after its death, so its kind of like a memorial." The installation then amplifies "that impact of thousands dead at the same time".[5][7]

Having received several rounds of funding from the Australian Government by 2022,[7] Bush described it as "the most significant work that [she's] ever made" with a goal of doing so "probably forever". She would like to build a cathedral for thousands of preserved bees, to allow people to quietly sit and reflect in the immensity of sacrifice.[5] While acting, Bush takes a hiatus from her visual art work, though she has taken her materials when shooting.[8]

Performing arts career

A bust photo of a young white woman, wearing a white blouse; she has blonde hair, and is facing the camera.
Bush in October 2011

Bush's first television appearance was[8] competing on the seventh season of the reality TV series Australia's Next Top Model;[9] she told the programme that she entered modeling for the challenge, competitiveness, travel, and variety.[10] In Australia, she has also performed on Home and Away and Playing for Keeps.[7]

In the early 2020s, she was "very close to stopping acting" before booking a role on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.[4] The 2022 Star Trek spin-off was her first television role outside Australia.[7] Bush co-stars as Christine Chapel (the second actor in the role after Majel Barrett in the original Star Trek). Heavy described Bush's interpretation of the character as "very different [...] fun, irreverent, and a bit of a live wire."[11] Bush eschews her native Australian accent for the performance, a dichotomy that helps her get into character physically and mentally.[5]

Awards

Award Year Nominated work Category Result Ref.
Saturn Award 2022 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series Nominated [12][13]
2024 Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series Nominated [14][15]

Other professional work

Bush's work on Star Trek ignited a passion for the real-world space industry; by 2023, she was collaborating with NASA and Redwire at the Kennedy Space Center.[4]

References

  1. ^ Bush, Jess [@onejessa] (26 March 2023). "Ringing in my 31st year with my parents in Ash Fork, Arizona. […]". Ash Fork, Arizona. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023 – via Instagram.
  2. ^ "Jess plans to use Top Model experience". North-West News. Brisbane. 19 October 2011. p. 30.
  3. ^ Ennis, Dawn (15 June 2023). "The 'Star Trek' Cast on the Radical LGBT+ Representation of 'Strange New Worlds'". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 25 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023. The out stars of 'Strange New Worlds' discuss what the show's unapologetic depiction of queerness and gender means to them and the 'Star Trek' franchise's history of allyship.
  4. ^ a b c Gold, Mike; Bush, Jess; Polk, JD (1 December 2023), Space Medicine and Art: A Chat with Star Trek's Jess Bush and NASA Chief Medical Officer J.D. Polk, Redwire, archived from the original on 10 December 2023, retrieved 10 December 2023 – via YouTube
  5. ^ a b c d e Bush, Jess (1 June 2022). "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds interview with Jess Bush on playing Christine Chapel". Brief Take (Interview). Interviewed by Trapunski, Charles. Toronto. Archived from the original on 23 July 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Verdouw, Emily (3 April 2017). "Jess Bush: The Next Generation Of Australian Artist". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023. Things are looking good for the future of the Aussie art scene.
  7. ^ a b c d Schulz, Madeleine (9 June 2022). "Jess Bush | The 'Strange New Worlds' of Hollywood". Flaunt. ISSN 1523-5726. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  8. ^ a b Hoffman, Jordan (14 June 2022). "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Standout Jess Bush Is a Bit of a Mad Scientist". Vanity Fair. ISSN 0733-8899. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023. The Australian actor on putting a new spin on a legacy character and smacking Spock.
  9. ^ Kaplan, Rebecca (8 May 2022). "Jess Bush Binged Star Trek: The Original Series for Strange New Worlds Role". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. Jess Bush read as much as she could about Majel Barrett-Roddenberry and Nurse Chapel.
  10. ^ "Jess – Bio". Australia's Next Top Model. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  11. ^ Spelling, Ian (30 April 2022). "Jess Bush is the New Nurse Chapel on 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'". Heavy. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  12. ^ Tinoco, Armando (12 August 2022). "Saturn Awards Nominations: 'The Batman', 'Nightmare Alley', 'Spider-Man', 'Better Call Saul' Top List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  13. ^ O'Rourke, Ryan (26 October 2022). "Saturn Award Winners Headlined By 'Everything Everywhere All At Once,' 'Top Gun Maverick,' and 'Better Call Saul'". Collider. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. Kathryn Leigh Scott, Julie Plec, and more were also given special awards.
  14. ^ Hipes, Patrick (6 December 2023). "'Avatar: The Way Of Water', 'Oppenheimer', 'Star Trek' Series Lead Nominations For Genre-Focused Saturn Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  15. ^ Donaldson, Mark (5 February 2024). "Star Trek Wins Big At The 2024 Saturn Awards". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024. The Star Trek franchise swept the board at the 51st Annual Saturn Awards, with some big wins for Picard, Strange New Worlds, and The Next Generation.

Further reading