My work explores the breaking points of physical and social structures alongside the rebuilding process that the break compels. I use everyday materials that I mine for their embedded meanings and engage with topics such as gender identity, traditional gender roles, art-making, and the challenges of caregiving. One foundational material that I work with is commercial tile. This aesthetic, utilitarian material that lines our homes, public spaces, houses of worship, and government buildings starts as an ordered grid. The work begins when these grids are broken.

To break the tile, I use a hammer. The brittle nature of the material causes it to shatter into multiple pieces with each swing. I find this action to be optimistic and cathartic - with every break, I end a pattern and open the material to the possibility of reformation. I embrace the history and embedded meanings of the objects that make up my work. Though the tile is broken, it retains its complex history and becomes a structural component of the new object. This allows me to layer embedded and metaphorical meaning as I compose new narratives and process personal experiences.

The novel, middle spaces between the shards are places for play and experimentation with material, form, color, and texture. I combine manmade, recycled, and found materials to create organic, bulbous forms and gratifying textures that push beyond the structural material of the tile. They invite the viewer-in through saturated colors and the pleasure of texture. The interaction between myself and these materials is integral to the work. I try to respond to the media and let it shape its own direction with varying degrees of success. The resulting product often embodies a tension between material freedom and control.

As a person who has experienced giving birth, as well as the pressures of homemaking in modern HGTV/Pinterest culture, I am continuously confronted with the weight of the domestic. My practice helps me process and balance the hidden labors of caregiving with the development of my individual identity – giving me space to process, discuss, and shed personal and external expectations.

Jenny Snaza is a visual artist located in Reno, Nevada. Her work explores identity, motherhood, and social disruption through a variety of media including paintings, sculpture, and installations. She holds a Bachelors of Art in Visual Arts and French Language and Literature from Seattle University and a Masters in Teaching Secondary Visual Art from Sierra Nevada University. Her work has been shown nationally in both solo and group exhibitions. CV

Inquiries: jennysnaza.studio(at)gmail.com

Instagram: @jennysnaza.studio

Virtual exhibition, 2023 NAEA Member Exhibition, www.arteducators.org.