Jenny Shaw

Born, raised, and educated on Treaty 6 land, Jenny has developed her practice by combining sculpture, intermedia, and painting. As an artist her work, narrative, and materials are always in flux. Depending on her intent she allows the mediums to grow around the work, supporting and evolving through the process. The process and how she gets to the finished piece is just as important as the finished work in her mind: she documents everything, constantly aware of the fragility of her materials and the ephemeral nature of each piece. 

Over the course of her BFA she has developed work on a variety of topics including, genetics and hereditary conditions, sexual assault, isolation, the presence of our bodies, and more recently the idea of an ‘objects’ lived experiences. While her topics vary, Jenny approaches each project the same way in that she is highly committed to the relationship between form and content.  In the past she has used “softer” materials like fabric and yarn, that when combined (i.e. knitting) the materials adapt and become inviolable. More recently, Jenny has been working with passed down or unwanted dishware, cutlery, and pottery: taking each piece and reconstructing it in a new unconventional way, reinventing its purpose and giving it a new identity. She strives to create detailed and yet ambiguous works that invite people in closer and can be interpreted and viewed in numerous ways.