Grant Summary
Fellowship.
Keywords
Artist Statement
I am aware of my cultural categorization, neither as native Mexicana nor Americana. As an artist, I strive to utilize this nomadic sensibility by inserting myself between, among, and outside of the status quo of American and Mexican culture. As the sociopolitical climate of the US/Mexico border controversial, I continue the conversation of permeability and how the perception of the actual line of the border can be reimagined. Borders are essential; borders in nature and the physical body (skin, blood) exemplify the importance of the marginalized bodies and the importance of reciprocity between two entities. Barriers are what drive my artwork to respond to the dangers they implicate, for the peoples and ecosystems involved, and bring forward the natural ways in which borders do and, most importantly, could exist. Through video, installation, performance, and photography, I render contemporary life in the Southwest with a feminist perspective atop a fence that bisects one culture.
  • Doña Trinidad 2016, M. Jenea Sanchez c Print on aluminum. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Petra 2016, M. Jenea Sanchez c Print on aluminum. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Border Tapestry 2009, M. Jenea Sanchez Found fabrics, US/Mexico Border Fence. Courtesy of the artist.

  • Labor In Collaboration with Gabriela Muñoz 2018 , M. Jenea Sanchez Serigraph on Mexican handmade bricks; live durational performance at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Courtesy of the artists.