About

Artist Statement

Through my multidisciplinary practice, I explore memory and cultural identity, drawing from kaleidoscopic imagery in search of a kind of Shangri-La, a shared sense of common ground. My work is about the walk, from taking the first step, finding those who match my stride, noticing those who limp, to grappling with the last step. My art is an extension of my search for authenticity and what I have learned is that there’s no such thing as objective truth and the answer is to respect the subjective and hierarchy is irrelevant to individual perspectives.

I use different mediums and styles to convey the ever shifting layers of consciousness. I remember taking the first step, the excitement of riding on a plane for the first time as an immigrant child. The preparation in papermaking juxtaposing with the spontaneity in pulp painting reflect the hope that’s part of worldbuilding and new beginnings. My collages where I shred and isolate colors from magazine advertisement of unattainable standards and reconstituting the pieces into images of personal and public pains chronicle the stumbles of a model minority striding to the beat of a different drummer. My videos and collages also speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, my walking companions limping next to me. My mixed medias where I use image transfer to convey a sense of deterioration, joss paper used to worship the dead, and gold leaf to suggest the sacred, is my way of grappling with my last step, the inevitability of my material self succumbing to the end of identity.

I use locally sourced clay mixed with chemical compounds that human bodies release when decaying in soil, ie. magnesium, nitrous, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, to make sculptures. These sculptures are designed to dissolve back into earth when exposed to the elements and benefit the surrounding soil. I chose these mediums to show the journey that the material traverse in becoming the immaterial as filtered by socio-economic, ecological, and political systems. I also use oil paint to illustrate and situate within the context of patriarchy and colonialism.

All my different mediums unite in the arteries that run through our common experiences, sharing the same walk, hearing the leaves crunching beneath our shoes, talking quietly. Asking ourselves and each other, “where have you been?” “Where are you going?” “Want some company?” Even before I pick up a pair of scissors or a paintbrush dipped in gold leaf, my hope is that my art will provide a shaded spot, a place to exchange footwear, to know what it’s like to walk in the shoes of another.

Artist Bio

Since graduating from the MFA program in 2022 at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Jeannie Hua participated in the Longform residency at the Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency as well as Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Her current solo show, Ephemeral Recomposition is at Left of Center gallery. She recently had a solo show at Gallery 456 in NYC. She won a NYC fellowship from Foundation for Contemporary Art to assist with the show.

She had a solo show at Core Contemporary as part of the Post-Invisibles 2024 Biennale with 15 simultaneous shows in Montreal, Toronto, Lyon, Paris, Mexico City, Bahamas, and Las Vegas. Jeannie taught various collage workshops including at the Ox-Bow School of Art. Her work has been shown at BWAC and First Street in NYC, as well as Agitator and Woman Made in Chicago. She had a solo show at Barrick Museum’s window gallery and at College of Southern Nevada’s ArtSpace Gallery. She is currently adjunct faculty in art and art history at CSN.

She has participated in group exhibitions in galleries and museums in New York, Illinois, California, Nevada, Michigan, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Utah, Tennessee, Oregon, and Orquevaux, France. She was the recipient of the Denis Didero Grant, Nevada Council of Arts Grant, as well as merit scholarship to Ox-Bow School of Art, Ox-Bow residency and Penland School of Crafts.

JEANNIE N. HUA CV (click here for downloadable CV)

b. Taipei, Taiwan on Atayal land
Lives and works in Las Vegas, Nevada on Paiute land

Art Education

2022 MFA Low Residency|School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1989 BA Art History|University of Chicago, IL

Select Solo Exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitiions

2025

Living Here | Marjorie Barrick Museum | Las Vegas, NV
Abstract Concepts | Agitator Artist Collective | Chicago, IL

2024

Works on Paper | BWAC | Brooklyn, NY

2023

NAWA | Rockwell Gallery|New York, NY
Works on Paper | Agitator Artist Collective|Chicago IL

2022

2021

2020

NVHead2Toe | Core Contemporary | Las Vegas, NV

2019

2018

Signs of the Times | Gallery Clarendon | Arlington, VA
Collage a Trois | R. Cline Arts Gallery | Las Vegas, NV

2017

Valley of Faces | Winchester Cultural Center | Las Vegas, NV

Selected Performances

Residencies

2025 Sitka Center for Art and Ecology | Otis, OR
2024 Ox-Bow School of Art | Saugatauk, MI
2019 Chateau Orquevaux | Orquevaux, FR

Teaching Experience

2022 Adjunct faculty at College of Southern Nevada in art and art history, Las Vegas, NV

Workshops

Selected Publications

2018 Sacred Inception: Reclaiming the Spirituality of Birth in the Modern World, by Delaporte
2018 Oyster River Pages, “Ode to Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Beheading Holofernes,” August

Selected Press

Grants

Non-Art Education

1994 JD | Northwestern School of Law of the College of Lewis and Clark | Portland, OR