Jen Barker is a visual artist, educator, and curator from the unceded and stolen land of Šakotayišol Nunuš, Turtle Island, currently residing on the stolen land of Waawiyaataanong, Turtle Island. Her practice revolves around questions of connection and disconnection as visualized through intergenerational fiber practices. She holds a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Houston (2022) and an MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art (2024). She has most recently curated an exhibition at Hatch Gallery in Hamtramck MI, and exhibited at Annex Gallery in Highland Park MI, Pontiac Creative Arts Center in Pontiac MI, and the Boyer Campbell in Detroit MI, along with other Fiber Club members. She currently teaches art at Oakland University, Macomb Community College, and St. Clair County Community College. She lives with her spouse and three cats and enjoys music and books.
Photo credit: Amelia Burns
Artist Statement
My practice explores moments of connection and disconnection, oscillating back-and-forth from one to the other. This focus on connectivity is deeply rooted in my spirituality and beliefs in connecting more fully with other people, animals, plants, and the whole of the world we live in. I create to connect with others; to connect with myself. As an interdisciplinary artist, this has taken many forms, but most recently I have found home in intergenerational fiber practices and paper as a medium. I crochet my sister’s words, embroider my mother’s heart, and quilt my aunt’s care. And, through paper, I weave language into these visual forms as a stuttering, stumbling, mumbling, bumbling mess of words that tries and often fails to reach out to others. These failures are the most human part of my work, and where I can empathize with my queer, neurodivergent self the most.