Jen Chilstrom is a transdisciplinary artist, ecofeminist, and survivor born on the ancestral homeland of the Dakota and Ojibwe people in Minnesota. She received a master’s from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is currently working toward her PhD at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. She has been exhibited by the School of Visual Arts in NYC, the Textile Center, American Craft Council, and by galleries both nationally and internationally. She has had various roles in the arts including: directing a non-profit gender-specific arts diversion program, advocating for teen women involved in the juvenile justice system; co-founding and curating a Twin Cities based co-working gallery and retail space; operating a co-working performance space with a listening room for live music; co-founding an award-winning women’s clothing line; and curating galleries for arts organizations.

Her painting and botanical research investigate themes of medicinal plants, spirituality, and quantum theories. Mixed media explores plant personhood, especially as it relates to anticipation and mutuality. Through this media, she questions our future in the midst of climate change and builds bridges between plants and people. Her studio practice is centered in sustainability and she often works with handmade pigments and dyes.

Photo by Shelly Mosman