Jenna Didier is an artist. She writes: “My work is site-specific and responsive—generating collectivity. I conduct deep research in forests to sustain and inform my social practice. As a public artist, I think of the city as an organism whose life force is conducted by fluid networks. Just as trees do in the forest, each of us regenerates the idea of a city or place as we build relationships and infrastructures within our communities. Awareness of one’s impact on natural and cultural resources can improve civic health. My strategy, therefore, is to create tangible forms to expose habits of use or reveal environmental factors that are not immediately perceptible. My sculptural works encourage interactive moments of engagement with visitors.”

In contrast to her social practice, she also creates drawings in solitude--ideally out in the woods far off the trail. “Drawing is an act of looking at both my subject and myself in depth--simultaneously. I use charcoal found at the site where I am working whenever possible--it is usually easy to find in the California forests where I work. Thus, the drawings become a document of what emerges from the life-giving cycle of burning the old growth to allow for new growth to regenerate from the roots and newly-burst seeds--both in the landscape and within myself.”

Didier’s work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. She was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and lives and work in Los Angeles, California.

jennadidier.com