jenny zander

body artist / photographer / filmmaker

BIOGRAPHY

Jenny Zander is a Minneapolis-based body artist, photographer, and filmmaker whose creative practice centers storytelling, identity, and resilience. From an early age, creation has been central to her life and sense of self. Through multiple artistic mediums, Jenny explores how bodies carry stories of movement, survival, culture, and transformation. Her work often reflects the layered identities people hold and the ways art can reveal the strength and beauty within those experiences.

Jenny is particularly drawn to working directly on the body. Rather than covering the body entirely in paint, she focuses on accenting and highlighting the person beneath it. This approach was influenced by her grandfather, who would spread out watercolor paints on the kitchen table each summer and paint from photographs she had taken. He often reminded her that “a good painting breathes,” meaning that space and restraint are just as important as color. That lesson continues to shape Jenny’s artistic philosophy, guiding how she collaborates with people and portrays them through her work.

Her practice bridges photography, film, and body art, often blending these mediums to create visually striking and emotionally resonant work. Jenny frequently collaborates with artists, performers, and cultural workers throughout the Twin Cities, using art as a way to amplify voices and document community-driven stories. She has worked with numerous organizations and artist collectives including Oyate Hotanin, Pangea World Theater, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, Lightning Rod, Ikidowin Acting Ensemble, Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center, and many independent artists throughout the region.

Jenny’s work has been exhibited in Minnesota, Michigan, and New York, and her body art and photography were featured in the publication Shapeshifters: Bodies Like Water, released by Buddy’s Bench Press. The book highlights the deep connections between body, land, and queer wisdom, bringing together stories and visual work by queer, trans, and gender-fluid artists.

In addition to her personal artistic practice, Jenny is deeply committed to building creative spaces and community. She is a co-founder of The Red Light House, a North Minneapolis–based arts collective and venue created by a group of young queer women working across different artistic disciplines. The collective focuses on curating events, creating welcoming creative environments, and uplifting queer voices in the arts. The Red Light House has become known for its intimate and versatile arts space, which operates from their home and regularly hosts performances, exhibitions, and gatherings.

Jenny also brings extensive professional experience in arts documentation and media production. She previously served for five years as the Visual and Documentation Specialist at Pangea World Theater, where she documented performances, programs, and community initiatives. She has worked as a contract videographer and photographer for several local arts organizations, including Oyate Hotanin and the Indigenous Peoples Task Force. In 2020, she collaborated with Sharon Day, Director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, to film a documentary about the Salt River Water Walk in Arizona—an important cultural and environmental event rooted in Indigenous traditions of water protection.

Qualifications

Jenny Zander is the co-founder of The Red Light House, a North Minneapolis arts collective that curates events and creative programming while uplifting queer voices and artists across disciplines. She served as the Artistic Director, Body Artist, and Photographer for the book Shapeshifters: Bodies Like Water, a collaborative publication featuring stories and visual work by queer, trans, and gender-fluid artists. Jenny works as a contract videographer and photographer for several Twin Cities arts organizations, including Oyate Hotanin and the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, and she collaborated on a documentary about the Salt River Water Walk in Arizona. She also previously worked for five years as the Visual and Documentation Specialist at Pangea World Theater, where she documented performances, programs, and community initiatives through photography and video.

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