Definitions belong to the definers
– Toni Morrison
I make oil paintings and drawings about the people, places, environments, and experiences that shape identity. I consider my work to be portraiture although the subjects are not just figures, but layers of patterns, geography, and other markers of culture, location, or identity. I am interested in the personal, cultural, and societal influences that at once make us uniquely ourselves, yet at the same time bind us to a group or a place.
I am a local artist in Chapel Hill, NC. I make oil paintings and drawings about the people, places, environments, and experiences that shape identity.
Mendoza Stanelle is curious about the multitude of experiences and information that combine to make us unique and yet also bind us to groups, identities, cultures, geographies, political affiliations, and families. Layers of identity translate to layers of image, texture, text, and color in her work. The juxtaposition of elements, the choices about what comes to the fore and what recedes, echo the nuances in how we see ourselves privately, how we present ourselves publicly, and how we are perceived by others.
Upcoming exhibitions
Tempor ac tincidunt feugiat dignissim quis sed donec cursus ornare varius sed sagittis nibh.
Jun 12 - Jul 16
Risus diam lacus
Semper convallis urna amet, tortor commodo vitae tempor leo, aliquet nibh ipsum sed posuere.
Jul 28 - Aug 20
Tortor ut dignissim
Aliquam egestas facilisi nunc nibh amet cras eget sed mus nibh iaculis scelerisque morbi imperdiet.
Sep 16 - Oct 8
Ultrices pulvinar
Turpis pharetra velit tortor vitae sit ipsum aliquam tortor sem et ac faucibus mattis ac.
Really beautiful professional abstracts led quis malesuada aenean risus, gravida eu nunc quis bibendum venenatis.
Jonathan Doe
ABC Architect
Meet Jenny
Jennifer Mendoza Stanelle is an artist living and working in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She received a BFA, concentrating on Drawing and Painting, from the University of Georgia. She is a mother to three daughters, a wife, a Filipina American, a southerner, and a traveler. She has mounted a solo exhibit at the Philippines Embassy in New York, and participated in several group shows at the Fishbone Gallery in Atlanta. She played a key role in launching the Jacksonville Florida branch of the Arts in Medicine program at UF&Shands (now UF Health), where she managed artists in residence, volunteer artists, guest performances, and permanent installations. She has operated a commercial and lifestyle photography business for many years, but is transitioning to a full-time art practice.