i identify as a clown. i love the flexibility of the clown. the clown is free to do as they please, to dabble here and dabble there. the clown’s goal always comes back to connection. my love for clowning began at clown camp in 2019 in rural Vermont with Donna Oblongata. I then spent a summer clowning with new friends in Montreal in the park during Covid. My performance work has always been clown, and I hadn’t realized it. my maker self tends to be private. to cut things up, to sew, to weave, to attach things together. I came across the term “femmage” coined by Miriam Schapiro in the last several years and I feel it best describes my art practice. I prefer to work with used, thrifted, and free materials.

in my day to day, I can be found cutting hair, picking up gigs, and sewing in my studio.

i grew up in the small town of Thorold, which is a small industrial town bordering Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. i speak often about class and money in my work because it is something that the art world tries very hard to avoid. it took a long time to acknowledge myself as an artist – in many ways this is a gift. i love what i make because it surprises me and i think making art ought to be joyful, or in the very least, satisfying.

and as bread and puppet has long said, MAKE CHEAP ART!



please be in touch!
ninaszenasi@gmail.com