Jenny Leyden

Jennifer graduated from the Otago Polytechnic School of Fine Art in 2003, majoring in printmaking. After finding a studio in Dunedin, Jennifer worked as a full time print maker and continues to be involved in various group shows around Dunedin. She has also had successful solo shows, including 'The Regent Book Sale - With Strings Attached' at the Cleveland Living Arts Center in May 2005. In 2006, Gallery De Novo showed a selection of Jennifer's 'new works' with two fellow artists. Her etchings are fun, often of what is happening around us with the use of puppets (marionettes) and are characteristically full of detail - most of which is only seen on closer inspection...

I love using the medium of black and white etching to tell a story. I use the imagery of marionettes a lot in my prints, not just because I love drawing them but because basically, I believe we live like marionettes - alone we struggle to survive and I see the strings as being a metaphor for all the ties that bind us here on earth.