Jenee Fortier
Durham, NC
“I think my art is heavily influenced by two main experiences: chronic illness and having lived in so many places.”
Jenee Fortier creates with an eye toward transformation, resilience, and the delicate relationship between body, place, and nature. Her work is grounded in lived experience — both the shifting landscapes she has called home and the profound reality of navigating chronic illness. “I feel a need to incorporate the new/changing circumstances of my body and its limitations as well as my place in the world, both literally and as a woman with an autoimmune disease, into my identity- as a person and as an artist.”
Her creative path began in earnest after her diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease, when physical limitations forced her to reconsider how she could connect with the world. Hiking, exercising, and long outdoor explorations — her deepest sources of connection- suddenly became inaccessible. “When I first became ill, I felt like everything came to a screeching halt,” she recalls. “At first, art was the way that I could reconnect internally and externally, but then it became my way to communicate with others about sustainability, the preciousness of our natural resources, and to create community.”
That community connection has proven vital. A story she often shares captures the joy of being recognized for her art beyond the studio: while carrying driftwood branches salvaged from the Mississippi River across a bridge, a passerby exclaimed, “Are you the moss lady?” The recognition was unexpected, but it affirmed how deeply her work resonated with others.
At its core, Jenee’s practice is an act of reclamation; of materials, of her own body, and of the relationship between humans and the environment. She is known for creating from what already exists: driftwood, moss, recycled paper, and leaves gathered from everyday walks. “I do love moss and flowers, but I also really love leaves,” she says. “I find myself drawn to certain colors and textures, leaves that catch my eye when I’m walking for no obvious reason other than intuition. I put them in my pocket and run them through my fingers until I get home.” Each imprint or arrangement becomes an “echo of nature,” as she describes it, translating fleeting organic details into lasting works.
Her process requires both patience and surrender. Working with natural materials means engaging with textures and irregularities that defy precision. Over time, Jenee has embraced that unpredictability. “I have learned that I need space and time to give up control, to release myself from perfectionism, and the natural materials I work with demand that release,” she reflects. “Relinquishing control results in more meaningful work, work I find to be more complete.”
Inspiration, for Jenee, is not confined to her own experience but is drawn from an expansive field of sources: the patterns and textures of the world, other artists, even mistakes that lead her in unexpected directions. She often thinks about the words of Brené Brown: “As long as we’re creating, we’re cultivating meaning.” This philosophy guides her not only in art but in life, reminding her to seek possibility even in limitation.
Outside the studio, Jenee balances multiple callings. She works as a project manager for an environmental engineering firm, focusing on issues like indoor air quality in schools, while also running a nonprofit that supports justice-involved individuals with mentorship and community resources. Her professional and creative lives are bound by a commitment to sustainability, advocacy, and collective well-being.
Living with chronic illness continues to shape her worldview. She describes herself candidly: “I try very hard to pretend like I’m ‘normal,’ but in reality heat and stress affect me severely, I can’t grip things tightly without my hands seizing up, and I have a tendency to start falling asleep at 3:00 PM like clockwork.” Even so, she approaches her art — and her life — with acceptance and humor. As her husband often reminds her, “Not every week is fashion week.”
Ultimately, Jenee’s work is about connection: to nature, to others, and to herself. “I continue to make art as an outlet for my pain,” she shares. “When I’m focused on a piece, it’s one of the few times that I can block out all other thoughts and feelings. It’s a time where I answer to no one but myself… Creation is such an individual act, but art is a bridge that allows both the creator and the viewer to travel in both directions.”
Through her evolving practice, Jenee Fortier reclaims what illness and circumstance might otherwise take away, transforming it into art that sustains, inspires, and connects.
