Description of Work

It was difficult for her to show the customary restraint. - Copper, vitreous enamel, sterling silver, stainless steel, digital print, archival adhesive, wood. 20 x 10" hangs easily from a french cleat. - $1100.00

 She refused to let someone else dictate her sense of self-worth. - Copper, vitreous enamel, sterling silver, stainless steel, digital print, archival adhesive, wood. 20 x 10" hangs easily from a french cleat. - $1100.00

She knew better than to hold her breath. - Copper, vitreous enamel, sterling silver, stainless steel, digital print, archival adhesive, wood. 20 x 10" hangs easily from a french cleat. - $1100.00

Artist's Statement

By referencing housewife ideals that were created in the early and mid 20th century and putting a modern twist on vintage graphics, my work is an attempt to converse about the loss of innocence, gender issues, and my search for identity in today’s society.

The tattoos adorning the body of the mid 20th century quintessential woman from a vintage comic book is a commentary on a woman’s ability to claim their own body. When tattooing and tattooed persons were considered side show attractions and part of traveling circus and curiosity shows, women who chose to tattoo themselves actually were able to gain monetary independence by putting their bodies on display for all who were willing to pay to see. Today, women are still struggling to gain full independence as the government is continually putting constraints on what women are and are not able to do with their own bodies.

About the Artist

Marissa Saneholtz makes narrative based jewelry and objects using humor and sarcasm. After earning her degrees from Bowling Green State University and East Carolina University, she taught at several institutions including East Carolina University’s Italy Intensives Study Abroad Program in Certaldo, Italy and Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. For two years, she worked at J. Cotter Galleries and Studio in Vail, Colorado as gallery manager and assistant studio manager. Currently, she is teaching at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH.

Saneholtz has been published in several books, including Art Jewelry Today II edited by Jeffery Snyder, Humor in Craft by Brigitte Martin, and Narrative Jewelry: Tales from the Toolbox by Mark Fenn. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and is in the collections of the Dorothy McKenzie Price Permanent Collection at Bowling Green State University, the Racine Art Museum in Racine, WI, and the Enamel Arts Foundation, Los Angeles

Artist's Website