Malia Jensen (b.1966, Honolulu, Hawaii) is a Portland-based artist known primarily for her work in sculpture and video. Jensen draws inspiration from the natural world and the complex relationships we negotiate within it. Her technically accomplished work marries the tactile authority of the hand-made with complex psychological narratives and a genuine quest for harmony and understanding. Her work can be found in many public and private collections nationally and throughout the Northwest. She has been Artist in Residence at the Headland Center for the Arts, Ucross Foundation, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Yucca Valley Materials Lab, and the Portland Garment Factory. Jensen has been a visiting artist at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Whitman College, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design and has mentored students at Oregon College of Arts and Crafts and Pacific Northwest College of Art. Her recent project, Nearer Nature, received support from the Creative Heights Initiative of the Oregon Community Foundation. The resulting six-hour video, Worth Your Salt, screened online in 2020 during a virtual residency with the Portland Art Museum and was recently added to their permanent collection. Jensen has a BFA, ’89, from the Pacific Northwest College of Art and is represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland and Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York.
Malia Jensen
