Artist Statement & Bio |
Jada Haynes (they/them) is a Black nonbinary post-disciplinary artist, memory worker, and curator based in the Bay Area and Northern California. They are primarily a fiber and materials sculptor that collects organic materials; discarded or secondhand textiles; and uses knots, weaving, and interlocking of these materials to express the density of grief, memory, security, and desire. Haynes believes the vessels and objects they create are like abstracted self-portraits, memory-keepers, talismans, proof of life in a world sinister to Black and gender nonconforming bodies.
They consider their position as an archivist a merging of their interests in art and memory work, focusing on how archives can better preserve diverse bodies, objects, and experiences.They earned a dual Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Design from the University of California, Davis. During their time at UC Davis, Jada served as Lead Director of the Basement Gallery and completed an independent honors thesis under the mentorship of Azin Seraj and Darrin Martin.
They have designed for The California Studio, San Francisco Arts Commission, and Harvard Business Publishing. Their work has been exhibited at notable venues such as the Afrofuturist Center, Arden Fair, Bass & Reiner, Holland Project Gallery, Mercury20 Gallery, Root Division, The San Francisco Gallery, Textile Arts Center, WAL Public Market Gallery, and represented in the Letterform Archive Collection.
Curriculum Vitae |
Education
2022 B.A. Art Studio, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
B.A. Design, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
Awards and Grants
2022 Honorable Mention, Art Show International
Best Experimental Film, Film Fest at UC Davis
Student Staff Pick, Film Fest at UC Davis
Freemon Gadberry Award in Art
Freemon Gadberry Award in Sculpture
New York Studio School Scholarship
2021 Yale Norfolk Nomination
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Arden Fair Artist Spotlight Window Display, Sacramento, CA | Supported by: UnchARTed
Silently Violent, WAL Public Market Gallery , Sacramento, CA | Curator(s): Jazel Muñoz, Jada Haynes
2022 Obstructive Metaphors, Davis, CA
Group Exhibitions
2026 NEXUS: A Place For We, Left Space, SF, CA | Curator(s): Najee Tobin
[3 words], Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA | Curator(s): Naomi Alessandra Schultz
Joy As Resistance, Demo Arts and Books, Sacramento, CA | Curator(s): Lina Barham
Tekhne, Panama Ceramic Arts, Sacramento, CA | Curator(s): Ember de Boer
Soft Portals, 120710 Gallery, Berkeley, CA | Curator(s): HRT Studio, Aleo Landeta, Kit Robbins
Slow Burn, Lumen Labs, SF, CA | Curator(s): Rambler Magazine
Love Fest, Red Museum, Sacramento, CA | Curator(s): Alisa Turner
Remembering Love, Soul Blends, Oakland, CA | Curator(s): Ezra Teshome, Leon Wan
2025 Common Thread, Wave Collective, SF, CA | Curator(s): Belinda Huang
/Altered/ States, E Street Gallery, Sacramento, CA | Curator(s): Ember de Boer
Zephr Coating, 120710 Gallery, Berkeley, CA | Curator(s): Hannah Gibson, Alex Ehmer
Lay of the Land, Root Division, SF, CA | Curator(s): N.A. Schultz, E. Scholz, J. Heller
This Time,A Living Room Encounter, San Francisco Gallery | Curator(s): Layne Takahashi
Ancestors in Progress II, Textile Art Center, Brooklyn, NY | Curator(s): Black Girls Sew
Beautiful Distorted, The Box SF | SF Art Week / Dorian Emerson
2024 On Accident, On Purpose, San Francisco Gallery | Curator(s): Suki Berry; Layne Takahashi
Just Another June, Root Division, SF, CA | Curator(s): Victoria Cheng, Chase Irvin, Josie Licavoli,
Maya Salcido White, and Lonnie Taylor
Hand Wash Only, Holland Project Gallery, Reno, NV | Curator(s): Anna Newman, etal.
Seeds Split Before They Bloom, SF, CA | Curator(s): Dorian Emerson
Metamorphosis, Mercury20 Gallery, Oakland, CA | Curator(s): Elena Gross
2023 Ordinary Survival Film Fest, Afrofuturist Center, Iowa
Dissonance Within the Fog, Alchemy House, SF, CA | Curator(s): Dorian Emerson
Surrounding (Self), Gallery 1202, Gilroy, CA | Curator(s): Emily McEwan-Upright
Within Sight or From Imagination, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, CA | Jury: Jeremy Morgan
Now Ain't Some Day Yet, Root Division, SF, CA | Curator(s): Jamil Nasim
Pyramid Scheme, MSP: Bass and Reiner, SF,CA
Exhibition Production
2026 Martin Venezky: Process Work, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Martin Venezky, Jon Sueda
Type For All!, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Angela Riechers & Grendl Löfkvist
Tone In Tongue, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Radical Characters
Tristram Shandy: The First Modern Book, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Debbie Millman
2025 Piet Zwart: Brand Architect, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Rob Saunders
10 x 10 x 10, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Letterform Archive Staff
2024 Citizen Printer, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Kelly Walters
Typographic Jazz, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Rob Saunders
2023 Subscription To Mischief, Letterform Archive, SF, CA | Curator(s): Kate Long Stellar, Greg Lamarche,
David Villorente, Kel Troughton
Curation
2026 Black Memory Scholar: The Language of Storytellers, Letterform Archive, SF
2024 A Seat at the Table: Queer*+ Intersections Lecture, Letterform Archive, SF | Curator(s): Mikhail Ganesh,
Jada Haynes, Eve Scarborough
2022 Open Ceilings, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes, Kaden Ezra Umana, Worlds Through Minds
Figuratively Speaking, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA
Displace Amnesia, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA
Fresh Stains, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA
Basement Gallery Film Fest, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes & Basement Gallery Team (BG)
2021 Adultification Anthology, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes, Neida Cruz, Amanda Thomas,
Kaden Ezra Umana, Trinity Salazar, Ren Allathkani, Katja Zimmer
Colors Group Show, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes & BG Team
Darkness Within, Basement Gallery, Davis, CA | Jada Haynes & BG Team
New Beginning (Virtual Show Series & Podcast) | Curator & Host: Jada Haynes
Publications & Essays
2026 Black Memory Scholar: The Language of Storytellers
2025 Lay of the Land: Observations from an Immigrant Viewer, Roborant Reviews, Shrey Purohit
From activism to urban dreams: Sacramento’s must-see art this August, SN&R, SN&R Staff
Commissions
2026 SFAC Galleries Exhibition Identity: I Split The Ground
2025 Book Cover Design Harvard Business Publishing
Archive as Community Body, Essay Photography
2024 Hand Wash Only Exhibition Catalog Essay
2022 UCD MFA Cand. Philip Byrne, Video Collaboration for Strata Gallery Solo Show “Bloom”
2021 California Studio, Raul de Nieves Performance Promotion (Media & Marketing)
Veronica Diaz Muniz, OJOXOJO Stage Projection
Work & Related Experience
Otherness Archive Zine Co-Lead Contributors, | September 2026–Current
Otherness Archive Social Media Team, International | June 2026–Current
Think Of Others QTBIPOC Revolutionary Poetry Circle Community Archivist | August 2026–October 2026
Senior Collections Associate & Exhibition Specialist, Letterform Archive, San Francisco, CA | May 2022–Current
Contract Video Editor; Web Designer; Visual Artist, Davis, CA | 2020–Current
Lead Director of Basement Gallery, University of California, Davis | September 2020-June 2022