My name is Reanna Schultz, I was born in Yankton, SD in 1990, the third child to Rocky and Kristi Schultz. Since we grew up in a rural area outside of town and didn’t have cable, my brother, sister and I found our imagination-fueled entertainment in our surroundings, which so often was rusting tractors, mountains of dirt, bugs, derelict structures, and building materials from a near decade-long renovation of our home. The remodeling project was a dominating event from my upbringing where I gained a propensity for building materials and a strong work ethic. I took these experiences for granted until I entered the sculpture program at USD. I chose to emphasize in sculpture because it brought forth in me a nearly indescribable sensation that no other discipline could give me.
The vastness and infinite variety which sculpture spans is a promise that everything has potential.
Sculpture is my means of artistic communication because I enjoy the process and challenge of using nontraditional materials and methods.
The use of construction materials is relevant in the dress series I produced for my thesis show for my BFA I completed this May at the University of South Dakota. When I began the dress series, I hadn’t realized how closely connected the material choices I was making were to my past. I have a total of ten dresses made from different materials all requiring their own creative problem solving process, including glass, concrete, nails, tar and shingles, house paint, aluminum flashing, cedar, plaster and lath, porcelain, and copper wiring. One of the reasons I created these dresses from these harsh materials is to start a conversation about the stereotypes about women, contradictions and hypocrisies alike. Part of this stems from a struggle to be accepted in a male-dominated field of work, such as welding or foundry work, both which I happen to enjoy regardless of my sex.
The current series I am working on attempts to dissect personality by the influence of the surrounding people.
I use life casting of specific people’s physical attributes which I use as a metaphor indicative of a personality trait they possess and ultimately affects me. I am casting these parts in different permanent materials, such as aluminum, glass, bronze, and iron to contradict the notion that one’s personality is ephemeral and cannot be kept the exact same. In short, this body of work is a self-portrait without myself but with the people who helped me become who I am now. It’s a way for me to show my gratitude for the people who have given me courage, self-confidence, diligence, and conviction when I needed it.
