Jess Scheider is a visual artist currently on a working holiday visa in New Zealand where she was most recently working as a Beekeeper and Honey Harvester. Originally from her hometown of Boise, Idaho, she graduated with a BFA in Visual Arts with an emphasis in Drawing & Painting from Boise State University in 2020. Her work is inspired by a close relationship with the land, and a fascination for ecological systems and patterns. Her work parallels the tradition of scientific illustration, serving as a method of record keeping during a period of escalating human dominion over the natural world.

The intricately detailed textures and illustrations within Jess’s work range from the mundane to the profound- be it the fractaled patterning of lichen across ancient rock, the structure of a hornets nest blown down by the wind, or the vivid coloring of endangered Sockeye Salmon during spawning season.

Jess’s work is guided by an innate desire reconnect her audience with the natural world, forging a connection to those who came before, and those who are yet to arrive. Within these explorations, issues of perception, adaptation and reclamation rise to the surface.